I’m Glad My Mom Died audiobook

this is a very candid account on the abuse jennette mccurdy suffered at the hands of her narcissistic mother, and how that merged with her experience as a child actress. i don’t think you need to be familiar with her show, or even know/care about her as a person to glean lots from this book, and i think it's an important text that could even be considered historical, due to her nature as a public figure and the way her story is likely representative of a much larger population of child actors.for those hoping to get a “tea sesh” about the abuse rampant at nickelodeon, you won’t be getting that here, despite it being what the major media outlets are currently fixating on. jennette doesn’t shy away from talking about her experience with sam & cat (she hated it) and her experience with dan schnieder (terrible person, obviously, whom she never refers to by name), and even dedicates a short chapter to ariana grande, but this novel isn’t centered around that in the slightest, and to come into this book only for that would be a disservice to jennette's story.reading about the abuse jennette experienced firsthand is completely heartbreaking. she writes about having an eating disorder, given to her by her mother, and feeling beholden to her mother at all times. from calling her ten times a day to insisting on showering her even as a teenager, this book is full of triggering content, and i would urge those who have experiences abuse to proceed with caution. i think especially with gen z, we haven’t had a ton of actors from disney and nickelodeon speak out specifically about their experiences on set (the $300,000 offer from Nickelodeon jennette turned down may explain that) and how child acting impacted their lives, and it’s a very necessary perspective to hear as the consumers of that media. hearing some of the things jennette said about her stardom were jarring, in that as children we don’t really know what’s going on behind the scenes and mindlessly consume without regard to the actors lives. i also thought it was super interesting to get the perspective of a very self aware child star that didn’t become super successful on screen after their breakout role, and the narrative she builds around /why/ that was.this book was super impactful, and i have no doubt will reach a large audience. mccurdy's writing style is succinct yet impactful, well organized, balanced with seriousness and humor, told in a very blunt tone. i would definitely recommend listening to the book via audiobook which is narrated by her because it adds a whole new layer of tone. this was a tough reading experience, but i really loved the book and would highly recommend to everyone.

As someone who’s never watched Nickelodeon or anything with this author, I was still highly engrossed in Jennette's story. You can tell she’s more passionate about writing than acting because her writing is of a higher caliber than other celebrity memoirs that were likely ghost-written. She describes events chronologically in such a detailed and engaging way, picking specific memories to demonstrate the dysfunction of her childhood. I appreciated her honesty, dry humor, and even her bitterness and negativity. Her train of thought is very similar to my own mentality (irritability, cynicism, being extremely critical of ourselves, etc) and having that mirrored back from another deeply wounded person was eye-opening. It makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one who processes life this way... Can we do group therapy together, Jennette?!While I appreciate the level of detail in recalling these events (no easy feat for those dealing with trauma), I would’ve loved to see more reflections of the themes across the book, like her present-day thoughts on her family, Hollywood, child stardom, body image, etc. As well as her learnings from therapy that she’s incorporating moving forward, just to give the rest of us more hope! Regardless, I look forward to seeing her future work and wish her nothing but happiness.

Jennette McCurdy is extremely talented in her writing and i hope she writes more in the future (whatever genre idc, i’ll read anything) because this book alone was a literary masterpiece.it’s very fast pace. i appreciated how Jennette didn’t go into a ton of detail regarding certain subjects. it was just “yup this is was it is, this is how it is, and this is what i’m doing about it” it was very raw and real in my opinion. no flowery language one thing i’ve seen a lot of people say about this book is “wow she’s so funny, her humor is great, ect.” which i don’t entirely understand since everything Jennette went through and described in this book was devastating. from the multiple forms of abuse, eating disorders, and having to grow up too fast….um where is the humor in that?! i did listen to the audiobook with this (which jennette also narrated) and there’s points in which you hear her actually crying.nonetheless, i’m glad to see Jennette thriving in her writing career which she always wanted. i wish her nothing but the best for her.

