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archaicrobin's review
5.0
Zauner does not shy away from the difficult story of her mother’s decline and being the first line of defense and support as the cancer slowly takes her mother away. This memoir is phenomenal, heart wrenching, and beautiful. It was difficult to read at times from how bleak it is at moments, but Zauner’s prose and focus on moving on despite her loss is inspiring. I have been a fan of Japanese Breakfast for years but I am not also a dedicated fan to her as an author as well. Highly recommend reading and listing to Michell Zauner’s works!
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, and Medical content
kymaera's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Death, Cancer, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content and Cursing
ieotter13's review against another edition
5.0
the haverford and bryn mawr references towards the beginning were pretty cool to know — 100% a must read for bico students
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Medical content, and Cancer
Moderate: Body shaming, Vomit, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug use, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Blood
Minor: Child abuse and Abortion
mikaylawood's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Cancer, and Death
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Blood, Excrement, and Animal death
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Abortion
Minor: Drug abuse and Physical abuse
mrsmishler's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Medical content, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Racism and Abortion
cspleenster's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Medical content and Death of parent
llams's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Medical content, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Death, Racism, Vomit, Xenophobia, Car accident, Grief, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug use, Gore, Death of parent, Cancer, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abortion
aksmith92's review
4.5
Michelle Zauner talks about her upbringing in this memoir—she's living a decent life and recognizes that, but somehow does not get along super well with her parents, particularly her mom. I don't know about you, but as a teenage girl once, this was highly relatable.
More importantly, though, this memoir talks about Michelle's identity as a half-Korean woman, trying to find solstice and being in the food she grew up hearing about and/or eating. She struggles regularly with her identity since she barely speaks the Korean language and only visits Korea every so often. And most important, this book is about dealing with grief and, acknowledging and accepting your past, and moving on from it during traumatic times. There is no mystery or spoiler here: Michelle talks about her family's experience with her mother's cancer diagnosis.
Michelle feels real in this book. She makes decisions you question and doesn't always know the answer. However, the heart in this book is so apparent, and it is simply moving. Not to mention all the incredible references to Korean recipes—this was SO good to add.
I do feel the 50-70% dragged just a little bit, but overall, this was an incredibly captivating story about a woman finding her own identity in massive grief while leaning on some of the most amazing food recipes she can to feel in her place and with her family. Highly recommend this memoir!
Graphic: Grief, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Racism, Medical content, and Car accident
Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, and Fatphobia
Minor: Addiction
Addiction = not described, but talked about when describing someone's past. Also implied with a potential alcohol addiction.queeenbean16's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, Medical content, and Death