Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

2007 reviews

chrishham's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Cancer, Alcohol, Death, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Panic attacks/disorders

butkyra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Vomit, Cancer, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

mattybly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Vomit, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Body shaming, Terminal illness, and Physical abuse

liv_brown31's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

haven’t rated a lot of books this year 5/5 but i knew this was gonna be one before i even read it. i was right. Janette’s writing was absolutely beautiful and was at many times relatable, especially when talking about EDs. Sharing her story was so brave, and even though she has no idea who i am, i am so so proud of her healing journey.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Fatphobia

just keep in mind there is a lot of talk about eating disorders that could be triggering

shelbielehto's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Sexual content, Self harm, Mental illness, Vomit, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship

serenology's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

If possible, I highly highly recommend listening to the audio book version. Jennette's narration adds further emotional impact to her story.

Early on in the book, Jennette mentions that as a child she loved writing and preferred it to acting. Her mother dismisses the hobby to further encourage Jennette's acting career. I'm glad I was able to see the product of her writing now--a transparent, honest, but funny narrative of her childhood traumas and how she was able to recover and reclaim herself.

Jennette deserves all the peace and happiness for the rest of her life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, and Body shaming

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jillybean222's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Body shaming, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Addiction

Minor: Stalking and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

deathmetalheron's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

3.5

Memoir/biographies I find the least interesting--one person is usually not particularly worth focusing on, especially if it's biographical. Memoirs only really work if I'm interested in the person writing it.
This works in this case. In addition to its spicy and enticing title, I am very aware of Jennette McCurdy as I watched plenty of episodes of iCarly growing up. The more details I found out about her actual career, the more sad I got. It's easy to use television as an escape without realizing that the actors themselves are not characters and are real people. 
I'm Glad My Mom Died reads very quickly, the action cutting from chapter to chapter flashing through McCurdy's life from a young 4 all the way to near present day. It recounts different stories that highlight primarily her relationship with her mother but also some of the effects of mental illness and expectations she gained through her mother's treatment, most notably disordered eating. The book pulls no punches and more or less make a damning case for McCurdy's mother being truly problematic and hard to sympathize with.
The most profound moments of the book are McCurdy's recounting of her childhood days--her inner monologue is retold from her child's perspective with no analysis, so the events are seen through her eyes. Any adult reading it will instantly pick up on the behaviors exhibited by McCurdy's mother and the effect they will have in the future, and it compounds the innocence loss that McCurdy will eventually experience. The book gets a little bit less insightful as time goes on, and the ending lacks a bit of insight. I understand this might be the point but McCurdy is an effective writer and I would've loved to see her reflect on the experience a bit more. Additionally, this book targeted me VERY directly as a parent. It was odd to read a book where for most of my life I would put myself in Jennette's shoes but reading this I also saw myself as a future parent and how the choices I made as a father would eventually affect my own daughter's self perception. Definitely a thinker.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Vomit, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Medical content, and Dementia

katie_scht's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Excrement, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Grief, Medical trauma, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Cancer, Vomit, Death, Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

moonadjacent's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Engaging - brutally so. Several moments I had to pause and stare at the page in disbelief. Things just keep happening, but there is a lack of self-pity imbued in the author's voice. 

I do think she did herself some disservice in skimming over her recovery. To continuously have to fight for your wellbeing is no small feat and it would have been nice for her to get her flowers. At least she probably does outside of the book, considering its success. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Death of parent, Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Terminal illness, Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Vomit

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Infidelity, Drug use, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Rape