Lemon
2019 • 176 pages

Ratings30

Average rating3.4

15

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


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June 1, 2023

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.

December 27, 2021

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.

August 3, 2022