Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Crying in H Mart

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

84 reviews

dari206's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

2.0

I really did enjoy parts of this novel. As an Asian American, I understood some of the experiences that Zauner shared. I even live in the PNW, and many of my own cultural practices cross and blend with Korean ones. I think it helped me validate the difficulties that I experienced growing up as an immigrant with immigrant parents. I appreciated her highlighting the realities that resettled folks have to adjust to after moving to the United States.

My critique is that I was expecting more wisdom from her shared experience. Since Zauner a very popular artist and a biracial race woman, I do appreciate her sharing her story with the world. I am sure many people have had their experiences validated as well.

What I do not like is that she brushes over how she resolved and did not clearly come to a resolution in regards to the difficult relationship she had with her mother. She says she gave therapy a shot, but only mentioned her sessions and her disliking/aversion to it over a paragraph. While I respect she found resolution by reconnecting with food and YouTuber Maangchi, I feel that this memoir exemplified a terrible path of overcoming the trauma that her mother bestowed upon her. As someone who has had a very difficult relationship with my Asian mother, the novel made me feel inadequate for failing to seek and to repair a relationship with my own.

I appreciate Zauner and feel sorry for her loss, but this book simply felt like a trauma-dump session that really came with little to no resolution or disclosure. I believe Zauner should’ve taken more time to reflect on her experience and I hope that Asian Americans are able to ultimately seek therapy if they’ve had to endure intergenerational trauma.

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bridget_t's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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hereforthefunofit's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense

4.5

"I let the lyrics fly from my mouth always just a little bit behind, hoping my mother tongue would guide me."

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vb_marie's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

3.0

I found this book interesting but it doesn't match up with my personal preferences. I learned a lot about Korean food and the potential sources of culture clash between South Korean and American cultures. However, a good part of the book deals with sickness and grief without much comic relief. I usually prefer to read works that include at least some humor to soften the darker sides of the story.

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imscrem's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

It’s difficult for me to understand how to feel about this book. It’s very sad, and it’s very good. I have yet to experience loss in the way that the author did, but I can only hope that writing this book helped her cope with it.

Some of what the author said about being half Korean/half American resonated with me, although I’m half American half Czech. I often feel lost in my heritage language and culture as well, dismayed when people switch to English to explain things to me, and often expecting others to tell me that I am “enough” to fit in.

It was also nice to recognize the names of Korean foods I’ve learned to cook, and understand a lot of the Korean phrases used throughout the book.

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