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Book Review

Review: Lemon

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Lemon book cover

Lemon
By Kwon Yeo-sun, Janet Hong (Translated)
Other Press, 9781635423310, August 2022. 160pp.

The Short of It:

At its heart, Lemon is a crime novel, but it’s actually so much more.

The Rest of It:

In the summer of 2002, when Korea is abuzz over hosting the FIFA World Cup, eighteen-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 witnessed her there just a few hours before her death. But when Jeongjun’s alibi checks out, and no evidence can be pinned on Manu, the case goes cold. ~ Indiebound

If you pick this book up expecting it to read like a typical crime novel, you will be disappointed. It slowly unfolds but if you aren’t careful, you’ll miss all the tiny details. The author tells the story with great detail, and yet you will be slightly puzzled when you turn the last page because it will appear as if nothing has been determined, but as someone in my book club said, the clues are right there.

This is a short novel at only 160 pages but it’s so full and satisfying to read. It can be read in one sitting but you will want to savor it a little to catch all the nuances the author so skillfully crafted. I don’t want to share too much here but it’s very good. I highly recommend it.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Book Review

Review: It All Comes Down to This

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It All Comes Down to This

It All Comes Down to This
By Therese Anne Fowler
St. Martin’s Press, 9781250278074, June 2022, 352pp.

The Short of It:

My expectations for this one were high but it fell short for me.

The Rest of It:

Meet the Geller sisters: Beck, Claire, and Sophie, a trio of strong-minded women whose pragmatic, widowed mother, Marti, will be dying soon and taking her secrets with her. Marti has ensured that her modest estate is easy for her family to deal with once she’s gone––including a provision that the family’s summer cottage on Mount Desert Island, Maine, must be sold, the proceeds split equally between the three girls.

You’ve probably read a story like this one before. A family home, filled with memories suddenly goes up for sale and there is the last “hurrah” of all the family members getting together to say goodbye to it. I was eagerly looking forward to this one because I loved Fowler’s A Good Neighborhood. But this one left a lot to be desired.

For one, I didn’t care for any of the characters. I found it hard to relate to any of them. As sisters, they didn’t seem to be all that close and honestly, there was little to be sentimental about in regards to the house. However, I liked it enough to give it a chance and although the three sisters didn’t work for me, some of their individual stories were interesting enough to keep me reading. I expected it to be quite compelling given my love for her previous book but it just landed too softly for me. Plus, I finished the book and then a week later couldn’t remember if I had read the ending so read it again. It left my brain that quickly.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.