REVIEW: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
This goes through the volatile relationship Jennette had with her mother, the toll it took on her as she grew up and as she became successful. We see Jennette as a child endure emotional and physical abuse and as it continues into her early adulthood. All while seeing how she takes to the lime-light.
I picked this book up after hearing nothing but good things. A friend of mine and I trolled through the bookstore, for probably what felt like hours to her, and I couldn’t think of anything else to buy but this book and a Mark Tuan album. After reading this book… I’m really glad I bought the Mark Tuan album! It’s called “Other Side” go check it out!
This Memoir was ultimately not for me. The writing style was so simplistic I found myself not retaining anything she was saying. This made me a little irritated because a lot of people loved this book. I, personally, loved that she was supposedly bringing her struggle with eating disorders, body dysmorphia, childhood trauma and what it was like on a TV show I loved as a kid. Not even a quarter of the way into this book, I found myself just wishing it was over. At one point, I found it almost personal to just find out why people were gushing about this autobiography. I made myself try to finish it. I had to buy the audiobook and listen to that. I will admit, it was a far better experience listening to it… than it was physically reading it. If you wish to read this book, get the audiobook not the print copy, it’s the same price.
This book is 320 pages long, it is split into two parts. A “before” and an “after”. Marking the exact spot where her mother dies in the book. Three quarters of the way through. The conversational writing style did two things for me. 1. Made all the funny one-liners stand out and be actually funny. 2. Proved it incredibly difficult for me to feel sympathy for the abuse and physical violation she was writing about. I’m not saying that what she endured was okay, IT WAS NOT!!!! The writing style was just too quick to emotionally attach yourself to an eleven year old Jennette McCurdy and her devote passion to please her suffocating mother. Which I should’ve felt from the get-go with a title such as this.
Upon closing the book I had one question: Why are you glad she died when your life, unfortunately, got worse?
There were scenes in the book I could’ve lived without. One of them being something I want to touch on. After the death of her mother she has this boyfriend. The boyfriend says something to her about not wanting to have sex with her anymore because he feels as though he’s been living a godless life and wants to turn things around. She takes offense to this and forces herself on him. After he says no, she teases him and then walks away knowing he’s going to pull her back and he does… and they do… Now, I don’t know if she meant to show a parallel of how she was manipulating this situation like her mother used to manipulate her. If so, it was extremely unclear… But, NO MEANS NO!!!
The content of this book was heavy and delivered in a light and dry way. Which shouldn’t have been the case. I do commend the bravery it took for her to endure, get through and continue to recover from all of this all while being in the eye of the public. Although she made it clear that she hates Sam Puckett and toll the show took on her. I still love Jennette McCurdy for bringing that character to life for us all. I hate she had to go through all of this. I genuinely feel for her as much as I can, for I’ve never had to endure anything she spoke upon. It’s just the delivery fell flat for me. I think this was probably a better one-woman-show, like it started out as. If you like Jennette McCurdy or just want to see what the hype’s all about, like I said, listen to audiobook.
Unfortunately, I give I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy a respectful “absolutely not, don’t… just don’t.”
