Scan barcode
kcelena's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
linguaphile412's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, and Eating disorder
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Told in different perspectives and at different points of time, Lemon is a story that revolves around the murder of Da-on’s beautiful older sister, Hae-on. But, it’s not a murder mystery in the traditional sense. Instead, this book focuses more on exploring grief and trauma in various perspectives while touching on other topics like prejudice based on appearance, privilege and inequality; corruption within the system; and the deeply rooted misogyny in South Korean society.
Unfortunately, despite my liking books that are in the same vein, Lemon is not the book for me. As aforementioned, this book is less traditional murder mystery and more an exploration the aftermath. I had expected stronger emotions and more human-like characters, but the narratives were in overall, too clinical and detached. I felt no suspense, no anxiety, no sadness—nothing. And, because of this lack of emotional impact, the impact resultant from the observations of the prejudice, corruption and misogyny suffered as well. In short, Lemon read more like social commentary disguised as a mystery novel. To me, it felt that the main point of the book leaned more towards on emphasising the social commentary while the characters were simply vessels to deliver that commentary. And, I’m sorry to write this, but the social commentary was just typical and obvious (there’s no subtlety at all, which made the commentary hollow). It simply scratched the surface, providing no new or deeper, thoughtful outlook on the realities.
Honestly, Lemon fell short of the hard-hitting brilliance it could’ve been. If the social commentary had been more subtle and the human emotions of the characters more well developed, this book would’ve been stunning.
Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder
helenamarijke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, and Classism
Minor: Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder
bookishcori's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death and Grief
oliviachap9's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
2.75
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Rape and Sexual harassment
readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Unfortunately I found this a little too short to pack a punch and I think the audiobook detracted from my enjoyment of it, as it didn't give much of a sense of the passage of time. (There also seemed to be a male voice narrating one of the female POVs, which was a little confusing as it made me think that Han Manu was one of the main narrators, which he's not.)
Content warnings for descriptions of graphic violence, grief, discussions of surgical procedures.
Moderate: Death, Violence, Grief, and Murder
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
internationalreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
yamumsnotproud's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Murder