A review by iamninjabuni
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

emotional sad medium-paced

1.0

 
I do not recommend listening to this as an audiobook as the author (who reads it) is incredibly monotone and difficult to listen to. I often found myself having to go back because I had completely zoned out to whatever she was droning about due to her complete lack of tone. My review does not reflect how difficult it was to listen to her, but the content of the book itself. 

That aside, I think that this book was written for the author herself and it probably should have stayed in her journals. I understand that this is a book on grief and have tried to view it through that lens, everyone grieves differently. I had hoped to find something to relate to in the realm of parental loss or the difficult relationship between mother and daughter but did not find the author relatable at all. That wouldn’t be a big deal, but the author seems to have gone out of her way to alienate her audience. 

She comes off as whiny, spoiled, petulant, and ungrateful – maybe it is an only child thing? There is no introspection. She bemoans her disconnection to her culture while also stating that she never bothered to learn it. She gives no thought to what her family members may be feeling and comes across as self-centered. Again, something I could dismiss to grief if she didn’t spend so much time talking about how angry she was that her sick mother wouldn’t eat the food she made and how difficult it was for her to care for her. That could also be chalked up to her mentally and physically abusive upbringing, which the author brings up in an offhanded way and does not really address. Again – maybe this should have stayed private 
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