Ratings30
Average rating3.4
This is not a murder story. It is the story of those left behind. Parasite meets The Good Son in this piercing psychological portrait of three women haunted by a brutal, unsolved crime. In the summer of 2002, Kim Hae-on was killed in what became known as the High School Beauty Murder. There were two suspects: Shin Jeongjun, who had a rock-solid alibi, and Han Manu, to whom no evidence could be pinned. The case went cold. Seventeen years pass without justice, and the grief and uncertainty take a cruel toll on her younger sister, Da-on, in particular. Unable to move on with her life, Da-on tries in her own twisted way to recover some of what she's lost, ultimately setting out to find the truth of what happened. Shifting between the perspectives of Da-on and two of Hae-on's classmates, Lemon ostensibly takes the shape of a crime novel. But identifying the perpetrator is not the main objective here: Kwon Yeo-sun uses this well-worn form to craft a searing, timely exploration of privilege, jealousy, trauma, and how we live with the wrongs we have endured and inflicted in turn. Praise for Lemon: 'Discovering whodunnit isn't really the point here; Lemon is a subtle, often intense meditation on the after-effects of violence' Guardian 'Chilling, suspenseful and disconcerting... I couldn't put it down and read deep into the night until I finished it, with my heart hammering' Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face
Reviews with the most likes.
This is so beautiful and heartfelt. I thought it was more of a mystery for some reason, but it's not at all, though you do learn who the killer is. It's about grief and how it follows and affects us. It's beautiful.
This was something of a unique read!
I admit to finding it a tad confusing keeping up with all the names.
It was well written in parts and posed some good questions.
Thank you to PH and Kwon Yeo-Sun for the chance to read this book.
I'm not even sure if I can accurately summarize this novel without regurgitating what the jacket said. If you're looking for a “whodunnit” story, this isn't it. If you're looking for a story about the ripple effect of tragedy and trauma, this is what you're looking for. The writing was beautiful and flowed smoothly. The translator did an incredible job of bringing the gorgeous prose the author wrote to life in English. I appreciated the footnotes when there wasn't a direct translation; it added a lot of color and life to the language on the page. The story itself was just okay - totally middle of the road for me. I found it a bit difficult to figure out what character we were following in each chapter until the very end. The novel also felt a little too short and I wanted to know a little bit more about certain characters. Overall, it was a quick, heavy, and beautifully translated read so if you're in the mood for that, Lemon is for you!
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