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bookishkale's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Racism, and Abortion
riverofpages's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism and Terminal illness
Minor: Cursing and Racism
peachythi_books's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Racism
bookedwithbrie's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism
kelly_e's review against another edition
3.0
Author: Michelle Zauner
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3.0
Pub Date: April 21, 2021
T H R E E • W O R D S
Raw • Illuminating • Surface-level
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Crying in H Mart is a memoir about growing up, caregiving, death, grief and identity from Michelle Zauner.
She details growing up as one of the few Korean American kids at her school; of struggling with her mother's high expectations; of time spent with her mother's family in Seoul; of caring for her mother through the end of life; of death and grief; and of reconnecting with her identity.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Sometimes the hype can have an adverse effect on my reading experience, and that was certainly the case with Crying in H Mart. I went in expecting a life-alternating and moving memoir dealing with death and grief, yet I didn't get the emotional depth I'd anticipated.
That's not to say this wasn't an incredibly personal and healing journey for the author, which I imagine it was. It felt like a story which needed to be written, yet not necessarily read. The writing was accessible, and Michelle details an intimate look into the daily routine of caregiving for someone at the end of life. It's always interesting to read about how people discover their culture, especially in grief. And food does play a role throughout, however, I'd expected there to be more of how food is a source of human connection through the good and the bad. I just wanted more depth and emotion.
Crying in H Mart is a beautiful exploration of mother/daughter relationships and an open dialogue on dying and grief, it just wasn't the all encompassing sensory experience I'd been wanting or needing.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers looking for a mother/daughter memoir
• grievers
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"It felt like the world had divided into two different types of people, those who had felt pain and those who had yet to."
"Food was an unspoken language between us, had come to symbolize our return to each other, our bonding, our common ground."
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Abortion
deetabz's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Medical content, Car accident, Abortion, and Alcohol
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail
kaneekakapur's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Physical abuse and Racism
clarabooksit's review against another edition
4.0
Like most memoirs, especially of this deeply personal kind, it feels weird to review it. How do you rate someone else’s truth? I don’t think it’s a perfect book but I also don’t really care. The chapter where Zauner’s mother ultimately succumbs to her illness made me sob.
This was a very tough read. It is so heartbreaking and full up of all the overwrought emotions brought on by death: regret, anger, denial, hurt, grief, nostalgia, misery, hopelessness, and love. While her story is not my story, it felt cathartic for me to read.
I don’t know how to recommend this book, but I do, if you need some commiseration and understanding.
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Minor: Abortion
andrea35's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Cancer
Moderate: Racism
lowkeymarie's review against another edition
4.5
This book deals very heavily with terminal illness and grief, so please tread carefully if that will be difficult for you to read about!
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism and Abortion