Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

9 reviews

mirandyli's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Crying in Hmart has got me crying in Hmart. If you are a second gen East Asian immigrant, this book will make you cry. It was so painfully relatable and will make you want to hug your mom, no matter how much you hate her. Book of the year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Excrement, Abortion, Drug use, Medical content, Misogyny, Cancer, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Addiction, Car accident, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Infidelity, and Racism

literaryinluv's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

Listened to the first 30% of this while pulling strands of my mom's hair through a highlighting hair-net and joked that there should be a Filipino-"Crying in Seafood City"-version. Then cried a few days later while washing the dishes because of the wedding scene. A relatable delight. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Car accident, and Infidelity

gabriella_'s review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I am in awe of this book. I cried many times reading it.

A lot of this book I personally resonated with. While I am not Korean, the mother-daughter bonding, themes of feeling disconnected from culture, grief, and transcending love of food hit very hard. Zauner finds a way to bring a personal story up and close to the reader. She has a way with words.

I can’t express how grateful I am to read this book. It feels like a warm hug. I hope anyone who has struggled with grief, especially those who mourn a mom or motherly figure, walk away from this book with even a shred of comfort. There is so much I want to say, so much thanks I want to pay the author for being as vulnerable as she was. And so much I want to thank her for, for expressing how painful her journey has been.

Some lines of this book really stuck with me, and I’ll end this review with one that made me audibly sob.

When one person collapses, the other instinctively shoulders their weight.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Blood, Mental illness, Grief, and Cancer

Moderate: Cursing

mheiling's review

emotional funny sad fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Abortion, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Panic attacks/disorders

robyn_elouise's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

4.0

It’s kind of like reading those recipe blogs where you scroll past five paragraphs of deeply personal stories to get to the ingredients list. I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way; preparing and sharing food can be heavily tied to our memories. It’s beautiful that Michelle Zauner found a way to connect with her Korean family and identity through food. I’m very curious to see what the movie will be like!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Cancer

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Abortion, Car accident, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Grief, and Infidelity

sambashua's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Vomit, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Car accident, Eating disorder, and Infidelity

jessgreads's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⬜

Title: Crying In H Mart

Author: Michelle Zauner

Genre: Memoir / Nonfiction

Setting: Oregon / Korea / NYC / Pennsylvania

Month Read: February 2022

Book Type: Hardcover

Publication: 2021

Publisher:  Knopf

Pages: 239

*Book of the Month Pick / February 2022 Books and Brews Book Club Selection

TRIGGER WARNING- 

Grief / Death / Cancer / Alcoholism 

"Love was an action, an instinct, a response roused by unplanned moments and small gestures, an inconvenience in someone else’s favor."

No Spoiler Summary:

Crying In H Mart is a Memoir by Michelle Zauner (aka Japanese Breakfast) chronicling the relationship she has, and had, with her Mother who died of cancer when Michelle was in her mid 20's. 

Michelle tells the story with food, heritage, and family- while talking about the experiences she had being Half White/ Half Korean, and how losing her Mother has helped her explore her Korean side to try to keep it a part of her now that her Mother is no longer here.

Review:

I am not someone who typically likes non-fiction, and I was skeptical about someone writing a memoir when they're my age, but this book was incredibly beautiful. It's less memoir in some ways, and more an absolute gorgeous story of Mom & Daughter- through happiness, sadness, awful teenage years, and more. It's also a story of finding parts of yourself, your heritage, your family, and how all of these things morph together to make YOU.

Parts of this book made me cry, while parts made me laugh, and while some made me frustrated (both for Michelle and for her Mom.) Reading this book as a newer Mom really resonated with me, but being the black sheep, and the musician of my family had me relating to Michelle and her struggles and achievements as well. It was such an interesting place to read this book in. 

My one complaint, which isn't really a complaint is I wanted recipes! Where are they!? SO much of this book is almost endless talking about food, and about a relationship with food, and I do wish Michelle did include at least one recipe- one thing we could have made reading this, or shortly after, to sort of bring ourselves more into this novel, and into her life. I know I can look online and get whatever I need, but I do think including at least one recipe would have leveled this book up even more. 

I maybe wouldn't read this if you've recently lost someone, but maybe it will help you heal. I think it's such a beautiful story, and I took so much out of it by the time I was done. I wish Michelle so much good in her life, and I'm really excited to dive into her music. I also truly hopes she writes more, some of the passages were incredibly beautiful, and she has a great voice.

See more reviews at:  https://jessgreads.wixsite.com

"To be a loving mother was to be known for a service, but to be a lovely mother was to possess a charm all your own."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death of parent, Cancer, and Grief

Minor: Racism, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders

lindseygetsliterary's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Racism

Minor: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Abortion

fionappletini's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders