Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Crying in H Mart

Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

178 reviews

lifethrumay's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

This book felt like I was being told a story by a dear friend. It held so much raw emotion and didn't hold back in the slightest. It was real. It was also a little funny, and interesting as I was personally not very accustomed to Korean food, so I was fortunate enough to learn some new dishes that I am excited to one day try. I aspire to be as considerate as Michelle's mother, remembering all my loved ones favourite dishes and flavours.
Just overall, an interesting and worthwhile read. Great book to start off the year.

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ebullient_kate's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

I’m not someone who reads non-fiction. It’s been a failed new years resolution (FOR YEARS) to get through a single non-fiction book. Crying in H Mart broke that chain.
This memoir is incredibly heartfelt and a beautiful testament to the author’s mother and their bond. I found myself becoming more and more grateful for my own mother as I read. I’ll admit it: I cried a lot! But I also “awww”ed a lot and laughed and drooled over the descriptions of food. The acknowledgments (which I rarely read) were SO SWEET!

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notnaomie's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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dari206's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced

2.0

I really did enjoy parts of this novel. As an Asian American, I understood some of the experiences that Zauner shared. I even live in the PNW, and many of my own cultural practices cross and blend with Korean ones. I think it helped me validate the difficulties that I experienced growing up as an immigrant with immigrant parents. I appreciated her highlighting the realities that resettled folks have to adjust to after moving to the United States.

My critique is that I was expecting more wisdom from her shared experience. Since Zauner a very popular artist and a biracial race woman, I do appreciate her sharing her story with the world. I am sure many people have had their experiences validated as well.

What I do not like is that she brushes over how she resolved and did not clearly come to a resolution in regards to the difficult relationship she had with her mother. She says she gave therapy a shot, but only mentioned her sessions and her disliking/aversion to it over a paragraph. While I respect she found resolution by reconnecting with food and YouTuber Maangchi, I feel that this memoir exemplified a terrible path of overcoming the trauma that her mother bestowed upon her. As someone who has had a very difficult relationship with my Asian mother, the novel made me feel inadequate for failing to seek and to repair a relationship with my own.

I appreciate Zauner and feel sorry for her loss, but this book simply felt like a trauma-dump session that really came with little to no resolution or disclosure. I believe Zauner should’ve taken more time to reflect on her experience and I hope that Asian Americans are able to ultimately seek therapy if they’ve had to endure intergenerational trauma.

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trollmila's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

I decided that I'd go to sleep early. That did not happen. I took a few days to read the first hundred pages but laying in bed I just became entranced in the book. I spent the second half of the book crying. During the wedding where Zaumer says there wasn't a dry eye in the tent, years later I was crying along with them.
Zaumer writes so well and the flow of the book, where we get flashbacks, where we get brought into the present are so well timed and balanced. I picked up the book finally after it being on my list for so long (shout out library waitlists (I kid I love you libraries)) due to her being a musician I deeply love but kept reading because it was so impactful and well written and structured.
My family lost a parent to cancer in December 2023 and my mother recieved her diagnosis in Oct 2024 but thankfully they were able to remove it. It was a good book and I think I needed the cry.

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trapdorr's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Still crying. This book was so poignant. About her struggle with identity while being mixed Korean-American and her relationship with/loss of her mother. Her writing and voice and beautiful. This was exactly the non-fiction book I needed right now.

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