Quick Review: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

It is so hard to write a full review for this book. Especially considering this is the story of someone’s actual life. I don’t feel like I can do it justice in a full, in-depth review, but I do want to give some thoughts on it.

I listened to the audiobook, which is read by the author herself. It was a hard but compelling read. If it wasn’t for McCurdy’s ability to directly confront the trauma she endured with a dry humor, I don’t think the book would have been as readable as it was. It would just be too much.

There was a lot of messed up stuff in this book, from child abuse to eating disorders (encouraged by her mother?? jfc), but the way the author lays all of it out without philosophizing too much on it really makes the book. She lays it all out for you and lets you come to your own conclusions about how messed up it was. There is no hand-holding here – just throws it at you and expects you to catch it.

I was not in the generation that grew up with iCarly, but I have a little context just from internet osmosis. McCurdy gives a peek into what seems like a pretty toxic atmosphere and I can see that writing this book was probably cathartic in some way. It makes me wonder how many of these young actors have similar stories that they can’t tell because of NDAs.

Her relationship with her mother is probably the largest part of this memoir – it colors pretty much everything else. It was her mother that pushed her into acting, who kept her going when she wanted to stop, who encouraged her to restrict her calories to keep her small and child-like. Her mother definitely had some attachment issues with her children, especially Jennette, about wanting to keep her a child for as long as possible. I mean, she bathed her until she was like 16! But McCurdy doesn’t try to psychoanalyze her mother; she just lays out how it was and lets you draw conclusions.

I know I didn’t do this book any justice here – you just have to read it for yourself. I highly recommend the audiobook. It was really something to listen to her read her story in her own voice. If you can stomach the subject matter it is really worth the read.