Book Review: Crying in H mart by Michelle Zauner

January 26, 2024

This memoir was beautiful and mournful and thoughtful. It was an ode to the impact that our parents have on our lives, whether it is good or bad. It was heartbreaking and a beautiful way to understand life through another persons eyes.

In case you are unaware of what the book is about, Michelle Zaunder is a Korean American that grew up in a small town in Oregon and has to navigate what it was like to be half in that world, and half in the world that her mother created. Her mother is harsh and traditional but deeply loving in her own way. Over the course of the book you get to know the relationship that Michelle has with her mother, and then you see it change as her mother becomes sick and eventually dies. ( This is not a spoiler, it’s the point of the book, Michelle dealing with her grief. )

While this is a sweet and sorrowful book, I am not sure I would suggest it. It was good, but not something that I would want to read again with my bookclub, or would give a friend for a gift.