lemontoaknifefight's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
azu_rikka's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed reading this novel, with themes of loss, grief, forgiveness and how to love. The writing is lush and witty.
Descriptions of meals and how to prepare them was an added value and the discussion of the different shades of brown skin and its connection to beauty gave me an insight into a completely unknown realm.
I have one big issue with the book though: the fact that a 30+ year old man took the virginity of a sixteen year old girl in a one night stand. It was not in any way discussed that he was doing something wrong. The whole act was mentioned by the way and that bothers me.
Descriptions of meals and how to prepare them was an added value and the discussion of the different shades of brown skin and its connection to beauty gave me an insight into a completely unknown realm.
I have one big issue with the book though: the fact that a 30+ year old man took the virginity of a sixteen year old girl in a one night stand. It was not in any way discussed that he was doing something wrong. The whole act was mentioned by the way and that bothers me.
tarrant's review against another edition
4.0
Domestic violence told in the voice of a daughter who blames herself and the complicated story. Dark, beautiful, awful.
bettyvd's review against another edition
2.0
Interessante invalshoek op huiselijk geweld. Maar de personages worden minder interessant naarmate er meer uitgelegd wordt.
2,5 ster
2,5 ster
calid83's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books I've read in a really long time... Full of family secrets, culture, and it leaves you wanting more with each turn of the page... I loved it!
melc's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book very powerful and moving. It is a journey of a woman broken from traumatic events in her childhood and how the mysterious, enigmatic Lemon leads her on a journey towards healing and wholeness. This book is stark in its descriptions and joltingly shocking even though the plot holds a fatalistic inevitability.
At the beginning of the book Jinx is a hollow, cold, deeply scarred woman who lives a very isolated life unable to even form a relationship with her young son. She is unable to believe in and receive love from anyone after the emotional betrayal of her mother led to complete devastation in her teens.
Yet, then Lemon walks back into her life and, whilst at his own admission he is no saint, he leads he on a path to exorcise her guilt and discover redemption. Lemon is a fascinating character who has almost angelic qualities at times and his relationship with Jinx is full of mystery and is at times their scenes together are almost like a fable. And yet throughout the mystery the vivid descriptions and very raw, tangible emotions experienced by the two protagonists ground the story firmly within the realms of human experience, taking the reader on a moving journey of empathy and affinity.
At the beginning of the book Jinx is a hollow, cold, deeply scarred woman who lives a very isolated life unable to even form a relationship with her young son. She is unable to believe in and receive love from anyone after the emotional betrayal of her mother led to complete devastation in her teens.
Yet, then Lemon walks back into her life and, whilst at his own admission he is no saint, he leads he on a path to exorcise her guilt and discover redemption. Lemon is a fascinating character who has almost angelic qualities at times and his relationship with Jinx is full of mystery and is at times their scenes together are almost like a fable. And yet throughout the mystery the vivid descriptions and very raw, tangible emotions experienced by the two protagonists ground the story firmly within the realms of human experience, taking the reader on a moving journey of empathy and affinity.
lisagray68's review against another edition
challenging
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
arrianne's review against another edition
4.0
Intergenerational trauma is a hell of a drug and the story here is all about the daughter of a woman who unintentionally lets a man into the lives of her and her daughter who ruins everything. Jinx lives a normal life just her and her mum until this man comes in and takes that all away, and we meet her full of guilt for her mother’s death while hating her at the same time. Her relationship with her ex and their son is strained and her feelings are locked right down. An old family friend appears from nowhere and thus begins a few nights of disclosure as to the events surrounding Jinx’s mother murder at the hands of her stepdad-to-be.
There’s some good stuff on interpersonal relationships and family dynamics, some teenage politics but I was a bit disappointed by the Happily Ever After as if that kind of trauma can just be fixed by part of the problem showing up in your house and forcing you to dig all that stuff up over a weekend and ABRACADBRA sorted, here we go, got the rest of my life ahead of me.
CW: teenage pregnancy and being sent away, sex between an adult and a teenager (?age) where the power dynamic is all wrong though it’s ‘consensual’, domestic abuse, murder, internalised racism.
There’s some good stuff on interpersonal relationships and family dynamics, some teenage politics but I was a bit disappointed by the Happily Ever After as if that kind of trauma can just be fixed by part of the problem showing up in your house and forcing you to dig all that stuff up over a weekend and ABRACADBRA sorted, here we go, got the rest of my life ahead of me.
CW: teenage pregnancy and being sent away, sex between an adult and a teenager (?age) where the power dynamic is all wrong though it’s ‘consensual’, domestic abuse, murder, internalised racism.
jewelleryjen's review against another edition
4.0
I was immediately hooked by this book, the story telling was so enjoyable. I loved the descriptions of the food and drinks, it added a layer of depth and a feeling of really looking in on a family, weaving mouth watering memories of food through the story.
It's a heart wrenching story but it left me feeling lifted and hopeful.
It's a heart wrenching story but it left me feeling lifted and hopeful.
audaciaray's review against another edition
This book was recommended to me a few years ago by a writer I really adore - and he was totally right that the language and characters were well done and super compelling. However I found myself dissociating when the intimate partner violence in the story line started up and realized that hey, I can stop reading a book that's triggering even if it's also really good. Reading to be resumed at some other point in the future