Review of I'm Glad My Mother Died by Jennette McCurdy
Title: I'm Glad My Mother Died
Author: Jennette McCurdy
Genre: Memoir, Biography
Year Published: 2022
My Rating: 5/5
TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual abuse, disordered eating, death of a parent, alcoholism
Blurb
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.
Review
I'm not usually a fan of memoirs, I'm not sure why. However, I heard good things about McCurdy's and I have to admit, the title and the cover made the book very intriguing!
Slight spoilers here: the book starts with McCurdy sitting by her mother's side in hospital in a coma. One of the first things she says to her mother, to try and wake her up, is
“Mommy. I am… so skinny right now. I’m finally down to eighty-nine pounds".\
From that moment on, you know that the book is going to be absolutely heart-wrenching. McCurdy is direct, yet still light-hearted, in her prose. She seeks to relay her suffering to you in the simplest of ways and highlighting the abuse that she - and many others - have suffered in the career of being a child actor. However, she does bring some brevity to her writing; letting her own personality - not whatever her mother wanted her to be like - shine through. From my perspective, she is wanting her readers to be aware of the abuses and suffering her and many others have endured, but doesn't want them to be too down heartened.
McCurdy picks up on her mother's own eating disorders and possible (definite) mental illnesses and it is clear that her mother never sought to overcome them; only to bring her family down with her. With this, I am so proud to see that nearer the end of the book, McCurdy takes control and wants to improve herself by becoming healthy again without negatively affecting those around her.
I want my life to be in my hands. Not an eating disorder’s or a casting director’s or an agent’s or my mom’s. Mine."
I'm so pleased to see that, together with Jeff, she seemed to overcome her eating disorder and I wish her all the happiness in the world.