"I'm Glad My Mom Died"

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Pages: 320 Genre: memoir

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Former Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy talks about her life as a former child actor, full of eating disorders, addiction, and her relationship with her mother. She doesn't shy away from details as she tells story from when she first became an actor at 6 years old to now.

I don't really know how to review memoirs as a genre, but I really enjoyed this book.

I remembering watching at least a little bit of iCarly, but I never kept up with Jennette McCurdy that much. But being a dedicated fan isn't a prerequisite to reading and enjoying her book. Even if I am one of the last people to do so.

McCurdy is a good writer. Despite the obviously dark and heavy topics covered in the book, her writing voice is witty and engaging. It's not that the book is ha-ha funny, but rather that McCurdy maintains her personality throughout.

It did have a slight tendency to read as more juvenile: the book is written in first person from age 6 to late-20s, and the narrative voice remained the same throughout, which made the middle-20s sections seem younger than they were. I don't think this made the book any worse (if anything it worked as part of the grander "former child star" narrative), but it's something to note. In general I actually liked the decision of writing in present tense as it allowed the reader to mature and learn along with McCurdy instead of having to face constant, real-time analysis that would've started to feel inauthentic.

I also think McCurdy did a good job of picking moments to focus on. The primary story was about her relationship with her mother, so the stories she told focused on how that affected her. This means there was less attention given to things like the details of her time on Nickelodeon, but those things just weren't relevant to the story she was trying to tell. There were times when the timeline got a little confusing (the transitions between mere weeks and whole years would both be written the same), but overall the narrative was well-constructed.

Many of the things she shared in this book were just horrifying. It's old news at this point, but I still can't believe Nick tried to give her hush money. I wish the best for Jennette McCurdy, and I hope that the experience of writing and sharing the details of her life has proven to be a healing endeavor.

Also, I listened to the audio book, and McCurdy's narration is wonderful.