Reviews

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

seecaitlinread's review

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

dpards8's review against another edition

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5.0

I would give this 6 stars if possible.

kaileighsbooknook's review against another edition

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5.0

As someone who has had a toxic relationship with their mother their entire life, this one definitely hit hard! I loved how raw and real that Jennette was during this book, it is so interesting seeing this discourse and inside look into the child stars I grew up watching and idolizing. There was so much in this book that was never something that I ever expected, and it really made so much sense why she took a step back from acting. Her life was definitely not as perfect as myself and everyone else wanted to believe, and I appreciate that authenticity!

oestridge's review against another edition

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5.0

As a general principle, I try not to spend too much brainpower or energy thinking about the lives of celebrities I've never met. But I'm 100% serious when I say, all I want from 2023 is for Jennette McCurdy to find health and happiness. God knows she deserves it.

I'm Glad My Mom Died is a dichotomy of a memoir. It's heartbreaking, but McCurdy's dark sense of humor peaks through. It's face-paced, but still deep. It's a case study of the abuse of children actors in the public eye and why we shouldn't put actors on a pedestal, while profiting off the fact that we do. It's a five-star read, but I can't in good conscious put it on my "favorites" shelf.

veronicavjs's review against another edition

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4.0

Saw the incredible Jennette McCurdy speak on Sunday night at the Opera House (full house, standing ovation), went right out and bought the book the next day. This is a devastating memoir told with humour, heart and grit. Wow.

anna_horstman's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

shortybtrippin's review against another edition

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5.0

Jesus. This was rough. While she isn’t perfect by any means, this book made me so thankful for my mom. I can’t imagine growing up with someone like this, and I understand her reluctance to come to terms with realizing her mother was abusive. I feel for her and I am glad she shared her story, these topics are so incredibly important with the amount of child actors out there.

alli_thomas's review

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

4.5

ericarainie's review against another edition

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5.0

Just. Wow.

lharri2's review against another edition

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1.0

Honestly this book was 0/5 stars. I will elaborate later but most important, this book should have a trigger warning for eating disorders. I have a family member who struggled, and I couldn’t imagine if they read the book. She went deep into it, telling what foods she ate and avoided. Calorie counts. How often she puked. I was uncomfy. Secondly, the timelines are confusing, she jumps around and it left me feeling like I had whiplash. She starts chapters like journal entries and they are unnamed other than numbered. I hated how she both villainizes and glorifies her mom, often within the same sentence. This is likely just copy and pasted from a diary and honestly, we didn’t need to know. Not everyone deserves a look into your soul. It’s not even like I was enlightened by the glimpse, I was just left confused, sad, and afraid for her. She ends the book like she’s “healed,” but it honestly sounded more like self delusion. She uses the word boundaries out of context, and I’m unsure if using therapy buzzwords can constitute as enlightened, but she sure did take us on our journey. One that should have never left the station.