more child celebrities should write books methinks

I’m glad her mom died too.

i am going to read the shit out of this book

the hype is right.this is what everyone says it is: an excellent debut, a memoir that doesn't pull punches, honest, clear-eyed, and well-written.am i glad i read it? no. this is a grueling read that i picked up based on just how often i heard it spoken of, a level of public discussion i have to assume had to do with the guilty thrill of finding out horrible secrets about people whose faces we see every day. but that's what celebrity memoir is all about. secrets sell and it certainly isn't the author's fault that that's started rubbing me the wrong way.bottom line: an excellent example of a genre i'm going to try to steer clear of.

I'm Glad Her Mom Died Too"Why do we romanticize the dead...?Indeed. Why do we?Before this book came out, my knowledge of Jennette McCurdy only extended to random gifs featuring her iCarly character, Sam Puckett. I didn't actually know who she was and what they were from, I just knew they were funny and fit my "book review" purposes. Here's an example:When this book dropped, however, I was drawn to the title, the gloriously vintage macabre book cover, and the fact that it was getting rave reviews. I was excited to read this and loved the cover so much that I purchased the hardcover drop instead of waiting for my library hold. I initially started this in early September, but for personal reasons I won't get into, I had to set it down for a bit. I have almost no triggers and can read pretty much anything without being all that affected, but - again - for personal reasons I won't get into, I found the details of Jennette's mother's behavior, narcissism, and emotional manipulation to be extremely triggering. And don't even get me started on the eating disorder triggers. I was also amidst a fairly stressful period in my work life, so I decided to wait until that was over before picking this back up. Fast forward a little over a month and my library audiobook hold was by then available, so I decided to jump back in with that format. Let me just say that I can't recommend the audiobook version of this highly enough. It is obviously read by Jennette McCurdy herself and I think she does a great job of it. I think the dichotomies of Jennette's life and story are very interesting and well explained. She is able to get across very nuanced and contradictory sentiments without sounding like a complete whiner. And that's a really hard thing to accomplish in practice. For example, she is able to outline how, despite understanding how privileged and "lucky" she was to be famous and on TV, she loathed acting, a lot of the fans, and the experiences that came with it all. ^See how assholey that's sounds just me saying it? Well, she nails it in the book, I promise you. I also felt very connected to Jennette and had a lot of empathy for her. I grew up in LA County and am VERY familiar with almost every location she references in the LA/Orange County area. I literally drive by the Westminster Mall (which she references being that she grew up in Garden Grove, and which is basically a nonexistent ghost mall now) every day on the freeway on my way to work. Also, I know I said I didn't want to get too woo-woo personal, but I will just say this: I deeply connected to Jennette in terms of understanding the longstanding effects (as a child who doesn't know any better) of being made to feel like you are responsible for the state of mind and emotions of another person - an ADULT person. For years. It steals your childhood, stunts you emotionally, and really takes a long time to work through. Some people should just NOT have children, folks. It's just that simple. I mean, what they say really is true: a lot of people spend their adulthood just trying to get over their childhoods. And that's even true for "GOOD" parents. But I digress. I liked how self-aware Jennette is. Or, at least, how self-aware she appeared to be in this book. That said, I also feel like this memoir came a little soon in terms of Jennette's recovery. She's very, very new to being on "the other side" of things. Although perhaps this book is a part of that, and so I can't fault her for that. And who am I to judge or criticize. Overall, this book was a great account of a very unique human experience. I will definitely check out any future books or content Jennette puts out in the future. And I'm rooting for her, her recovery, and her happiness.

