I'm Glad My Mom Died Hardcover – August 9, 2022

Jennette McCurdy, child Star of Kids shows iCarly, and Sam and Cat is a gifted, storyteller. Now 31, Jennette hasn’t written another self-help workbook or how-to book. She reveals her domineering, maniacal mother and their dynamics with hilarity, pathos, and agony.“Naked” is the best way to describe how our author depicts her fascinating journey. She was not without a plethora of trauma:• Waking at 4am for her first day at age 6 as background on the show X-files• Growing up in a hoarder household• The impact of being a Mormon• Stardom• Emancipating herself from the bondage of an eating disorder instigated by mom• Her struggle to develop into a womanThe reader is sucked into Jennette’s very entertaining, pungently real, and disturbing world. “How many times can you pratfall over a carpet or sell a line you don’t believe in before your soul dies?”Debra McCurdy was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer when Jennette was two. Jennette’s two purposes growing up were; 1) to be the closest person in the world to her mother and 2) keeping her mother alive. Every birthday Jennette wished her mother to live another year believing her mother’s life was in her little hands.Debra loved to recount her cancer story to the family. “She goes so far as to MC a weekly rewatch of a home video she made shortly after learning of her diagnosis. ‘All right, everyone, shhhh. Let’s be quiet. Let’s watch and be grateful for where Mommy is now’ “Mom says.” Jennette reveals the fragility of her Mom’s life became the center of hers.It was drilled into Jennette’s consciousness that her grandparents killed her mother’s dream of a life of fame and fortune as an actress. Therefore, mom was hell-bent on giving the life her parents wouldn’t let her have to “Net”, Jennette’s nickname. When she asked Jennette if she wanted to be “mommy’s little actress,” there was only one right answer. “Yes, mommy.”If you’re struggling with a love/hate relationship with mom, need validation on how heroic you are for your independence from mom, or just want to read a terrific memoir, this is a must-read.

It's rough to recognize what child stars have to go through, and worse when it's one you saw growing up with during your life. To be aware of the pressure, abuse, and psychological damage of being a big name actor, when you're living as a normal everyday person, it's hard to wrap your head around.Jennette does a fantastic job of writing it all out, not just about the career she didn't want in the first place, but the aftermath of dealing with a narcissistic, abusive parent. Not just with how genuine and blunt her recounting is, but with how sincere and honest her mindset is. What it was like to be a mediator as a young child in an emotionally unstable household revolving around the mood of one emotional timebomb. How family rationalizes abuse when it's all you've ever known. When mental illness or eating disorders develop and abusers control the narratives in their favor to make you the emotional punching bag and their anchor all in one.I loved her writing from start to finish not just because of how it resonated, but because this felt so vulnerable and incredible, like watching a champion howling at a turbulent storm, a small human in the face of a giant, and you half expect them to grab hold of the whirlwind and throw it into the sun.I'm glad I read this. I'm really glad she got through it all. Every chapter was like a short story, a theme to highlight, a moment in time of relevance and powerful ripples through her life. It added, expanded, and grew her character that I almost forgot I was reading a memoir, and I had to pause whenever I did. Someone real felt these things, thought these things, triumphed over these trials, and it doesn't always end that way, with a conclusion that beings peace, but if ever there was a protagonist, a hero that I rooted for from start to finish, it was Jennette.Thank, Jennette. I hope to read more of your work in the future.

Overall. I loved the book. Contains self-reflecting ideas about her major struggles and many people’s.Up until the 71st page, I started to feel she was saying the same over and over about her initial career. Every chapter was around the same topic how her mom was to her but after that page on, it switches to a more fast paced, entertaining, meaningful reading. I am assuming it was about showing her raw and be very detailed about what she was going through. It also gave me the diary or journaling vibe. Which is great. The reading has a lot of food relationship problems chapters and descriptions that may trigger but at the same time heal. I loved the book and hopefully Jennette is able to heal, deeply heal.