Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

114 reviews

aksmith92's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

I don't really love rating memoirs—these books are when humans talk about their lives, the people in them, and usually challenging events. Memoirs usually do or do not do it for me in terms of a great reading experience, and Crying in H Mart did it for me.

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! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fatphobia, Abortion, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction

Addiction = not described, but talked about when describing someone's past. Also implied with a potential alcohol addiction.

martinatan's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

you already know this book is perfect and no one can tell me otherwise

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcohol and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, Abortion, and Pregnancy

emilyharmonica's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, and Alcohol

saramassoudi's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Abandonment

ju_harue's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent

crieraylas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Violence, and Abortion

annareads97's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

I was looking forward to reading this book for quite some time, and while it was not entirely what I expected, I very much enjoyed it. Michelle beautifully describes her complex relationship with her mother, with her Korean heritage, with grief, with love, and all of it is intricately woven into her relationship with the Asian comfort foods she grew up eating. I would call this a must read for anyone who grew up feeling caught between two identities, who is grieving the loss of a parent with whom they had a complicated relationship, or who simply wants to learn more about Asian American culture. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Car accident

smacey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

4.75/5.00

Michelle Zauner does an incredible job telling the story of her complicated relationship with her mother and experience of losing a parent to cancer. She shows immense amounts of vulnerability, bravery, openness, honesty, empathy, and strength throughout this book. While I have not experienced a parent enduring a terminal illness, I have, as many other women have, played the role of the daughter in an equal parts beautiful, equal parts difficult mother-daughter relationship and found myself relating to many of the feelings Zauner described having as a result of navigating such a relationship. It was also so fun to read about the various Korean cuisines Zauner described cooking and eating and the way in which food was a central part of her life, culture, and familial relationships. Additionally, I think she does an incredible job giving insight into the experiences of a biracial woman in America and navigating the complexities of having two different cultures that sometimes feel so central to who she is and at other times so far removed from her. As a later generations European American, I cannot relate to this aspect of her story, but I appreciate her willingness to share with the world her cultures and unique lens as a Korean American.

One of the only negatives I have to say about this book is, although Michelle Zauner is arguably best known for being the lead singer of the band Japanese Breakfast, I felt like she could've (and wished that she would've) spoken more on her life as a famous musician and how that relates to the rest of what was told in this memoir. I respect entirely that this was not a book about that aspect of her life, but I was left at times getting pieces of that and how the events she described impacted her musical career both before and during the height of it but wishing I had been let in more. This is obviously a personal memoir though, and I completely respect that she may not have wanted to make that much of a focus of the book at all and felt that she included what was only necessary to include from that part of her life.

Definitely a well-written book and worthwhile read, particularly for women who have navigated any type of "tough love" motherly relationship, experienced a parent with a terminal illness, or identify as being biracial.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

kaylaswhitmore's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I may just be biased, since I am also a Korean-American woman who grew up in Eugene, Oregon…but this memoir is certainly a gift to all who read it, and especially children of Asian immigrants. Words can’t quite describe the bizarre, surreal experience I had reading Michelle’s recollections. In between reeling emotionally from the similarities between her mother and my own, I would find myself blinking as familiar staples of my Eugene hometown popped up on every other page. Though my childhood and relationship to my mother is still quite different from Michelle’s, there were still so many things that struck me as familiar—like a funhouse mirror. Her use of emotion to paint such vivid pictures of the intangible truly drew me in and held me from the very first chapter. Someday, when the ache of her loss and the fear of losing my own mother fades, I will return to this book and reread it anew. For now, I’ll sit here in silence for a bit and cry lol.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Infidelity, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit

rachelhass's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent