fbpx

i received a copy of this book from harper collins nz, in exchange for an honest review.



star rating


lemon review

lemon follows the death of hae-on, a beautiful school girl. the book follows various characters who all knew her or were somehow involved in her murder. described as a murder mystery, there wasn’t much mystery. this book focuses mainly on how each character handles the events – through anger, grief, and acceptance.

the hardest part of this book for me, is the cultural difference. asia has a different way of telling and reading stories. unfortunately, this one didn’t quite work for me, and i think the cultural difference is why.

each chapter is from a different year, and another character. majority of these characters are a mystery. we don’t know a lot about them. towards the end, we start to see previous characters return for a chapter. it becomes a bit confusing at this point, as none of the chapters are named (some of the characters aren’t either).

lemon handles some heavy topics, and does a good job of it. the author shows how complex the mind can be when dealing with a trauma such as murder. i like how each character reacted differently to the situation and how it affected their lives.

i also really enjoyed how the translator included little footnotes to explain what the author meant during certain parts (explanations of various social events, etc.)

buy your copy now!

the nile | paper plus

10 Comments

  1. avatar

    awww, i’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this one! it can be hard to really be able to properly appreciate and enjoy books when they come from completely different💜

    1. avatar

      agreed! and i understand that other cultures have different ways of telling their stories!

  2. avatar

    I love the cover, a shame that you didn’t enjoyed it!

    1. avatar

      honestly, the cover is stunning!!

  3. avatar

    i was intrigued by the cover and the premise, sorry the narration didn’t work for you! nevertheless, the themes sound meaningful, i’ll be checking lemon out, thank you for the review <3

    1. avatar

      thank you! and i hope you enjoy it more than me.

  4. avatar

    Wow, the cover is so unique! And the premise sounds so good too!!! Sorry you didn’t enjoy this, i hate it when the characters are shown only for some time and we don’t get to know each one properly, either. But I think I’ll still give it a try, because THAT PREMISE!!

    1. avatar

      i think it’s a very good story – i just don’t think i’m the target audience. anyone expecting the answers to be handed to you in a pretty bow will be disappointed. it requires some thought. i hope you enjoy it, i’ve got some friends who did!
      (and yes, that cover is stunning!!)

  5. avatar

    Oooh this cover is gorgeous! I am really sorry you didn’t like it, it can be hard to enjoy a book if you are not the intended audience. I am definitely adding this to my TBR though as it sounds really good!

    BTW this is the first time I found your blog and I am so glad I did! You have a beautiful website and I love the way you have presented the content <3

    1. avatar

      thank you so much!! i really appreciate that.

      and i really hope you enjoy it more than i did!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *