Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

2 reviews

genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Classism

emory's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.75

A brilliantly haunting memoir propelled by it's vivid narrative storytelling and growing sense of dread as your adult self encounters the abuse that young Jennette McCurdy--her childhood thoughts and feeling evoked vividly through each detail--not only suffered, but was forced to rationalize for so long. The small asides on how young Jennette thought to herself about her mother's abuse is heart wrenching. From the very first chapter, the description of a happy birthday is undercut with a feeling of unease, and a stomach drop when the reader is told how a girl as young as six has had to figure out how to control her emotions to mirror what her mother needed from her. 

The openness with her experience is beautiful and moving on its own, and it carries the occasionally lackluster writing forward. I will stress 'occasionally', though, not throughout!

My only real criticism of this book is that I wish we as readers could've heard more from the Jennette that wrote this memoir. The narrative written entirely as Jennette would have felt it at that age was evocative and engaging, but I feel as if more discussion of her overall thoughts and retrospection on her mother's abuse and her experience in childhood acting as a whole could've served the book well, and the narrative style of writing, while quick to follow and suspenseful in it's own way, occasionally took me out of remembering that I was reading an account of reality. However, I can see that perhaps her purpose with this work was an emotional account of the way her childhood was stolen from her rather than a dissection of everything that has meant to her, and at that, she excelled. 

Overall, it's a gripping and heartbreaking account of the way this woman suffered as a young girl in front of thousands and also all on her own. The writing can be simple from time to time but is deeply felt, which is much more effective in it's storytelling than an abundance of loose metaphors or prose-y beating around the bush ever could be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Physical abuse, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Gaslighting