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A review by trin
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
4.0
So hyped I felt I had to. (Even though yes, as half the reviews are saying, I had no idea who McCurdy was prior to the buzz around this book. It's us old people, that's who are saying that.)
This...lives up to the hype, in so much that it's an absolutely brutal look at abuse in the home (genuinely leaves you wondering: why is homeschooling allowed?) and, to a lesser extent, in Hollywood. This is some truly harrowing stuff, yet also horrific in how normalized it is -- like of course her mom encouraged her eating disorder; of course she, in the stage mom cliche, tried to puppet her daughter into fulfilling her own dreams. I felt like I needed to shower (SOLO!) after reading this.
McCurdy recounts it all in a breezy, page-turning style that's notable for how deeply she embodies her feelings in these moments. I do wish, however, that her editor had taken a slightly firmer hand and at least occasionally told her that like, that's not what "overwrought" means. Also -- the book skips over what I was imagining would be the most transformative and revelatory part: when and how McCurdy realizes how toxic and abusive her mother has been! Maybe she doesn't yet feel like she has perspective on that, the way she does on her childhood, but I would have liked to see her arrive at the revelation of the title in the text.
This...lives up to the hype, in so much that it's an absolutely brutal look at abuse in the home (genuinely leaves you wondering: why is homeschooling allowed?) and, to a lesser extent, in Hollywood. This is some truly harrowing stuff, yet also horrific in how normalized it is -- like of course her mom encouraged her eating disorder; of course she, in the stage mom cliche, tried to puppet her daughter into fulfilling her own dreams. I felt like I needed to shower (SOLO!) after reading this.
McCurdy recounts it all in a breezy, page-turning style that's notable for how deeply she embodies her feelings in these moments. I do wish, however, that her editor had taken a slightly firmer hand and at least occasionally told her that like, that's not what "overwrought" means. Also -- the book skips over what I was imagining would be the most transformative and revelatory part: when and how McCurdy realizes how toxic and abusive her mother has been! Maybe she doesn't yet feel like she has perspective on that, the way she does on her childhood, but I would have liked to see her arrive at the revelation of the title in the text.