Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Crying in H Mart

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

84 reviews

dari206's review against another edition

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.

Content Warnings

bridget_t's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

hereforthefunofit's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional sad tense

4.5

"I let the lyrics fly from my mouth always just a little bit behind, hoping my mother tongue would guide me."

Content Warnings

vb_marie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

3.0

I found this book interesting but it doesn't match up with my personal preferences. I learned a lot about Korean food and the potential sources of culture clash between South Korean and American cultures. However, a good part of the book deals with sickness and grief without much comic relief. I usually prefer to read works that include at least some humor to soften the darker sides of the story.

Content Warnings

imscrem's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

It’s difficult for me to understand how to feel about this book. It’s very sad, and it’s very good. I have yet to experience loss in the way that the author did, but I can only hope that writing this book helped her cope with it.

Some of what the author said about being half Korean/half American resonated with me, although I’m half American half Czech. I often feel lost in my heritage language and culture as well, dismayed when people switch to English to explain things to me, and often expecting others to tell me that I am “enough” to fit in.

It was also nice to recognize the names of Korean foods I’ve learned to cook, and understand a lot of the Korean phrases used throughout the book.

Content Warnings