Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Crying in H Mart

So, I have been reading a lot of Korean and Japanese book lately, a campaign kicked off by the ‘before the coffee gets cold’ series and intensefied by Sayaka Murata. And so when I picked up this book, I fully expected to at least like it.
However, I was not in the slightest, ready, for the heavy hitting force of the fact, that this is a self biography. A portrait of no the the Korean minority in USA but also of a complicated relationship between a mother and daughter. A generational tradition of complicated love and amazing food. It introduces the reader to the inner workings of someone who is both rather relatable as she is partly American, yet also somewhat astranged (from someone who grew up so differently). And yet, the brilliance of her writing reveals itself by letting us into her Korean side and guiding us through that world. It left me feeling both entertained yet also more knowledgeable each time I finished a chapter. Because somehow she balanced this complicated self portrait with humor which created the sort of entertainment often found in fictional books.
All to say that this was very good. It sort of reminds me of the new and popular “I’m glad my mom died” which ironically takes the opposite stance of the maternal relation between the main people, yet left me with the same feeling of stepping out of the life of someone compelling and complicated. I liked it enormously and hope to read more from her soon.

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Zauner’s memoir touches on her music career and the beginnings of Japanese Breakfast but the main focus is on the loss of her mother to cancer.

Zauner does not shy away from the difficult story of her mother’s decline and being the first line of defense and support as the cancer slowly takes her mother away. This memoir is phenomenal, heart wrenching, and beautiful. It was difficult to read at times from how bleak it is at moments, but Zauner’s prose and focus on moving on despite her loss is inspiring. I have been a fan of Japanese Breakfast for years but I am not also a dedicated fan to her as an author as well. Highly recommend reading and listing to Michell Zauner’s works!

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