Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

103 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: 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.

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

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Alcohol

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

emilyharmonica's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

saramassoudi's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

ju_harue's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

crieraylas's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

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

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

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

Minor: Vomit

rachelhass's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

aleyajo's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

She talks about food a lot and it all sounded so delicious and made me soooo hungry. Eloquently balanced the complicated relationship with her mother with the love they had for each other. Beautifully written. Reminded me of leg but more poetic. A lovely memorial of her mother, their relationship, and their culture.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Car accident, Racism, Mental illness, Child abuse, Medical content, and Medical trauma