Kwon Yeo-sun

Focusing on the unsolved murder of teenage girl, this literary crime novel offers insights into gender, class and privilege in Seoul, and marks the English-language debut for award-winning Korean author, Kwon Yeo-sun.

Lemon

Brodie smith

I believe life has no special meaning. Not his, not my sister’s, not even mine. Even if you try desperately to find it, to contrive some kind of meaning, what’s not there isn’t there. Life begins without reason and ends without reason.

Emma D

I love how this book tells the whole thing from different angles and love how we have two suspects who represent two social class; rich and poor. Although, the very last few pages didn't tell us who really killed Hae-on, but I got a hint that it was Taerim and Jeongjun since I really don't believe that you can have a tight alibi especially when you are seen with the victim. Also, Taerim is somewhat became paranoid while telling her doctor about what really happened between her husband and Hae-on. I feel like they got away because of MONEY. While the other suspect who became in a tight spot because Jeongjun got away is an amazing character also especially that we learn everything about him, his story, and what really happened that day that lead him to tell lies in front of the officer/detective. The reason I gave this book a 3.5 is because I didn't any feel connection between me and Da-on (Hae-on's sister), I feel like she just want an answer of why someone killed Hae-on (I mean all of us would do the same) but I don't really feel any grief or the book didn't explore much of the negative side when someone died. 

The differing perspectives were cool and I liked having a party that was similar to the readers represented. You have to be willing to fill in the gaps with this read and you may feel frustrated by the end…

Yeo-Sun Kwon

"In this piercing psychological portrait that takes the shape of a crime novel, a woman haunted by her sister's unsolved murder transforms herself in order to cope with the pain of absence and unknowing. In the summer of 2002, when Korea is abuzz over hosting the FIFA World Cup, nineteen-year-old Kim Hae-on is killed in what becomes known as the High School Beauty Murder. Two suspects quickly emerge: rich kid Shin Jeongjun, whose car Hae-on was last seen in, and delivery boy Han Manu, who witnesses Hae-on in the passenger seat of Jeongjun's car just a few hours before her death. But when Jeongjun's alibi turns out to be solid, and no evidence can be pinned on Manu, the case goes cold. Seventeen years pass without any resolution for those who knew and loved Hae-on, 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. Told at different points in time from the perspectives of Da-on and two of Hae-on's classmates, Lemon loosely follows the structure of a detective novel. But finding the perpetrator is not the main objective here. Instead, the work explores grief and trauma, raising important questions about guilt, retribution, and the meaning of death and life"--

Isabella 

i enjoyed reading this book! it was very interesting and i liked how it explored the pov of different characters. (view spoiler)[ it delves more into how unresolved things can have ripple effects in the future raises interesting points on grief, trauma, guilt, meaning of life, and not really on pinpointing who the murderer is  (hide spoiler)] it was interesting to connect the dots based on the characters’ narratives. dont get into this thinking that it’s a murder mystery or crime book and im pretty sure you’ll enjoy it!!

Amulya Garimella

This book left me with so many questions, but so does death.

Angel Hammon

Ivy X

This book is mainly about the impact her sister’s death had on everyone.

Not so much mystery or thriller. It basically led me to come to conclusion that life has no meaning so looking for that meaning leads no where.

While 'Lemon' often appears to be sold on the virtue of being crime fiction what it actually is a novel about grief. It explores not so much the facts of the horrific murder of Hae-on but its impact on her family (her mother and her younger sister, Dae-on) and, to a lesser degree, on her schoolmates. 

Regardless, the novel deals with both aspects fantastically. When following Dae-on and her own investigation into her sister's cold-case murder, 'Lemon' deals with all the stages of grief. It showcases the long-lasting devastation of death of a loved one and all the ways one tried to cope with it, healthy or not. In one of the most poignant moments, Sanghui - a former classmate of Hae-on's and one of the three different P.O.V.s within the novel - notes that in dealing with her grief the way she did, for Dae-on that fateful summer of her sister's death may never be over - "It will go on endlessly, until the end of Dae-on's life, or maybe beyond that" - and what a heavy weight that is. 

One of the ways with which Dae-on tried to cope with Hae-on's death is by seeking to find the culprit for her murder. Reaching out to the former primer suspect - a poor boy, another classmate, working as a delivery boy - she finds out another life ruined by the murder. While Dae-on may believe he is innocent of the crime, it is through this connection that she finally finds true closure. 

