Scan barcode
sadietay's review against another edition
5.0
This memoir was so incredibly well written. Zauner takes the literary advice to “show not tell” to a level I don’t know I’ve seen before in an account of someone’s life experiences before. Her warm ability to share these harsh truths is a great example of how complex living (and dying) is. "She was both my first and second words: ‘Umma,’ then ‘Mom.’”
alzahra's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
qa9's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
What a beautiful memoir. Zauner reflects in such honest grief over a complex mother she lost too soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Death of parent
vernip's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.5
This is a pretty rough book to get through.
So unless you're one of the blessed few, it's inevitable that you'll clash with your parents. If not outwardly, then letting the resentment & powerless feelings grow & ferment within you. To play devil's advocate tho, parents are only doing their best...their fallible, different perspective, best. This is only exacerbated when the parents are immigrants and the desire for more familiarity runs afoul of the new culture that the children seem to love more than their old one.
So this memoir isn't as niche as you would think since the rocky relationship the author had with her parents is much more universal & relatable than you would think.
Hopefully, you didn't have your mother be your only friend in the early years of your life, only for that to crumble away when those pesky teenage years become prime breeding grounds of contempt for established identity.
Hopefully, your parents didn't squash your artistic dreams when they themselves don't have many ambitions beyond mere survival.
Hopefully, a terminal disease of a parent doesn't make give you the false hope that your care will not only heal them but pay them back for all the love&care they did do.
Hopefully, the caretakers brought in to take care of sick parent doesn't overdo it and seem to make you & the other parent seem less valuable to sick parent.
Hopefully, a botched trip to try to live as fully as possible in the time they have left doesn't leave them 100% hospitalized.
Hopefully, the other parent doesn't realize how little they have in common with you, with the loss of their soulmate on the horizon straining an already strained relationship.
Hopefully all this doesn't compound in you bawling in the middle of the supermarket because one of the things that held your family together was the love of food, and seeing the familiar packaging, smelling the familiar smells, & people watching sparking the deja vu DOESN'T make you ponder all the what-ifs.
In all earnestness, I hope you've got healthy boundaries with your parents, that you do enjoy their company in small doses, and that you find yourself appreciating what family you have if none of that is applicable.
So unless you're one of the blessed few, it's inevitable that you'll clash with your parents. If not outwardly, then letting the resentment & powerless feelings grow & ferment within you. To play devil's advocate tho, parents are only doing their best...their fallible, different perspective, best. This is only exacerbated when the parents are immigrants and the desire for more familiarity runs afoul of the new culture that the children seem to love more than their old one.
So this memoir isn't as niche as you would think since the rocky relationship the author had with her parents is much more universal & relatable than you would think.
Hopefully, you didn't have your mother be your only friend in the early years of your life, only for that to crumble away when those pesky teenage years become prime breeding grounds of contempt for established identity.
Hopefully, your parents didn't squash your artistic dreams when they themselves don't have many ambitions beyond mere survival.
Hopefully, a terminal disease of a parent doesn't make give you the false hope that your care will not only heal them but pay them back for all the love&care they did do.
Hopefully, the caretakers brought in to take care of sick parent doesn't overdo it and seem to make you & the other parent seem less valuable to sick parent.
Hopefully, a botched trip to try to live as fully as possible in the time they have left doesn't leave them 100% hospitalized.
Hopefully, the other parent doesn't realize how little they have in common with you, with the loss of their soulmate on the horizon straining an already strained relationship.
Hopefully all this doesn't compound in you bawling in the middle of the supermarket because one of the things that held your family together was the love of food, and seeing the familiar packaging, smelling the familiar smells, & people watching sparking the deja vu DOESN'T make you ponder all the what-ifs.
In all earnestness, I hope you've got healthy boundaries with your parents, that you do enjoy their company in small doses, and that you find yourself appreciating what family you have if none of that is applicable.
henderslam's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
kellysings's review against another edition
5.0
So so good. I was crying in the coffee shop. Food is love and love is food and the relationship between mothers and daughters makes me want to scream and cry and pull my hair out and weep.