Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

1070 reviews

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Loved it, took most of it as a cautionary tale, tragically great.

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The first half of this book was tough to get through – you literally witness a child being abused by her mother at every possible opportunity. Initially, I found it hard to stay engaged, but once McCurdy shifts to her experiences in her twenties and the “After” section, the emotional weight hit hard. It became a rollercoaster of feelings that I couldn’t put down.

I resonated deeply with her reflections on eating disorders, and the therapy moments were both hilarious and painfully accurate in their simplicity. They felt like a mix of lightheartedness and brutal truth that I couldn’t stop highlighting.

My Favorite Quotes:

 
- *"I don’t like knowing people in the context of things. Because once the context ends, the friendship ends."*  
- *"Fuck being a good sport. I’d rather be playing charades with Tom Hanks."*  
- *"Don’t let that slip become a slide."*  
- *"Guilt and frustration can be helpful to keep us moving forward, but shame keeps us stuck. It’s a paralysing emotion. When we get caught in the shame spiral, we tend to make more of the same mistakes that got us there in the first place."*  
- *"I’m trying every day to face myself. The results vary. But the attempts are consistent."*  
- *"I could buy some plants."* 🪴 *(The number of times I’ve thought buying plants might magically fix my life is honestly staggering.)* 💀  
- *"Eating disorder brain. Any time I’m having a conversation over a meal, there’s another conversation happening internally – full of judgment, criticism, and self-loathing. It’s so severe that I can’t focus on the person in front of me. My attention is always more on the food than the person."*  
 


Most of these, of course, are tied to therapy – a reflection that made me think about my own journey with finding the right kind of therapy.

One thing that continues to astonish me is how vividly McCurdy recalls her childhood. Instead of repressing those traumatic experiences, she crafted entire new narratives around them. It’s a striking reminder of how deeply abuse can shape and distort memory.

This book left me feeling raw but hopeful for recovery. If McCurdy can work through this then I can also come out on the better side of my struggles.  

And not to forget, all trauma crew loves trauma humor which had me laugh out several times towards the end. (Even though the revenge arc lover in me would have needed some closure with throwing everything at her mom but that’s not the reality.)

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It was interesting to hear her life like that. I found it difficult to find anything comedic about the writing, I guess I personally don’t understand dark humor? I feel like I understand her a lot and she is very relatable.

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Child star struggles. Eating disorders, narcissistic mothers and a glimpse of the less than shiny side of Hollywood. Well-written and well narrated by the author herself.

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I’m not a fan of autobiographies but this was so moving. I was obsessed with iCarly as a child and to see this is what was going on behind the scenes is incredibly eye opening and life changing! Jeanette’s perspective and life story was so incredibly heart breaking, she is such a strong woman who has had to overcome so many obstacles in life from every angle. And to share her experiences in this book with the entire world is strength beyond measure!

Highly recommend this book!

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