A review by randi_jo
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I <i>devoured</i> this book. Honestly Jennette's prose is easy to read, flows like water, and makes the time go by so fast that you don't even realize it's passing. And while it's very candid, I wouldn't go as far as to say there is humor in this book. There are a few morbidly humorous lines, but it's certainly not the overall tone. Rather, the book comes with an entire list of trigger warnings that include but are not limited to:
eating disorders, mental illness and the refusal to be treated, child abuse, sexual abuse, and alcohol abuse
, so it might not be for everyone, but I feel like it tells an important story about toxic parents and how their children suffer in various ways because of them, during and after their relationship with them.

Spoilers from here on:

I think what I was most impressed about was the 'before' section where Jennette wrote about her mother and all the abuses she suffered, but framed in the narrative where she sees her mom as an angel, that her mom can do no wrong, about how much she loves her mother and her mother loves her. There moments where she's uncomfortable, or anxious, or upset, but she always manages to write it off instead of pointing finger at what, we the audience, know is the manipulations of her very unwell mother.

And I love that the 'after' section wasn't just an immediate "yay, she's dead! Now I can live my life!", but rather years of struggle to find her identity, the truth, and the help she so desperately needed in order to choose the life that she wanted for herself. Recovery is a long, difficult process and I'm really glad that it's represented here as the trials and tribulations that it is. The ending was perfect, light, and optimistic, but not so much that it was cheesy. I loved it.
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