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A review by clarabooksit
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
This is not a book for the faint of heart. In it, Zauner reflects on her complicated relationship with her mother as her mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer and rapidly declines. She also discusses many other things from growing up Korean American to food, music, and mental health, but the main thread is her mother, and those were the most impactful parts to me.
Like most memoirs, especially of this deeply personal kind, it feels weird to review it. How do you rate someone else’s truth? I don’t think it’s a perfect book but I also don’t really care. The chapter where Zauner’s mother ultimately succumbs to her illness made me sob.
This was a very tough read. It is so heartbreaking and full up of all the overwrought emotions brought on by death: regret, anger, denial, hurt, grief, nostalgia, misery, hopelessness, and love. While her story is not my story, it felt cathartic for me to read.
I don’t know how to recommend this book, but I do, if you need some commiseration and understanding.
Like most memoirs, especially of this deeply personal kind, it feels weird to review it. How do you rate someone else’s truth? I don’t think it’s a perfect book but I also don’t really care. The chapter where Zauner’s mother ultimately succumbs to her illness made me sob.
This was a very tough read. It is so heartbreaking and full up of all the overwrought emotions brought on by death: regret, anger, denial, hurt, grief, nostalgia, misery, hopelessness, and love. While her story is not my story, it felt cathartic for me to read.
I don’t know how to recommend this book, but I do, if you need some commiseration and understanding.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Minor: Abortion