Book Review: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Narrator: Jennette McCurdy
Published by Simon & Schuster on August 9, 2022
Genres: Memoirs
Pages: 320
Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
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A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.
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.

I had this on my TBR pile for a couple of years, but was afraid of what I was going to find. I didn’t know if I’d want to unlearn what I read in the pages of this book. I’ve been working through trauma with a therapist for the last months, and I read several books about it, so I thought it was finally the moment to read this. I had also added it as part of a book challenge I’m participating in with some friends, and I needed a biography. I wasn’t particularly interested in other biographies right now, so this book fit the bill.

At the beginning of the book, Jennette is on her mother’s deathbed thinking about how her mother had told her how and who to be, and also wondering who she would be from now on, without her mother directing her life.

The events related by Jennette are highly disturbing, especially because the ones narrated before her mom died are seen through the innocent lens of childhood, and many of them are told like simple anecdotes or brushed aside as if they were nothing. The book is composed of short chapters, each narrating one of those events, with a narrative thread connecting them all. We witness how the tiny little episodes compound and derail her like a train later in life. What horrendous effects trauma has on a person who wasn’t even aware she was abused by someone who was supposed to keep her safe.

I listened to the audio version. When I realized it was narrated by the author herself, I was kind of wary, as I often find that quality is often sacrificed to the author’s ego. Jennette McCurdy is a professional actress, so this was better than expected, but I still find professional audiobook narrators have better diction than McCurdy here. It’s true that the sentiment with which she read some parts was touching, and I understand why she wanted to narrate the book, but I think some coaching would have probably helped.

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