Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Płacząc w H Mart

There were points during reading when I had to literally stop or I knew I’d be inconsolable and in tears if I didn’t take a break and put the book down.
All the food descriptors are beautiful and made me crave so many Korean dishes. Love is not always clearcut, but food is. Food always seems to show love.
Reminder to hug your mom. Thats the main conclusion.

Not full spoiler but maybe…

I did not realize this was about the Japanese Breakfast singer until much later than I probably should have

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imscrem's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

It’s difficult for me to understand how to feel about this book. It’s very sad, and it’s very good. I have yet to experience loss in the way that the author did, but I can only hope that writing this book helped her cope with it.

Some of what the author said about being half Korean/half American resonated with me, although I’m half American half Czech. I often feel lost in my heritage language and culture as well, dismayed when people switch to English to explain things to me, and often expecting others to tell me that I am “enough” to fit in.

It was also nice to recognize the names of Korean foods I’ve learned to cook, and understand a lot of the Korean phrases used throughout the book.

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cupcakesandclowns's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

4.5

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pamshenanigans's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Read this for Asian Readathon and I’m giving it 4.5 stars! Michelle documents her life as an only daughter to a Korean mother and an American dad. This memoir navigates through the different areas and times of her life that is ultimately anchored on family. The memoir shows how she and her family dealt with the grief of losing her mother to cancer.

She also talks about her regrets, how difficult and palpable the grief is. While she and her mom had a bumpy relationship, they never fail to bond over Korean food.

If you’re also an only child and/or the eldest in an Asian household, this book will hit you through the core. There are a lot of things in the book that are universally experienced by Asian kids; like the fear of failure, getting your parents approval, getting beat up by their unachievable standards.

If you’re going through grief, you may find solace in this book in a form of companionship with Michelle. It may be triggering though so tread lightly.

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