Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Lágrimas no Mercado by Michelle Zauner

721 reviews

erinjeanhussey's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

A beautifully written, deeply moving story about family, love, loss, grief, and the ways food and culture tie us together in this life and the next. aMichelle Zauner is an incredibly fluid writer, providing details encompassing all senses without weighing her story down. I decided to re-read this coincidentally during the month that marks the 20 year anniversary of my mom’s passing, as well as the same week my grandmother died. Reading Zauner’s tender account of grief has truly helped me work through my own stages, once again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent

melissasherlock87's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

ktdaugherty's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Abortion

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

meredith_williams_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Crying in H Mart is a memoir that absolutely deserves all the hype it has received over the years. In its exploration of love, loss, family, culture and identity, it is both deeply personal and widely relatable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, Grief, 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

phrogen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Fatphobia and Xenophobia

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

ezplonk's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

crying not just in h-mart but wherever i happened to be while reading

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity, Car accident, and Abortion

cosmicwillow's review against another edition

emotional

5.0

wow. i dont know what else to say. this was utterly moving. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Abortion