Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Me Alegro de que mi madre haya muerto by Jennette McCurdy

15 reviews

d12inspiration's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

An extremely challenging read/listen, but it's a million times over worth it.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wooblatoober's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

amazing book. covers her entire life pretty much up until she starts writing the book. it was incredible. VERY easy read vocab- & language-wise, but very difficult read regarding content. HEED THE CONTENT WARNINGS. if any of the CWs trigger you, especially the ones listed “graphic,” DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. otherwise, it’s an incredible read. 

lots of humor in suffering w/ a hopeful ending theme of overcoming adversity. amazingly written. i was hooked from the first page. mccurdy is an amazingly talented creative nonfiction writer (& doesn’t hurt that she’s had a life so crazy it seems like it should be fiction).

5⭐️ but i reserve actual 5⭐️ ratings on storygraph for my favorite books of all time

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

deathmetalheron's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

3.5

Memoir/biographies I find the least interesting--one person is usually not particularly worth focusing on, especially if it's biographical. Memoirs only really work if I'm interested in the person writing it.
This works in this case. In addition to its spicy and enticing title, I am very aware of Jennette McCurdy as I watched plenty of episodes of iCarly growing up. The more details I found out about her actual career, the more sad I got. It's easy to use television as an escape without realizing that the actors themselves are not characters and are real people. 
I'm Glad My Mom Died reads very quickly, the action cutting from chapter to chapter flashing through McCurdy's life from a young 4 all the way to near present day. It recounts different stories that highlight primarily her relationship with her mother but also some of the effects of mental illness and expectations she gained through her mother's treatment, most notably disordered eating. The book pulls no punches and more or less make a damning case for McCurdy's mother being truly problematic and hard to sympathize with.
The most profound moments of the book are McCurdy's recounting of her childhood days--her inner monologue is retold from her child's perspective with no analysis, so the events are seen through her eyes. Any adult reading it will instantly pick up on the behaviors exhibited by McCurdy's mother and the effect they will have in the future, and it compounds the innocence loss that McCurdy will eventually experience. The book gets a little bit less insightful as time goes on, and the ending lacks a bit of insight. I understand this might be the point but McCurdy is an effective writer and I would've loved to see her reflect on the experience a bit more. Additionally, this book targeted me VERY directly as a parent. It was odd to read a book where for most of my life I would put myself in Jennette's shoes but reading this I also saw myself as a future parent and how the choices I made as a father would eventually affect my own daughter's self perception. Definitely a thinker.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lovemilo's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.25

Insightful, inspiring and honest read.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

amyrandles1's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hocuscrocus's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

I have NEVER started and finished a book in the same day until today.
Jennette's story is so compelling, so dark, so sad, and so hopeful that I simply couldn't put it down.

The frank, vulnerable tone of it all is incredibly powerful but also devastating. With that in mind, I recommend paying extra attention to content warnings to read safely and with care.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

princessxnicole's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

3.5

The way this memoir is written tricks the reader into thinking that the topic is light and happy when the reality is,  Jennette’s story is utterly wrong in every way. Narcissistic parents exploit their children in irreparable and unforgivable ways and Jennette’s mom is no different. There were parts of this book that were so relatable, especially the manipulation. Even though I experienced a narcissistic parent in a different context than Jennette the parallels were spot-on. I particularly appreciated the last page — I agree with the author, that we glorify the dead too much, refusing to see the person who was. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jkohls's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0


4/5 As someone who doesn’t typically read biographies, found it hard to rate someone’s life 4 stars. However, I really think this was a great first biography. Even though this book took me a long time to read, it was worth it. She writes very honestly and doesn’t really portray herself as the protagonist. I definitely recommend this book if you are looking to get into biographies. You might just want to make sure your heads in the right place before you do.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rosita's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings