AUDIO BOOK REVIEW: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeannette McCurdy

Publication Date: August 9, 2022 Format: Audio Genre:  Memoir Narrators: Jeannette McCurdy

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio  Length: 6 hours 50 min Buy: Kindle | Audio

Synopsis

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

Review: 

I found this book on Scribd. 

The title is what prompted me to read the book. I mean talk about dark! I had also heard a lot of good things about it so I figured I needed to grab it and I'm glad I did.

McCurdy's book is honest, heartbreaking, astonishing, humorous and dark.  Most of the book focuses on her relationship with her mother and the coping mechanisms she used to feel more in control. Her mother was a hoarder, emotionally and physically abusive and withheld crucial information from them. She showered Jeannette and her brothers until they were 16 and would often use guilt and anger to get her way.

It isn't until her mother dies and the grief that comes from losing that codependent relationship that Jeannettes life really spirals out of control.  Ultimately she does get help but still struggles with her relationship with her mother.  She loves her and misses her but also is angry and traumatized by what she did to her. 

Its the honesty that makes this book shine.  These are hard truths and McCurdy doesn't shy away from the hard truths of her family. 

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