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lomeraniel 's review for:
I'm Glad My Mom Died
by Jennette McCurdy
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
I had this on my TBR pile for a couple of years, but was afraid of what I was going to find. I didn't know if I'd want to unlearn what I read in the pages of this book. I've been working through trauma with a therapist for the last months, and I read several books about it, so I thought it was finally the moment to read this. I had also added it as part of a book challenge I'm participating in with some friends, and I needed a biography. I wasn't particularly interested in other biographies right now, so this book fit the bill.
At the beginning of the book, Jennette is on her mother's deathbed thinking about how her mother had told her how and who to be, and also wondering who she would be from now on, without her mother directing her life.
The events related by Jennette are highly disturbing, especially because the ones narrated before her mom died are seen through the innocent lens of childhood, and many of them are told like simple anecdotes or brushed aside as if they were nothing. The book is composed of short chapters, each narrating one of those events, with a narrative thread connecting them all. We witness how the tiny little episodes compound and derail her like a train later in life. What horrendous effects trauma has on a person who wasn't even aware she was abused by someone who was supposed to keep her safe.
I listened to the audio version. When I realized it was narrated by the author herself, I was kind of wary, as I often find that quality is often sacrificed to the author's ego. Jennette McCurdy is a professional actress, so this was better than expected, but I still find professional audiobook narrators have better diction than McCurdy here. It's true that the sentiment with which she read some parts was touching, and I understand why she wanted to narrate the book, but I think some coaching would have probably helped.
At the beginning of the book, Jennette is on her mother's deathbed thinking about how her mother had told her how and who to be, and also wondering who she would be from now on, without her mother directing her life.
The events related by Jennette are highly disturbing, especially because the ones narrated before her mom died are seen through the innocent lens of childhood, and many of them are told like simple anecdotes or brushed aside as if they were nothing. The book is composed of short chapters, each narrating one of those events, with a narrative thread connecting them all. We witness how the tiny little episodes compound and derail her like a train later in life. What horrendous effects trauma has on a person who wasn't even aware she was abused by someone who was supposed to keep her safe.
I listened to the audio version. When I realized it was narrated by the author herself, I was kind of wary, as I often find that quality is often sacrificed to the author's ego. Jennette McCurdy is a professional actress, so this was better than expected, but I still find professional audiobook narrators have better diction than McCurdy here. It's true that the sentiment with which she read some parts was touching, and I understand why she wanted to narrate the book, but I think some coaching would have probably helped.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment