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magalis 's review for:
I'm Glad My Mom Died
by Jennette McCurdy
emotional
sad
fast-paced
I'm also glad Jennette McCurdy's mom died.
There's something inherently voyeuristic to celebrity memoirs, but it feels especially indecent when it's a child star memoir. We all know that the Hollywood system is set up to chew stars up and spit them out, and our society's obsession with child stars rewards pushy stage mom's and poor treatment of the children themselves (and it has since before motion pictures even existed). But having it written out so blatantly is rough. I was too old for iCarly when it came out, so I'm not overly familiar with McCurdy (outside of the occasional episode I saw when babysitting), and I almost skipped this book because of that, but I'm glad I ultimately decided to pick up a copy. Though I know part of that was my morbid curiosity to see behind the scenes and revel in another child star's trainwreck (I don't feel great about it).
There was a lot more going on in McCurdy's life than just the typical stage parent/child star relationship, but I'm also certain that many parts of her story would ring true for any number of child stars out there. Her mother was determined to live vicariously through her daughter, and pushed her to act even when Jennette expressed interest in stopping. She clearly has some mental health issues that went unaddressed (mood swings, hoarding tendencies, manipulative behavior) that resulted in Jennette's anxiety and desire to please her mother at any cost. Reading about McCurdy's childhood experiences is hard. Reading the detailed rundown of her eating disorders (encouraged by her mom) and slow road to recovery from them is hard. Putting this book down and walking away from it is hard.
I'm glad that McCurdy seems to be doing so much better in her life these days. It clearly hasn't been an easy road for her, but it was great to get to the end and have that bit of closure with her. The audiobook was narrated by McCurdy, which was very effective. I hope that writing it was therapeutic for her.
There's something inherently voyeuristic to celebrity memoirs, but it feels especially indecent when it's a child star memoir. We all know that the Hollywood system is set up to chew stars up and spit them out, and our society's obsession with child stars rewards pushy stage mom's and poor treatment of the children themselves (and it has since before motion pictures even existed). But having it written out so blatantly is rough. I was too old for iCarly when it came out, so I'm not overly familiar with McCurdy (outside of the occasional episode I saw when babysitting), and I almost skipped this book because of that, but I'm glad I ultimately decided to pick up a copy. Though I know part of that was my morbid curiosity to see behind the scenes and revel in another child star's trainwreck (I don't feel great about it).
There was a lot more going on in McCurdy's life than just the typical stage parent/child star relationship, but I'm also certain that many parts of her story would ring true for any number of child stars out there. Her mother was determined to live vicariously through her daughter, and pushed her to act even when Jennette expressed interest in stopping. She clearly has some mental health issues that went unaddressed (mood swings, hoarding tendencies, manipulative behavior) that resulted in Jennette's anxiety and desire to please her mother at any cost. Reading about McCurdy's childhood experiences is hard. Reading the detailed rundown of her eating disorders (encouraged by her mom) and slow road to recovery from them is hard. Putting this book down and walking away from it is hard.
I'm glad that McCurdy seems to be doing so much better in her life these days. It clearly hasn't been an easy road for her, but it was great to get to the end and have that bit of closure with her. The audiobook was narrated by McCurdy, which was very effective. I hope that writing it was therapeutic for her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Alcohol