A review by aprilbethp
I'm Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I’ve not watched anything in which Jennette McCurdy has starred in. I’m an elder millennial so most of her child star days were after my time or were shows that I guess, never interested me. With that in mind I didn’t really think I would be interested in her memoir. However, the relentless feedback in media and by friends saying how incredible this book was made me check it out.
I’ve been incredibly impressed with McCurdy’s writing. This did not read like a memoir to me. It read like a character driven novel and was quite moving at times. There were many moments where I would express sorrow out loud while reading.
Something that I really appreciated about her clear vulnerability was her ability to weave a basic understanding of generational trauma to her readers while also allowing her own deniability of being traumatized in the moment. So often we see memoirs based around trauma and the author clearly labels it as such in the moment they are experiencing it. McCurdy describes the reality of being groomed into trauma and the grief that comes when you slowly recognize that you are indeed traumatized and you were continually for as long as you can remember.
Of course, the Nickelodeon drama is horrible and h fortunately interesting. What I found most interesting was seeing how Hollywood will seek out at risk children and exploit them knowing their parents are at best inept and incompetent and at worst abusive.
I applaud McCurdy on stepping away when she did and for finding her voice. It’s a strong and beautiful one. I hope to see her writing more because she has a real talent for it.
I’ll be adding my voice to all the other recommendations.
I’ve been incredibly impressed with McCurdy’s writing. This did not read like a memoir to me. It read like a character driven novel and was quite moving at times. There were many moments where I would express sorrow out loud while reading.
Something that I really appreciated about her clear vulnerability was her ability to weave a basic understanding of generational trauma to her readers while also allowing her own deniability of being traumatized in the moment. So often we see memoirs based around trauma and the author clearly labels it as such in the moment they are experiencing it. McCurdy describes the reality of being groomed into trauma and the grief that comes when you slowly recognize that you are indeed traumatized and you were continually for as long as you can remember.
Of course, the Nickelodeon drama is horrible and h fortunately interesting. What I found most interesting was seeing how Hollywood will seek out at risk children and exploit them knowing their parents are at best inept and incompetent and at worst abusive.
I applaud McCurdy on stepping away when she did and for finding her voice. It’s a strong and beautiful one. I hope to see her writing more because she has a real talent for it.
I’ll be adding my voice to all the other recommendations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Addiction, Physical abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Self harm, Dysphoria, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Classism, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Vomit, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Bullying, Cursing, and Sexism
Minor: Stalking