for the record, i'm glad her mom died too

THIS DESERVES EVERY OUNCE OF HYPE IT'S BEEN BLESSED WITH!Warning to look up trigger warnings before proceeding. There is a LOT of triggering content in this book. It doesn't shy away from facing problems head on and with an unflinching tone.I adored this book. It is so rare for me to be impacted this deeply.When I tell you I stayed up until 5 am to finish this book because I simply couldn't sleep without knowing Jennette would be okay.I grew up on iCarly. I love Sam. I watched this show with no inkling of an idea of what Jennette was going through. The fact that there are people out there that did know *cough* Dan *cough*, is sickening to me. This isn't JUST a look at how horrifying Hollywood is, especially child stars, but it's also a harrowing depiction of how manipulative love can be. The way a parent's all consuming love for their child can be weaponized and watered to grow into something this vile and life altering is absolute insanity.I truly wish the absolute best for Jennette McCurdy. I know she'll never see this. But my heart goes out to her and everything she has been forced to face. I hope she is awarded every ounce of happiness that a life can possibly offer. She deserves a life of no red lights, no lines, no pauses before 'I love you's. She impacted me so much with her honesty and I can't thank her enough for writing not only a horrifying story but also a damn good book.

I was not a huge fan of Nickelodeon, and I watched their shows only once in a while during my childhood. Drake & Josh and iCarly were the two shows I watched. I particularly remember the part where Sam (Jennette McCurdy) talks about reading in iCarly, which became a famous meme. Her acting in iCarly was spot on and funny. Jennette did a brilliant job while acting, which is why people like me who rarely watched the show still remember her.Whenever we hear the name Jennette McCurdy a bubbly, loud, energetic young lady comes to our mind, as her friend Miranda Cosgrove mentions in this book. This book tells us that there were a lot of hardships and sorrow hidden behind those energetic and brilliant performances. Seven key ideas from this book 1) If child labor is unethical, aren't child actors too unethical? During December every year, when it is nearer to Christmas, there is something that everyone all over the world (especially in America) will do. It is to rewatch the Home Alone movie. The family dynamics of the McCallister family, ingenious script by John Huges, brilliant direction by Chris Colombus, fantastic music by John Williams, and extraordinary production design and sets will make us relive our childhood. Home Alone is pure nostalgia for many people. Apart from everything mentioned above, the biggest factor that brings us back to rewatch Home Alone is the amazing acting by Macaulay Culkin. I was shocked when I heard that he had to sacrifice his entire childhood to entertain us. He was abused both physically and mentally by his jealous father. The law caught him with marijuana possession. He was arrested for speeding and many other illegal activities. The abuse has affected his mental health, which pushed him into addiction. Parents using their children as money-making machines by making them actors and making them overwork for different movies when they should be going to school has been a severe issue in the life of many child actors. If we closely observe the career graph of child actors, we can see that only very few become great actors when they grow up. In Jennette's story also, we can see that she was not at all interested in acting. But her mother forced her to act even from the age of six. Nobody even cared to ask her what Jennette liked to do. She tells in this book that she hated acting, which is why she quit acting after her mother died. If child labor is unethical, then child actors are also unethical. Then the million-dollar question of who will do the children's role in the movies will arise. If child actors were not there, how would they have made movies like Harry Potter, where most of the main actors are children? “I HATE ACTING CLASS. Even though it's a chunk of time away from Home, I don't look forward to this class the same way I look forward to church because I find acting even more uncomfortable than being stuck at Home." 2) How did the "Creator" make Jennette's life miserable? This is another big problem child actors face, the predators on the shooting sets. The author mentions a "creator" who behaved harshly toward her. This same creator also allegedly misbehaved with some other crew members in a sexually inappropriate way. We have heard about many child stars who were sexually harassed on the shooting sets. Some even make them work overtime, destroying the younger kids' enthusiasm and courage. I think the only way to prevent child actors from being exploited by parents and crew members is by appointing an internal committee in every shooting set that even has access to mental health care professionals if needed. This committee should ensure that a certain percentage of children's earnings should be solely used for children's personal needs like education. This will prevent the children from being monetarily misused by their parents. It is challenging to implement this as different countries have different rules and procedures. A very few countries have tried to implement a similar method. But they were all disasters due to their lack of planning and coordination. If Hollywood and people in the USA start implementing it perfectly, all the countries may slowly follow it. A similar rule should be implemented for the children on social media (especially a few family channels on youtube.), even though it will be a little bit more complicated to implement in those cases.“Cut!” The Creator yells off camera, his mouth full of something."“But our wardrobe designer said that The Creator explicitly asked for bikinis, and so she had to at least have me try on one or two of them so he had the option. ” 3) How are children's life affected by their narcissistic parents? Falling into a narcissistic romantic relationship is a harrowing experience. Being the daughter of a narcissistic mother is a much more painful experience. This book shows how her mother totally controlled her daughter's life. The author tells us how proper medical help and therapy after such a long physical and mental abuse helped her recover from such abysmal despair. "My mother emotionally, physically and mentally abused me in ways that will forever impact me.""I realize that she's happy and I'm not. Her happiness came at the cost of mine. I feel robbed and exploited." 4) Do we need to romanticize the dead? This is a tough question to answer. Some say objectivity is born after a person dies. It is true that death changes the light in which we see people. But up to what extent? Can mourning alternate realities? These are a few among the many questions I have asked myself after reading one book some time ago on this topic. The author brings this topic back into the limelight.Some people say it is better to speak about the positive sides of the dead person during the time of grief, but not focus on their negative facets as everybody also has a negative side to their personalities along with the positives. But what will we do if the person only has a negative side and the positive side is almost nil? I think it is better to remain silent than to focus on the negatives during mourning. These are the questions that we should contemplate a lot before answering. The answers to the above questions vary depending on the individual's personality and character. “Why do we romanticize the dead? Why can't we be honest about them? Especially moms, they're the most romanticized of anyone. ” 5) Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa Both anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders. In anorexia, people restrict their food intake to lose weight. In bulimia, people will eat an excessive amount of food in a short period of time and then purge them using various methods to prevent weight gain. Both these disorders will cause severe health problems. For example in bulimia due to repeated trauma to the esophagus due to vomiting gastric acidic contents, the person can develop esophageal adenocarcinoma. So, this is a serious medical problem that healthcare professionals should treat. "Jennette, what you're describing is... really unhealthy. Your mother essentially condoned your anorexia, encouraged it. She... taught it to you. That's abuse." 6) Friendship. Building a good friendship takes a lot of time, effort, and sacrifice. We can see the author talking about friendships in this book. I remember reading about different types of friendship in a book.Friendships can be classified into three. -1) Friendship of pleasure - Friendship ends when the enjoyment and fun end.- 2) Friendship of convenience - Friendship ends when the convenience factor end.- 3) True friendship - Friendship based on mutual respect.The author mentions that she dislikes friendship of convenience. "I don't like knowing people in the context of things. "Oh, that's the person I work out with. That's the person I'm in a book club with. That's the person I did that show with." Because once the context ends, so does the friendship." 7) What is the problem with comparing our life with that of successful people? In this age of social media, every one of us has a tendency to know more about the life of successful people from their social media profiles and compare our life with theirs. The biggest problem is that people only post the positive side of their lives on social media. So checking others' Instagram profiles and comparing our life to others can push us into anxiety and depression. In Jennette's case, she had Ariana Grande as the co-star in one of the shows, and she developed a habit of comparing her life with Ariane's. This is a habit we should never develop, and the author tells us all the troubles she had to face due to this behavior. "The third is that Ariana is at the stage in her career where she's popping up on every 30 Under 30 list that exists. And I'm at the stage in my career where my team is excited that I'm the new face of Rebecca Bonbon, a tween clothing line featuring a cat with her tongue sticking out. Sold exclusively at Walmart. And I frequently make the mistake of comparing my career to Ariana's. I can't help it. I'm constantly in the same environment as her, and she doesn't exactly try to hide her successes." My favourite three lines from this book "Suddenly, I feel just like that little eleven-year-old girl who was confused and scared and uncertain. That eleven-year-old girl who was doubtful that I knew the whole truth of my situation, who was unsure that my mother was the hero she pretended to be, but who shoved that doubt down." "I don't like when grown-ups make faces or sounds that I don't understand. It's frustrating. It makes me feel like I'm missing something.” "And the kids who are annoying, don't take direction, ask questions—those are the kids who won't get sent out on auditions. The kids who will get auditions are the ones who shut up and do as they're told." What could have been better? The title of this book is a brutal one. I think Jennette should have given it a much more positive title. This current title will indeed pull the attention of many new readers to this book. But it also has its demerits. Whenever the author hears or sees the name of this book in the future, the first emotion that will come to her mind might be anger and sadness just because of this title. I can never tell that the author should have forgiven her mother as she had to suffer a lot due to her. But still, I think the title is brutal, and it should have been a different optimistic one. Rating 5/5 This celebrity memoir might be a difficult book, but you should never miss the opportunity to read it.

**Winner of the 2022 Goodreads Choice Award for Memoirs!**Chances are, if you have a TikTok or Instagram you know what this book is. I mean, I'm Glad My Mom Died was on back order already the morning it was published and was a sought after title all August and is a book you just cannot avoid if you have an internet connection or local bookstore. Nor should you. Jennette McCurdy, the former iCarly actress, speaks so openly and candidly about a lifelong cycle of abuse and dependency with her mother (who passed in, as the title likely led you to assume), chronicling trauma and serious mental health struggles such as eating disorders that all were brought upon her through the need to serve her mother’s wishes. It’s one I’ve had right in everyone’s faces at the bookstore since we finally got copies, as the title is sure to solicit reactions and I privately enjoy seeing them, but also it is an important look at abuse and recovery. I had to finally read it. I mean we all deserve a Hot Girl Summer but can I truly say I had one if I didn’t read any Colleen Hoover, Beach Read or at least this, the most popular book of the end of summer? No. And I’m glad I did pick this up to read at work because this deserves all the hype and more, and I hope this is another success on McCurdy's road to improved mental health. While she loved her mother, their relationship was often abusive and left a lot to detangle in adulthood. Deeply personal and moving, this is a look into McCurdy's life as well as a necessary warning about the ways young girls are objectified, commodified and exploited, even by those closest to them.‘I realize that she’s happy and I’m not. Her happiness came at the cost of mine. I feel robbed and exploited.’That line says it all, honestly. This is an upsetting account of McCurdy's life, and one where all the warning signs were out in the open and ignored. Especially by Nickelodeon who don’t exactly come across well here. We’ve heard horror stories about the treatment of child actors for as long as there have been child actors, though this isn’t simply another case file of grievances but a really heartfelt self-examination and testimony. McCurdy comes across as very open and honest, and it really paints a positive look at her as a person who has gone through so much. There are times when she discusses the anger she felt, which feels justified and as Soraya Chemaly talks about in the book Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger, sometimes anger is the appropriate response in order to not be silenced or ignored. It can be an important tool, or an armor as McCurdy describes: ‘I became an angry person with no tolerance for anyone. I'm aware of this shift and yet have no desire to change it. If anything, I want it. It's armor. It's easier to be angry than to feel to pain underneath it.’She also expresses feelings of regret for having lashed out in these times, looking at how abuse shouldn’t just beget another cycle of abuse, and these discussions seem to come from a place of maturity and healing. It is likely very encouraging and empowering for victims of abuse to read much of this book, though heads up, it does get into some very triggering situations and topics.‘Mom only sits in when I’m being the thing she wanted to be.’McCurdy shows how so much of her life was lived to be what her mother wanted, and much of this became painful. She was raised in a Mormon household and was homeschooled by her mother, a mom who wanted to always present a perfect image and often lashed out hurtfully. In short, McCurdy is open about her mom having narcissistic tendencies, and while she is still caring for her mother (she does make it clear she very much loved her mother), the scars are quickly apparent. From years of life like this, McCurdy felt she lacked an authentic self, and this carried over into struggles with body image from seeing one’s own self as an object that serves others instead of something personally only yours. This is a major theme in the essays in My Body by Emily Ratajkowski for those looking for further reading on the subject. When fearing her breasts would grow during puberty, the mother encouraged extreme calorie reduction and dangerous dieting practices. While discussions of the mother bookend this memoir, the bulk of the middle portion is about eating disorders. Most tragic is the moment in the hospital with her siblings saying goodbye to her mother when she says the one thing she thinks could actually make her mother proud of her: ‘I'm in the ICU with my dying mother, and the thing that I'm sure will get her to wake up, is the fact that in the days since mom has been hospitalized, my fear and sadness have morphed into the perfect anorexia motivation cocktail, and finally I have achieved mom's current goal weight for me: 89 pounds.’There is a lot to be said about the ways this reflects a general attitude around young women and girls, especially in the entertainment industry and how it robs them of their own agency. ‘I was conditioned to believe any boundary I wanted was a betrayal of her, so I stayed silent,’ she writes, and in this we see how these systems perpetuate themselves: silence. Young women and girls are broken down to believe they are in service to another (we could get into a long discussion on how this is the social framing inflicted by the intersections of misogyny and capitalism) and silence is induced by making them first feel they wouldn’t be believed or listened to but also that they deserve it, it’s for their own good or that they don’t even have the agency to speak out. It is truly tragic how often victims of abuse are silenced when they do speak out, which is another tool in oppression.So this book is a lot, but it is also very good and seems very healing. I was under the impression based on how it was presented and marketed that this was more of a comedic memoir, so heads up if that was what you assumed as well, but the weight and power of her words as she discusses a lifetime of abuse is definitely worth reading for. It does read very plainly, almost like a “class assignment” type of tone recounting events, though they are certainly difficult memories to have to revisit. I hope McCurdy is doing well, and it is very honorable of her to use her experience to reach out and help others in this way. There could have been more depth to some of it, but this is less a look at the causes and social critiques and more at the personal effects she endured. There are great reminders too about how to move forward and not get bogged down in being perfect, such as when she writes that ‘slips are totally normal. When you have a slip, it’s just that. A slip. It doesn’t define you. It doesn’t make you a failure. The most important thing is that you don’t let that slip become a slide‘. I won’t get too much more into it, as you should probably read the book and this is McCurdy's story to tell, but I am very glad I read this.'My mom didn't get better. But I will.'

