Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

92 reviews

kdenten's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abortion, Car accident, Drug use, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

ameliabee33's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This is an extremely well done heartfelt story and I don't think that I could say anything better that hasn't already been said about this book. It is about Michelle and her mom, and how her mom passes away from cancer and how the grief surrounding that event affects Michelle's life. She goes into her youth, learning Korean, being Korean-American, and being a troubled teen. She reflects in her mother's place in all of that. I cried so many times in this book. Her mom's love and devotion for her was evident on the first pages. It was beautiful and sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol and Racism

Minor: Drug use

weaverca's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Death of parent, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Drug use, Car accident, and Medical content

Minor: Abortion, Infidelity, Addiction, and Drug abuse

rieviolet's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I can only add to all the praise this memoir has gotten. It was honest, brutal, heartbreaking, mesmerizing, just all-around wonderful. 

I loved the way food was a focal point throughout the narration, how its connection with one's cultural heritage was so strongly and beautifully illustrated. It really prompted me to reflect on the food I've grown up with and its significance for my own selfhood.
The linguist in me also really appreciated the lovely reflections on language and on a mother tongue. 

The writing style was just *chef's kiss*. There were so many passages that I kept re-reading thinking to myself "How could she manage to capture this feeling with such poignant words and turn of phrases?", I was just floored. 

My mother had struggled to understand me just as I struggled to understand her. Thrown as we were on opposite sides of a fault line - generational, cultural, linguistic - we wandered lost without a reference point, each of us unintelligible to the other's expectations, until these past few years when we had just begun to unlock the mystery, carve the psychic space to accommodate each other, appreciate the differences between us, linger in our refracted commonalities. Then, what would have been the most fruitful years of understanding were cut violently short, and I was left alone to decipher the secrets of inheritance without its key. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Medical content, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Violence, Alcoholism, Car accident, Racism, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Excrement, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Vomit

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Addiction, Abortion, and Rape

ginnyb412's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Death of parent

Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, and Drug use

laurataylor's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Excrement, Death, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, and Grief

risten's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, and Drug use

ciwanski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

This was a beautiful book. I cried, I laughed, I thought about it when I wasn’t reading it, and I was fully invested when I was. This story is so personal to Michelle, it’s an honor to have been able to not only read it but hear Michelle herself narrate it for me. Despite the personal nature of the book, I was definitely able to relate the themes and contemplations to my own experiences, thoughts, and fears. I’d love to read any other novels Michelle decides to put out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Cancer

Moderate: Addiction and Drug use

Minor: Abortion

alexcooper88's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Cancer

Moderate: Vomit and Drug use

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

part memoir, part love letter to food and the healing it can bring, crying in h mart is a moving book that also complexly examines the intricacies of familial bonds, cultures, identity, and growing up.

i admire zauner not only for her courage in baring her vulnerabilities during a turbulent time in her life, but also her great writing and the ability to describe certain oft unspoken feelings and ties that are familiar and relatable to many, me included. the straddling of two cultures, never feeling fully whole in either; the complicated bonds and strains with her mother; grappling with adulthood, etc. like, i actually get it all, so painfully familiar they are.

ofc i'd be srsly remiss if i didnt mention how excellently described and explored food is in this memoir.  the descriptions are deliciously drool-worthy, conjuring familiar dishes while also introducing newer, less famous yet equally interesting ones. the bonds and connections korean food and cooking allow the author to feel w/ her mother and korean culture also illustrate their importance in a larger personal context.

just like how zauner heals from eating and cooking, i also heal from reading this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Cancer, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Medical content, Racism, Death, and Mental illness

Minor: Abortion, Drug abuse, Car accident, Drug use, and Infidelity