Book Review: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Book Review: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
15 October 2022
In I’m Glad My Mom Died, former actor Jennette McCurdy shares her story with dry wit and humour, juxtaposing the grief and pain of losing her mother to cancer.
Let’s be honest, titling your memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died is guaranteed to turn heads. But for former actor Jennette McCurdy, it seems awkwardly appropriate. In her compelling autobiography, she opens up about her journey navigating abusive family systems, mental illness, religious trauma and fame.
And while most of us can’t relate to her spate as a child star on the hit Nickelodeon TV show, iCarly, her story resounds with vulnerability, reminding us that we can choose to heal, hope and start again.
Growing up in poverty and in an unhealthy family system, Jennette’s rise to prominence is mind-boggling. Such was the tenacity of her mother, so bent on making her daughter a superstar that she forced her child into a life she hated. With this, Jennette develops an unhealthy relationship with her body and sex, and she develops anorexia and, later, bulimia. Jennette’s mother died in 2013 from cancer, and this is only the beginning of Jennette’s journey to know herself.
The themes in this memoir are complicated. For one, Jennette lived to please her mother, yet is also able to acknowledge that she was manipulative and abusive and stole her childhood. In the same way, her religious upbringing means she lives conservatively, avoiding alcohol and intimate relationships well into her adult years. Yet, once realising this was framed by religious and familial trauma, she later partakes in risky and dangerous behaviour. It is only once Jennette returns to therapy and addresses her trauma that she begins to understand and unpack all the facets of her life.
Before you, or your teenager, dive headlong into this witty book, take note – Jennette isn’t a Christian. Growing up in the Mormon Faith (which she interprets as Christianity), she discusses God, Holy Spirit and prayer early on. And her ambition to earn God’s favour, which coincides with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, could be disorienting for people younger in their faith journey. Jennette also shares incidents about her abuse, eating disorder, addiction and sexuality in great detail, which could be triggering for some people. Once finishing the book, you realise each moment is carefully crafted and chosen to communicate her journey with vulnerability, honesty and very dry wit.
Now a New York Times best-seller, there’s a reason I’m Glad My Mom Died has resonated with people beyond the realm of children’s TV. Jennette’s ability to articulate innocence lost and the nuance of trauma, abuse and mental ill-health makes her story a conduit for introspection and a launch pad to enter recovery.
If you’ve never considered going to therapy, you may well consider it after reading this book. And, at the very least, you will come out with a more empathetic and compassionate understanding of people who have lived a very different life from you.
I’m Glad My Mom Died is available at major bookstores.
If you need additional support, contact:
Lifeline
24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention phone counselling and online chat. 13 11 14 lifeline.org.au
Beyond Blue Support Service
Brief counselling, advice and referral 24/7 phone support; 3pm-12am (AEST) online chat; email response within 24 hours. 1300 22 4636 beyondblue.org.au/getsupport
Headspace
Online chat, email and phone counselling for people aged 12-25 (9am-1am AEST)
1800 650 890 headspace.org.au/eheadspace/
Head to Health
Head to Health can help you with free and low-cost, trusted online and phone mental health resources. headtohealth.gov.au
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