Shall we light it up? A bridge. It’s time.When I was in middle school, my mother told me that my glasses were ugly, that the children would call me Four-Eyes. Interesting Fact: No one has ever called me this but my mother. She taught me a cabbage soup diet and how to put on trash bags and go running to lose weight. At the end of a long day, my mom swung by a fast-food restaurant. She demanded that I go up and see what the operating hours were. Being super introverted, I hesitated. She started screaming, letting off a stream of obscenities.While I was in college in my early 20’s, I stopped by my mother’s apartment for a visit. She walked right by me in the parking lot. She said that I was so fat that I looked pregnant, and she didn’t recognize me.When I was making $6.70 per hour, working part-time at Sears, my mother asked that I purchase a $200 set of pajamas for her. When I explained that I didn’t even have $200 to my name, was she sympathetic? No way. She laid into a guilt trip. Did I love her? Didn’t she do so much for me? What has that to do with I’m Glad My Mom Died? I know firsthand what it is like to live with someone who has Borderline Personality Disorder, and Jennette’s mom has the classic symptoms. This book really resonated with me.I’m Glad My Mom Died is an important work. It lets other people know that they aren’t alone, especially if their parents aren’t top 10% parents. Some parents are bottom 10% parents. It has been a long time since I have felt seen. The last book that I felt really conveyed the complexity of a dysfunctional parent-child relationship is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Did I spend years trying to win my mother’s love? Yes. But do I want to be the person that she would love? No. Because I value honesty and intellect. Because I don’t define my self-worth by beauty or popularity. Having a mother with borderline personality disorder has a profound impact on a child’s development. Here is one study by the National Library of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3268672/ It’s time we end the silence.Connect With Me!Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook Insta

my blog review TW: Anorexia, abuse (emotional, child), bulimia, cancer, eating disorders, drugs and alcohol abuse, death, grief, mental illness, manipulation, grooming.To me, reading and rating a memoir is something delicate, because that person is opening up about their experiences, their traumas, thoughts and emotions that are very private or painful sometimes.Wow, I have no words. I'm just proud of Jennette and wish for her the best because she deserves a good life, happiness and so much love.Must of us grew up watching Nickelodeon shows like iCarly, Drake & Josh, Big Time Rush, Zoey 101 and many more, laughing at many characters' jokes or actions, not knowing that perhaps some of those actors were having a really bad time.This memoir isn't about Jennette's days in Nickelodeon, yes, she talks about some of her struggles. This memoir is about her early years, before and getting in the entertainment industry, her teen years and early adulthood. It's really painful to read about Jennette's struggles with food. While on iCarly she (her character) was obsessed with food, Jennette was obsessed with it, too, but not in the same way. Her mother impossed onto her this unhealthy routine that developed in anorexia and years later in bulimia.This book is totally worth to read. And I totally loved it. Jennette is a wonderful story-teller, I liked the writing, that is so captivating and beautiful. I'm really proud of her and wish to her nothing but happiness.

Shit, I'm glad her Mom died too.

Wow. A very revealing and honest memoir. Unsure what parts people found funny. I didn’t laugh once and didn’t see any parts that were structured for humor. Nickelodeon and Disney was a huge part of my childhood and I loved iCarly and loved Sam. Hearing Jennette’s story is another example of how you don’t know what’s happening to someone behind closed doors. As talented as she was in acting, I’m glad she made the decision to walk away. No one should be forced into a career they never wanted - especially a career as draining and consuming emotionally, mentally and physically as acting. Her mother’s abuse was tough to hear. It’s more painful to see how much Jennette wanted to appease her mom all the way until the very end of her life. She consistently put her mom’s needs before her own and her mom would willingly exploit and manipulate her knowing this. The title and cover is alarming and provocative but justified. If you assume Jennette never loved her mother, the story proves the exact opposite. The title is not a reflection of Jennette but the treatment of her mother towards her. Her mother severely betrayed and abused her and Jennette loved her while she was alive despite it. But time and healing allowed her to see the long term damage her mother has done and some damage is irreversible. Her story sheds more light to how we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to all the different forms, relationships and dynamics abuse can happen. If anything, parental abuse should be looked at with the utmost seriousness due to the power dynamic and pressures to love your family despite their faults, even when they hurt you. I could go on, but if any part of her story interests you, I would recommend reading. Major trigger warnings for abuse, eating disorders, bulimia, and anorexia. She is very blunt and candid about her life with eating disorders. Jennette from an early age wanted to write but her mom didn’t support her. I’m glad Jennette is finally able to do what she always wanted.

I devoured this book, it hit close to home in a way I did not fully expect. The writing was a bit terse at times, so maybe 4.5 stars?? Idk I feel weird rating memoirs obviously but the honesty and vulnerability and truth in McCurdy’s story was shocking and incredible. I wish nothing but the best for her!! But also based off of her narration of her own life, I wonder if she is gay???? Sorry sorry I’m lesbian projecting maybe but like… anyways this peak into the horror and brutality of child stardom and Hollywood’s bullshit was so moving and insightful, and the shift from a childish voice and perspective at the beginning of the book as it progressed onward was well done I think. I feel like anyone who’s seen any episode of iCarly or any other Nickelodeon show should definitely read this…

you know what jennette? i’m also glad your mom died!!!!