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rieviolet's review against another edition
5.0
I loved the way food was a focal point throughout the narration, how its connection with one's cultural heritage was so strongly and beautifully illustrated. It really prompted me to reflect on the food I've grown up with and its significance for my own selfhood.
The linguist in me also really appreciated the lovely reflections on language and on a mother tongue.
The writing style was just *chef's kiss*. There were so many passages that I kept re-reading thinking to myself "How could she manage to capture this feeling with such poignant words and turn of phrases?", I was just floored.
My mother had struggled to understand me just as I struggled to understand her. Thrown as we were on opposite sides of a fault line - generational, cultural, linguistic - we wandered lost without a reference point, each of us unintelligible to the other's expectations, until these past few years when we had just begun to unlock the mystery, carve the psychic space to accommodate each other, appreciate the differences between us, linger in our refracted commonalities. Then, what would have been the most fruitful years of understanding were cut violently short, and I was left alone to decipher the secrets of inheritance without its key.
Graphic: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Rape, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail
stephanieridiculous's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely exploration of identity, family, culture, and grief. While this book is heavy I didn't find it emotionally taxing. It's uplifting in the midst of it's weight, and Zauner is an exceptional story teller.
Aside from the primary topic of the book, parental death by cancer (which can get fairly graphic, but in a respectful way), the content warnings are somewhat mild. One very brief reference to past rape, references to drug/alcohol abuse, DV, occasional swear words, and this is the weirdest: there is one part where she compares something she's cooking to the consistency of male bodily fluids. Two references within a page of each other, so over quickly - but I won't be able to not think about that if I ever eat that food! I did put emotional abuse as a graphic content warning, but I suspect that's very cultural. The way Zauner explains her mother treated her would definitely classify as emotional abuse where I live, but I understand that's very different around the globe.
Graphic: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, and Abortion
alyx's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Emotional abuse, Racism, Car accident, and Abortion
green_bone's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, and Abortion
prakriti_archit's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
kitausu's review against another edition
I didn't stop this book because there was anything wrong with the book. The writing is visceral and powerful as is the story. I'm just not mentally in a place to read it.
Graphic: Cancer, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Abortion
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy
beansbookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Medical content, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Car accident, and Abortion
ladymirtazapine's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Cancer, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
aseel_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Racism, Vomit, Car accident, and Abortion
anonreadana's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent