I'm Glad My Mom Died

“I'm becoming an angry person with no tolerance for anyone. I'm aware of this shift and yet have no desire to change it. If anything, I want it. It's armor. It's easier to be angry than to feel to pain underneath it.”

This was a wild read. I had watched iCarly as a teenager and loved that show. I thought it was funny and I found Jennette’s character, sam, very entertaining. I also had heard a little about her not wanting to act anymore later on. I did not know the full extent of her story and oh my god is it a doozy. Her mother was a psychotic individual and truly did nothing good for her own daughter. I could never imagine my own mother doing anything close to what hers did and it is seriously so depressing to listen to. All of her struggles stemmed from her mother and no child should ever experience that. it was a very heart aching story to hear and I am very glad that jennette was able to get the help and perspective she needed in order to write this memoir and tell her story with such strength.

I am unsure why this book has gotten so much praise. Any celebrity seeking sympathy or “woe is me” look how hard I had it, doesn’t sit right with me. She says she hates being famous yet writes a book, and a poorly written one at that, and goes on to do an entire book release tour so she can profit off of it? The beginning was insufferably slow I didn’t think I’d make it though to the end. It did have a few chapters I liked and even gave me a few laughs. Overall, I would not recommend.

I didn't know anything about iCarly. I only knew the shows I was forced to watch when my kids were littles and this was way past their time. But with a title like that, I had to read it.
This poor kid, who never wanted to be an actor, was basically forced into it by her extremely narcissistic mother, who controlled her every move. EVERY move. She even showered her until she was 16! She literally taught her how to be an anorexic. Just so many awful things, and the author didn't really know better. Her whole life revolved around keeping her mother happy.
But in spite of all that, she tells the story with biting humor and an amazing self-awareness.

I think the book satisfies the curiosity of McCurdy’s life that the generation growing up with her may have had, but after reading some other reviews I also realized this as well: Because she’s telling her story from the perspective she had it, there’s little insight or reflection on the troubling and traumatic events that took place. Originally I found the perspective of her child self to be intriguing, it showed that children are more perceptive than we realize, and have great emotional capacity, but as she got older into her adult years, she is a traumatized adult making poor decisions and the writing is about just that. It is a recount of what happened but it would been beneficial to hear some reflection of all the things she was enduring along with a present tense recall of her feelings about these situations. It wasn’t until the very end of the book where we hear some acceptance of her mothers abuse, by this time she is 26. I think as a reader it would have been great to read on how she got there mentally. At times it felt like traumatic event after traumatic event without the in between of acceptance or reflection. McCurdy mentions her growing bitterness but as a reader this is most of what we’re witnessing, and it is at times not enjoyable to read, I guess that can’t be helped. Overall I think she has immense bravery and I find it amazing she articulated her memories in a way that others can experience. Some reviews have mentioned that it feels like an attention grab for publicity. In my opinion when someone feels robbed of something, in this instance her childhood and happiness, it makes to sense for her to want to tell her story. There’s no way for her to get all that time back but she can express her experience to others and I find value in that.