A review by mrsprincekyu
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I knew I was going to connect to this book but inevitably it hit me right in the heart. The way I felt seen is I’m sure the same as any halfie, but to hear the thought verbalized “am I even Korean without my mother?” Is something I’ve both thought and feared so many times. Afraid to go back to Thailand someday without my mom, that my mother essentially is my only real tie to my culture. Yet for me, the way the author describes her mother is humorous to me because it reminds me not of my mother, but of my husband (naturally, since he’s the Korean one, not my mom). I think this really puts into words what so many of us mixed kids feel, and a lot of what I worry for my own son, who’s going to have to navigate his own identity someday (being even more mixed than I am). It’s very telling also of how food in itself is like a living embodiment of culture.
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