This book is just so underrated, and I can't help feel that injustice was done to the book. It was suffocating. It was brilliant. It was raw. And my gosh did I just stare into oblivion after finishing it.

One of the most unique books I've came across for awhile. It has its own brilliance that makes this book just.....so bloody good. Its unputdownable, and you will turn the pages, wanting to know what is going on. It leaves you suffocated with the character's thoughts, dived deeper and deeper into sorrow and you're there just in the brink of exhaustion. Even with less than 150 pages, it managed to bring so much depth into a story, especially one that highlights grief and loss, in the most stifling way as possible, that makes you just feel sorry for the characters in here.

Personal Ratings : 4.5🌟

If you come in the book expecting it to be a thriller and trying to find whodunit and what are the motives are the killer, you won't be able to fully enjoy the experience that the author had laid out in the book. Lemon is somewhat a psychological portrait of characters, in the midst of grievance and acceptance of the loss of their loved ones. Its the portrayal of trauma and unresolved anger which leads to the downfall of the characters. Its the portrayal of grief in various forms and various ways in coping it. Whilst the background started with a crime mystery, the story prevails in a sequence that showed that a single even can scar so many lives, even when the particular incident had passed ages ago. Its revolting, its mysterious in its own way, and it leads you to peel of the layers to the story, to look in between the lines, and see that the story is more than just the surface .

The social commentary in this book is one that is subtly integrated but leaves you a bitter taste at the end. I loved how the author had narrated the story in such a way that we have to see in between the lines, to look through and peel different layers of the story to find how vile some humans can be, and how wealth and power will cover up even the heinous of crimes. Its a book that leaves you with so many questions but somewhat answers a lot as well. Its not a story that is comforting but wanting to show how a human mind can morph into something horrid and dark that leaves you super unhinged. There are characters in the book that I felt, deserves so much better, and that due to their low status in the social class, every horrible thing that happened to them makes them pitiful. Police brutality, the coercion of confession and social outcast makes singling out a person easier rather than finding who the real perpetrator is. It shows how broken our system is and that the law can somewhat protect a person with high social class and status.

To make me not spiral and over-analyze the book, Here are 4 Reasons you should pick up one what I feel of the most UNDERRATED books this year :

1. A Unique Crime Mystery Format

Lemon is a story that is told with the background as a crime mystery but its more of a portrayal of characters and grief, in forms that suffocates and leaves you trapped in the characters train of thought. Its not a happy book and it gives no sense of hope, (albeit in its own twisted way), but what struck it as ✨Unique✨ was how the author had written the chapters in
- Various timelines
- Various POV’s of three characters, with distinct voices

The book is a question of humans and the layers that they portray and not a book of whodunit and solving the murder mystery. Its a psychological warfare of the characters minds, in grief.

2. Portrayal of The POV of Victim’s Family with no closure

The book started with the murder of a woman during the World Cup in 2002 and it is a spiral of thoughts of the characters up till 2019. The author had portrayed the minds of the victim’s family that has no closure of the death of their loved ones. How guilt can manifests into something so dark and torrid, and how everything that we see in the surface is not as what it seemed.

3. Portrayal of Grief; in Various Forms

Grief can take shape in various forms. It can be in the form of guilt. It can be in the form of anger. It can be in the form of vengeance. But guilt, in its own twisted way, can change a normal human to something twisted and , it will eat up your conscience alive. The author had shown that grief takes place in various forms and that there are many ways to cope the feeling. Humans handle trauma in their own ways, and it can either turn you to someone good or someone entirely bad.

4. Social Commentary

The social commentary on the rich, wealthy and powerful in regards to the poor, and often mistreated are subtly integrated in the story but its so cleverly written. The case of police brutality, bullying and social ostracism makes you feel so much for the characters .

Definitely a brilliant read and one that I will remember for a very long time. Highly recommended! My biggest thanks goes to Pansing Distributions (@definitelybooks) for this gift copy!