Crying in H Mart is the memoir of Asian American Michelle Zauner that centers around the time of her life in which her mother died. Zauner’s grief is connected to her identity as a mixed, Korean American through fighting to gain back her mother’s acceptance, learning her place in her family, and proving her Korean identity by revisiting old recipes, people, and memories in her mother’s homeland, all before it's too late. What’s detailed in this book is a searingly heartbreaking tale of how easily everything can come crashing down when life seems like it shouldn’t end where things are at, yet it can offer insight on how to fix things where they’re at, move on, and heal. Before reading, I already knew what events to expect in this memoir because I did some background research on Michelle Zauner. However nothing could’ve prepared me for the amount of times of what feels to be fate betraying you. The amount of unexpected turn of events with such morbid detail made me believe that any chance of recovery would be immediately followed up by more anguish. Nevertheless, things still frequently looked up throughout the book, which shows that it’s truly never over until it’s over. But what touched me the most was how grateful I should be about the things and people I find dearest that I still have. This book is a clear example of what it means to experience unexpected loss. Readers of this book should be prepared to endure gut-
wrenchingly unfair circumstances throughout the read. But more importantly, said readers should also reflect on what they still have and draw parallels of what could happen to the contents of this book. Crying in H Mart is a great lesson of humility, gratefulness, and finding one’s identity in a world where you can lose what seems to be everything in a single week.
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