Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Crying in H Mart

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Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

166 reviews

psellars11's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

An incredibly poignant memoir, I chose to read this as an audiobook which was narrated by the author herself. It made the book more personal and enjoyable for me. Do not read this if you are triggered by death, cancer, graphic descriptions of grief, and or medical emergencies. I am pretty sensitive to that stuff, but I pushed through and it was worth it.

I didn’t realize Michelle Zauner had written this book - it was always on my list because I am part white and Asian and I thought the discussions of Asian culture and family relationships would be interesting to me. It definitely was, and it really highlights the trauma evident in many Asian households and the rigid relationships parents and children have, especially dealing with their lives in America. Zauner writes so eloquently, touching on many trying and traumatic aspects of growing up biracial in America, from having few friends, to rebelling against Asian culture, to wistfully regretting that rebellion as an adult, and trying to reclaim and recapture that identity again later on. The loss of connection to your Asian family, the desire to be conventionally beautiful in either white or Asian culture, and so on. Additionally, the importance of food is woven throughout, as it’s emblematic of Korean culture and her relationship with her mother.

This book will make you cry. I cried at least 4-5 times when the grief was discussed and her mother’s death. I knew it was inevitable but it still hurt me nonetheless. It was incredibly cathartic and if you are in the right headspace- this is an incredible, touching read. It ended on a positive note highlighting Zauner’s relationship with Peter and their success in their band, Japanese Breakfast. I loved the homage to her mother with the cover of the album too.

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flamesocks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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lorepanda's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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afay0802's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad

5.0

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aksmith92's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

I don't really love rating memoirs—these books are when humans talk about their lives, the people in them, and usually challenging events. Memoirs usually do or do not do it for me in terms of a great reading experience, and Crying in H Mart did it for me.

Michelle Zauner talks about her upbringing in this memoir—she's living a decent life and recognizes that, but somehow does not get along super well with her parents, particularly her mom. I don't know about you, but as a teenage girl once, this was highly relatable.

More importantly, though, this memoir talks about Michelle's identity as a half-Korean woman, trying to find solstice and being in the food she grew up hearing about and/or eating. She struggles regularly with her identity since she barely speaks the Korean language and only visits Korea every so often. And most important, this book is about dealing with grief and, acknowledging and accepting your past, and moving on from it during traumatic times. There is no mystery or spoiler here: Michelle talks about her family's experience with her mother's cancer diagnosis.

Michelle feels real in this book. She makes decisions you question and doesn't always know the answer. However, the heart in this book is so apparent, and it is simply moving. Not to mention all the incredible references to Korean recipes—this was SO good to add.

I do feel the 50-70% dragged just a little bit, but overall, this was an incredibly captivating story about a woman finding her own identity in massive grief while leaning on some of the most amazing food recipes she can to feel in her place and with her family. Highly recommend this memoir!

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