A review by criticalgayze
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Well wow. I just selected 24 of Storygraph's content warnings to add on to this review, and I placed them all in the "Graphic" category. So, let that be a warning to you about exactly what you are getting into.
I borrowed this one on audiobook from the library, and hearing what McCurdy went through out loud was almost enough to make me allow the rental to expire with the remaining 27% I had when the day started. If you are at all sensitive to any of the triggers, I might recommend sticking to the physical reading experience.
I hate to be that person that says, "I was really surprised by how well written this was," but I was really surprised by how well written this was. The choice to utilize short snapshots instead of long excursus on specific events was an excellent decision to get the reader in and out of the brutal experiences McCurdy works through by getting from checkpoint to checkpoint quickly. I also love her use of terms like "The Creator" to define people in order to show the way your life can be controlled by those in power over you.
I do think the book exhausts itself by the end, which is a pitfall of many books and especially memoirs. Some of the writing becomes a little less sharp in a way that does hold the same power as the first 3/4's, but it was nice to feel like (and I hope that it's true) this icon of my childhood sits in a better place now than when I last knew her.
I borrowed this one on audiobook from the library, and hearing what McCurdy went through out loud was almost enough to make me allow the rental to expire with the remaining 27% I had when the day started. If you are at all sensitive to any of the triggers, I might recommend sticking to the physical reading experience.
I hate to be that person that says, "I was really surprised by how well written this was," but I was really surprised by how well written this was. The choice to utilize short snapshots instead of long excursus on specific events was an excellent decision to get the reader in and out of the brutal experiences McCurdy works through by getting from checkpoint to checkpoint quickly. I also love her use of terms like "The Creator" to define people in order to show the way your life can be controlled by those in power over you.
I do think the book exhausts itself by the end, which is a pitfall of many books and especially memoirs. Some of the writing becomes a little less sharp in a way that does hold the same power as the first 3/4's, but it was nice to feel like (and I hope that it's true) this icon of my childhood sits in a better place now than when I last knew her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Cursing, Blood, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Vomit, Cancer, Gaslighting, Medical content, Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship