eatingbrains's review against another edition
2.5
It was alright. I teared up a few times. The descriptions of food were verbose and evocative, sometimes excessively so. I love Maangchi.
This is a story of grief and mourning, of finding your identity and how it changes as you grow, relationships and connections.
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death, Excrement, and Fatphobia
Minor: Abortion, Body shaming, Drug use, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Car accident, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexism
kaisi's review
5.0
Graphic: Death, Cancer, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, and Racism
Minor: Abortion and Rape
rotatinglibrary's review
5.0
Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Cancer, Grief, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Rape, Excrement, Drug use, Abortion, Vomit, and Drug abuse
amberlou105's review
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent and Medical content
Minor: Abortion and Rape
itsheyfay's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Abortion, Car accident, Rape, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts
thewoodlandbookshelf's review
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Cancer, Grief, and Medical content
Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Alcohol, Violence, and Abortion
Minor: Rape
rieviolet's review against another edition
5.0
I loved the way food was a focal point throughout the narration, how its connection with one's cultural heritage was so strongly and beautifully illustrated. It really prompted me to reflect on the food I've grown up with and its significance for my own selfhood.
The linguist in me also really appreciated the lovely reflections on language and on a mother tongue.
The writing style was just *chef's kiss*. There were so many passages that I kept re-reading thinking to myself "How could she manage to capture this feeling with such poignant words and turn of phrases?", I was just floored.
My mother had struggled to understand me just as I struggled to understand her. Thrown as we were on opposite sides of a fault line - generational, cultural, linguistic - we wandered lost without a reference point, each of us unintelligible to the other's expectations, until these past few years when we had just begun to unlock the mystery, carve the psychic space to accommodate each other, appreciate the differences between us, linger in our refracted commonalities. Then, what would have been the most fruitful years of understanding were cut violently short, and I was left alone to decipher the secrets of inheritance without its key.
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Medical content, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Violence, Alcoholism, Car accident, Racism, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Excrement, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Vomit
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Addiction, Abortion, and Rape
rorythebean's review
5.0
Graphic: Cancer and Death of parent
Minor: Abortion and Rape
stephanieridiculous's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely exploration of identity, family, culture, and grief. While this book is heavy I didn't find it emotionally taxing. It's uplifting in the midst of it's weight, and Zauner is an exceptional story teller.
Aside from the primary topic of the book, parental death by cancer (which can get fairly graphic, but in a respectful way), the content warnings are somewhat mild. One very brief reference to past rape, references to drug/alcohol abuse, DV, occasional swear words, and this is the weirdest: there is one part where she compares something she's cooking to the consistency of male bodily fluids. Two references within a page of each other, so over quickly - but I won't be able to not think about that if I ever eat that food! I did put emotional abuse as a graphic content warning, but I suspect that's very cultural. The way Zauner explains her mother treated her would definitely classify as emotional abuse where I live, but I understand that's very different around the globe.
Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical content, Cancer, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Car accident, Cursing, Addiction, Abortion, Alcoholism, Excrement, Vomit, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape
amsq's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Cancer and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Racism, and Mental illness
Minor: Rape