There is a third P.O.V. in the novel, which appears to be Yun Taerim - one of the witnesses of the night of Hae-on's murder. While herein seems to lie the key to the true culprit's identity, what the novel masterfully showcases through Taerim are the impacts of the knowledge of the crime. Murder, it seems, taints in more ways than one. 

With the addition of this third P.O.V., the novel feels more rounded. The whole of it reads as a strong work of literary fiction that thoroughly explores all the dimensions of loss and grief.

While 'Lemon' often appears to be sold on the virtue of being crime fiction what it actually is a novel about grief. It explores not so much the facts of the horrific murder of Hae-on but its impact on her family (her mother and her younger sister, Dae-on) and, to a lesser degree, on her schoolmates. 

Regardless, the novel deals with both aspects fantastically. When following Dae-on and her own investigation into her sister's cold-case murder, 'Lemon' deals with all the stages of grief. It showcases the long-lasting devastation of death of a loved one and all the ways one tried to cope with it, healthy or not. In one of the most poignant moments, Sanghui - a former classmate of Hae-on's and one of the three different P.O.V.s within the novel - notes that in dealing with her grief the way she did, for Dae-on that fateful summer of her sister's death may never be over - "It will go on endlessly, until the end of Dae-on's life, or maybe beyond that" - and what a heavy weight that is. 

One of the ways with which Dae-on tried to cope with Hae-on's death is by seeking to find the culprit for her murder. Reaching out to the former primer suspect - a poor boy, another classmate, working as a delivery boy - she finds out another life ruined by the murder. While Dae-on may believe he is innocent of the crime, it is through this connection that she finally finds true closure. 

There is a third P.O.V. in the novel, which appears to be Yun Taerim - one of the witnesses of the night of Hae-on's murder. While herein seems to lie the key to the true culprit's identity, what the novel masterfully showcases through Taerim are the impacts of the knowledge of the crime. Murder, it seems, taints in more ways than one. 

With the addition of this third P.O.V., the novel feels more rounded. The whole of it reads as a strong work of literary fiction that thoroughly explores all the dimensions of loss and grief.

Francesca

Lettura veloce e intensa, c'è in particolare un avvenimento che mi ha fatto gelare il sangue.

KWON. YEO-SUN

LEMON.

3.5 rounded up, 

‘Couldn’t each moment we’re living now be the meaning of life?’ 

I breezed through this book in two sittings, I found the approach to the subject matter of a murder as being centred around the survivors to be quite different, I see a lot of reviews bemoaning not knowing whose voice was speaking but it only took me a few chapters to get into the swing of the structure personally. Also find it baffling that people didn’t ‘get’ what was happening narratively or who ‘done it’, not every narrative has to be pie in your face ya know ? (/ I think it was extremely obvious anyway lmao) 

Anyway this was a very different and interesting read with some explorations of grief as something other than just sadness and noble suffering. Sometimes grief is a selfish unburdening and metamorphosis and we can and will often have complicated feelings about those around us who die.

Nicole

I borrowed this book with hopes of understanding grief. It's not that it doesn't showcase grief and the impact it has. It's that it takes an unnecessarily complex route to get there, and doesn't actually lead you to any understanding. I am of the firm belief that good novels are/ can be complex but still needs to guide a reader to a desired understanding. That is true mastery - when the pieces fall in a way that makes sense, not one that still leaves you in the dark as Lemon did. The 'twist' only clicked for me after scouring the net for reviews, and while it was definitely an unexpected twist and satisfying in that sense (albeit horrifying), there's also a lack of closure, of coherency threading the book. Rather than grief, I think this story is one of revenge, which is very frustrating. No character growth. Yes, not all growth needs to be good and not all characters have to get over their grief, but it was so complex that you probably wouldn't have understood what Da-on did unless you re-read or you scour reviews, like me. Very annoying, considering I don't often re-read things.

Arianna Rebolini's review of it in Vulture speaks of grief better than the novella itself did: "Hae-on's murder, like most real-life murders, abounds with unanswerable questions beyond who did it, nagging unknowables that force you to sit with the discomfort of wanting - even feeling owed - a kind of closure that doesn't exist."

I did like this one part of the novella: "I needed to know how he was getting on, so that I could figure out who I was supposed to become, how I was supposed to live. I needed to see him if I wanted to go on."

Lemon

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