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A review by tabby09
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
This was an amazing memoir. I listened to it on audiobook and Jennette narrated it wonderfully. All parts of it were interesting to me, from the deeply enmeshed relationship with her mother, her mother's narcissism and her reaction to developing breast cancer, the hoarder home she grew up in, her feelings about her acting career, her mormon faith, and her experiences suffering from anorexia and ocd.
The chapters were short and impactful.
I went into this memoir because I recognized Jennette from ICarly when I was younger and was intrigued by her relationship with her mother and pushing her into acting. What I ended up finding the most interesting though was her depicting the development of her eating disorder, her experiences with therapy, and her recovery.
Jennette explaining her complicated relationship with her mother, how she was everything to her and unable to separate herself, despite what the readers can see is clear abuse, was compelling and heartbreaking. The journey to her realizing what was happening and how unhealthy the relationship was, before and after the mother's death, was well done. The complicated feelings of grief, too.
This is the first memoir I've read in a long time and I enjoyed it enough that I'll be looking for others in audiobook form. There's something special about hearing someone read their memoir out loud.
If you are currently struggling with an eating disorder, I would recommend checking in with yourself and possibly your therapist before starting it. There are depictions of restriction, purging, bingeing, etc that are sometimes a bit graphic. It could also be triggering for anyone with a parent going through cancer treatments or experiencing terminal illness, have recently lost a parent, or are the child of a narcissistic parent.
The chapters were short and impactful.
I went into this memoir because I recognized Jennette from ICarly when I was younger and was intrigued by her relationship with her mother and pushing her into acting. What I ended up finding the most interesting though was her depicting the development of her eating disorder, her experiences with therapy, and her recovery.
Jennette explaining her complicated relationship with her mother, how she was everything to her and unable to separate herself, despite what the readers can see is clear abuse, was compelling and heartbreaking. The journey to her realizing what was happening and how unhealthy the relationship was, before and after the mother's death, was well done. The complicated feelings of grief, too.
This is the first memoir I've read in a long time and I enjoyed it enough that I'll be looking for others in audiobook form. There's something special about hearing someone read their memoir out loud.
If you are currently struggling with an eating disorder, I would recommend checking in with yourself and possibly your therapist before starting it. There are depictions of restriction, purging, bingeing, etc that are sometimes a bit graphic. It could also be triggering for anyone with a parent going through cancer treatments or experiencing terminal illness, have recently lost a parent, or are the child of a narcissistic parent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Child abuse, Grief, Medical content, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, and Body shaming
OCD, Hoarding, Stroke, hospital setting, narcissistic parent, fear of aging