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A review by dari206
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Abortion, Death of parent, and Gaslighting