Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Lágrimas no Mercado by Michelle Zauner

529 reviews

alliyyamo's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I'm not crying, you are... Beautifully  and intimately written. I have to go call my mum now.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Minor: Abortion

luciz's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

catrocketship's review against another edition

I don’t think I can keep reading in beautiful detail the ravages of cancer on a body. 

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Content Warnings

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

wanderlust_romance's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

Food as a connection vehicle to culture and memory is one of my very favorite concepts. And Crying in H Mart explores this with nuance throughout the narrative. Standing in an overly bright grocery aisle surrounded by endless packages of ramyun; assaulted by the scents of banchan in the refrigerated section; struggling to recall her mother's preferred brand of soy or fish sauce among a sea of choices. As Zauner vividly recounts the heart breaking and gut wrenching realities of caring for their terminally ill mother until her death, they provide care through their mother's favored Korean foods. Prior to their mother's illness and the fraught relationship during their teenage and early adult years, Zauner employs food to dive into memories of eating, care, extended family, and travel. If you are also interested in the complexities of "mother wounds," Crying in H Mart reflects on this with multi-faceted emotions. It's complicated and messy and hurtful and loving all at once.

Crying in H Mart also reflects thoughtfully on identity, as Zauner grapples with grief and their Korean-ness as a biracial person. Contemplating broad questions such as: Am I Korean enough? How do I connect with my Korean culture and relatives when the critical person who used to guide me through it is gone? How can I voice these reflections to my surviving parent? Will they even understand? Unmoored in a sea of grief, Zauner turns to cooking Korean dishes as a form of therapy/coping mechanism. Diligently following the recipes and instructions of YouTube star Maangchi, Zauner finds comfort in making the dishes and banchan her mother favored. (I loved this as a fellow Maangchi fan who watches her channel and cooks from her cookbooks <3)

The writing is vivid and lyrical, but at times difficult to follow on audio as it veered into stream of consciousness territory.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit, Medical content, and Gaslighting

Minor: Body shaming

sarahbroccoli's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

pheebabeeba_'s review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

An excellent memoir. I think it describes the themes of grief, food and family very well. I loved all the passionate descriptions of food and the fond memories they hold. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Abortion

morganniemarie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Vomit

edamamebean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

5.0

I’m so glad I finally picked this book up. Michelle Zauner tells her story in such a beautifully simple and frank way and then suddenly drops in a detail that guts you. I’m not sure it’s possible to read this book without getting emotional. The audiobook is read by the author and added to the emotional impact of the story as well. A tough read, but worth it. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, Abortion, and Alcohol

imds's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Mental illness, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction and Abortion

isajidy's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail