Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Lemon by Kwon Yeo-sun

15 reviews

asolis's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

4.0

A series of vignettes from the perspectives of several characters - the sister, the classmates, the accused - chip away at the mysterious murder of a beautiful but odd teen girl, and how these characters coped. Tightly written, effective, and complex. Though the mystery unfolds, the book is ultimately about those who go on, and how. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ren_the_hobbit's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I didn’t not like this book, but I’m also not sure I liked it. It had a lot to say and has left me thinking about it for a long time, which is a good sign in a book. But I also found it a bit confusing. I would recommend reading for yourself to see. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, and Violence

carojust's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This is a very quick and haunting read, thought-provoking about classism and its effect on families, their trauma and grief. 

Hae-on is a high schooler and is found murdered. Her case has gone cold. Her defining characteristic is her overwhelming beauty, paired with her vapid personality. We switch from the POVs of her younger sister Da-on, and two of her classmates, who each give us pieces to essentially solve the puzzle. 

There are big leaps in timeline, and undefined switches in POV, which might be confusing, but I really appreciated the effect it gave -- stumbling around in memories, trying to make sense of it all. Without spoilers, I can say Kwon Yeo-Sun beautifully balanced that fine line with the reader, giving us just enough to understand each character's personality, backstory and role in the murder. You're forced to overcome your own prejudice to see clearly what's right in front of you.

Give this a read if you're in the mood for a short book, Korean authors and stories, and darker plots.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

tristinrose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

linguaphile412's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• 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

 Review can also be found at Snow White Hates Apples.

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• 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

This is a short novella about the murder of an 18-year-old girl, Kim Hae-on, told from the perspectives of three girls who knew her: her sister and two classmates. I enjoyed the way the three perspectives gave vastly different viewpoints, with each unreliable narrator revealing their differing opinions of events leading up to Hae-on's death and Hae-on herself. I also thought the portrayal of grief was an interesting one, with Hae-on's sister Da-on trying to become more physically like her after her death.

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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Grief, and Murder

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent