Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Crying in H Mart

Wow what a powerful book. I think as someone who isn’t/can’t speak Korean that the audiobook was the way to go because I was able to hear Michelle speak the language with the pronunciation, inflection, tone, etc.

Michelle opens up to us about being a mixed child and her relationship with her Korean mother. Much of their relationship centers around food which is a big theme throughout and definitely made me hungry. But to them it’s more than hunger. It’s culture, and connection to each other and their roots.

One of the most powerful displays of Michelle and her moms connection can be seen through Michelle’s first two words as a baby (iykyk). Even Michelle’s relationship with her father is somewhat run through her mother.

My favorite quote can be found in the last chapter: “If there was a god, it seemed my mother must have had her foot on his neck, demanding good things come my way. That if we had to be ripped apart right at our turning point, just when things were really starting to get good, the least god could do was make a few of her daughter’s pipe dreams come true.”

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emmacherradi's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

An incredibly honest and heartbreaking memoir about the realities of grief, identity, food, and the ever-so-complicated relationship between mother and daughter. I couldn't help but relate to Michelle as she reflected on her bittersweet relationship with her mother, her Korean-American identity, and how disconnected one can feel from a part of themselves. A painful yet comforting read for a person who has experienced a devastating loss, I cannot recommend it enough.

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maditowery's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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cepbreed's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I hate this book. It’s even worse that it’s a memoir, this is her actual life and yet I’m imparting all of my painful feelings onto her family. Michelle Zauner has crafted a story that has forced me to become both daughter and mother, a dangerous evolution for me, a daughter who is so single minded. I knew I would relate very rawly to her experience. I mean how could I not. I’m a half Korean half white girl born and raised in America whose connections to her heritage and mother are never good enough. That speaks for the daughter side of it all, but seeing Zauner take on the primary caregiver role for an extremely chronically ill person has put me entirely in my mother’s shoes. Obviously I didn’t die, but I was nearly there. I hated myself so much, for being so sickly, so full of hatred, so ugly, so weak, but my mother stood witness to it all. She absorbed my pain and never let hers show. Zauner’s words have cut deep into old scars and torn my heart in two. This memoir is everything to me and I’ll never be the same.

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liv_txt's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

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ava_ba's review

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challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Nami and Peter deserve everything, Kye is going straight to hell

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