Jennette McCurdy’s book “I’m Glad My Mom Died” is sold out everywhere, and the title itself will grab your attention. This book is a wild ride from the beginning. The book starts when she knew her mom was going to die, then retraces every step up to that point.
Just a trigger warning for those who want to read it: It details a lot of complex subjects such as eating disorders, abuse, and sexual assault.
Without giving away too many spoilers, the book dives into her childhood and her initial start in the entertainment industry. It goes through the ups and downs of getting booked for roles, getting turned down, and even being turned away for being “too pretty” at one point. Then, towards her teenage years, the angst of growing up hits her harshly. The last thing she wants to do is be an adult. So she uses calorie restriction to keep a childlike figure, which delays the onset of puberty until she is 16.
The relationships she details in the book are all unhealthy. Which, in my opinion, is a way more realistic representation of real life.
It seems like the only healthy relationship she has going for her is her friendship with Miranda Crosgrove. Her relationships with everyone else are strained, toxic, or abusive — from “the creator” sexualizing her to her own family not reacting to the continued abuse from her mother. Well, in her brother’s defense, they were also being abused at that time.
Her time at Nickelodeon seemed to bring the consistency she needed in life but also the downfall of her happiness. The constant manipulation and torment between her mother and “the creator” seemed to make enjoying that part of her life even more difficult since she never wanted to be an actress to begin with.
The wild thing about all of this is that as she details each portion of her life, I look back and connect it to specific memories of her in the media.
All the stories in the book are from the beginning of iCarly, through her attempted country music career, and even her time during Sam & Cat. I cannot fathom the abuse she experienced behind the scenes. I can only be grateful that she eventually got out of it.
No one knew the extent of the abuse until now. The story she tells in this book is absolutely tragic, and I hope it was therapeutic for her. While Jennette McCurdy will never be able to get those years back, I hope she is able to find happiness doing the things she wants to do rather than being a people pleaser. Lastly, I hope her happiness is in writing because she is damn good at it — she can truly make a reader feel all sorts of emotions. If she chooses to continue writing and making a bigger career out of it, I will forever be a fan.
P.S. I am glad her mom died too.
Featured Image is a screenshot on Audible.
