I'm Glad My Mom Died

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

I'm going to be real with you on this one — I have no idea how to format my thoughts on this one. How do you review such a heartbreaking memoir? The guts it took to write this book, to lay it all out there — the good, the bad, and the just plain awful — I just...I am in awe of Jennette McCurdy. Let me tell you, though, this is not an easy book to read, emotionally. If you have any history of disordered eating at all, you will struggle with this one. But McCurdy is very clearly far down her path of recovery by the end of it, and my heart soars for her.

So why did I pick this one up? Well, it's been lauded every since it was released a few months ago, and I was a fan of iCarly growing up. Sam was usually my favorite character — sometimes tied with Spencer — but watching the show you could never tell how absolutely miserable McCurdy must have been. She genuinely looked like she was having a good time. I can't imagine going through abuse her mother put her through just to get a shot of second-hand fame. It's horrifying — especially when McCurdy describes her mother basically handing her an eating disorder. Honestly, my stomach twisted every time her mother was mentioned. What an awful woman.

But in I'm Glad My Mom Died, McCurdy lays her life story down, not quietly, not gently, not apologetically. She just tells it like it was, period. I can't imagine reading a more flowery version of this. McCurdy's life doesn't need embellishment. I hope writing this book was a form of catharsis for her. I hope she is now happy, that she is living a life that she wants to lead, without anyone else telling her what to do. She deserves it.