Jennette McCurdy

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

I'm Glad My Mom Died

Zanariah 

Moms are saints. Angels by merely existing. NO ONE could possibly understand what it's like to be a mom. Men will never understand. Women with no children will never understand.

We've drifted apart. It's a sad reality for me in my late twenties. At the beginning of the decade, the people I was close to seemed like friends for life, people I could never imagine not seeing every day. But life happens. Love happens. Loss happens. Change and growth happen at different paces for different people, and sometimes the paces just don't line up. It's devastating if I think too much about it, so I usually don't.

karina

I yearn to know the people I love deeply and intimately — without context, without boxes — and I yearn for them to know me that way, too. 

Atli 💗🧚🏽‍♀️

“Dustin, Scottie, and you… are not… my biological children.”

“You know, like how you smoke.” I try to level with him. “You smoke cigarettes, and I make myself throw up. They’re just things we do.” 

Bro that sucks and it's unfair that Ariana was allowed to skip episodes and shooting to perform and elevate her career. Fuck Nickelodeon and Dan Schneider. 

I booked two features during iCarly that I had to turn down because the iCarly team wouldn’t write me out of episodes to go shoot them. 

I know why I’m hearing this phrase so often. It’s because my co-star Ariana Grande is a burgeoning pop star who misses work regularly to go sing at award shows, record new songs, and do press for her upcoming album while I stay back and angrily hold down the fort.

Oh no... This is absolutely saddening. Wtf??? 

❛So what if I fucked up and ate? So what if I failed? So fucking what? All I have to do is shove my fingers down my throat and watch my mistake be undone. This is the start of something good.❜❜

Wow. Simply written but this still has my heart clenching. 

I go to my text tab, then click on the chain with Current Guy. I stare at his last text: Don’t say that, boo. Your mom’s not gonna die.

Oh deep. I really need to hold Jeanette tightly. Girl, where you at?? 

All of us are silent, the e ect of years of emotional exhaustion. I’m surprised none of us are crying, but it’s like we have no tears left. We’ve been through at least a dozen dress rehearsals of our mother’s death. We remember the VHS tape.

“Iluyooo!” Mom lobs into the abyss. This is one of the only phrases she has left in her. She has so many brain tumors that are so big in size that she’s all but brain-dead. And yet she still remembers how to sort-of say “I love you.” It makes my heart physically hurt.

What the hell??? Oh Nettie, I'm sorry baby. 

“I don’t want to make out. I’m thirty-two years old.” I feel stupid for suggesting the idea, and embarrassed for not being sexually advanced enough to meet Joe’s needs. Even though I’m eighteen, I feel like a child. 

This is so freaking heartbreaking because Nettie didn't even want to do this no more. Omg. I wish I could hug little Nettie. ☹️💗

Everything’s going to be different now. Everything’s going to be better. Mom will finally be happy. Her dream has come true.

A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life. Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income. In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants. Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

Mandy

I’m desperate to feel close with her but also desperate for that closeness to me on my terms, not hers. I want her to know me for who I’m becoming, I want her to allow my growth, I want her to want me to be me. But that feels more like a fantasy than a possibility, for now at least. 

Her happiness came at the cost of mine. I feel robbed and exploited. 

madeleine

I yearn to knoe people I love deeply and intimately-without the context, without boxes-and i yearn for them to know me that way too.

This feeling of sadness and ending is really common on sets. You get to know the people around you so intimately because your'e around them more then you're around your family. For a period of time. And little by little, you realize you start talking less and less to the people you thought you were so intimate with. Until you don't talk to them at all anymore. And it makes you wonder if you were ever really intimate with them in the first place or if it was all just a facade. If the connections were as temporary as the sets they were made on.

Magaly Belmontes

“SLIPS ARE TOTALLY NORMAL. WHEN you have a slip, it’s just that. A slip. It doesn’t define you. It doesn’t make you a failure. The most important thing is that you don’t let that slip become a slide,”

I’m Glad My Mom Died

Sara Poole

We listened to News of the World front to back while sitting on his his wooden floor. He kept scooting closer to me and brushing his hair behind his ear, which was mildly repulsive to me coming from a man. 

Celine

I've been journaling near constantly to get my feelings on paper, which is a challenging task since I struggle to identify my emotions. Is "all of the uncomfortable ones" an option? 

I don't like knowing people in the context of things. Oh, that's the person I work out with. That's the person I'm in a book club with. That's the person I did that show with. Because once the context ends, so does the friendship 

"Men, they'll hurt you without ever really knowing you," she often told me. “But women... women will know vou deeply, intimately, and then hurt you. You tell me which is worse.

This is the first time I've heard the word “anorexia." It sounds like a dinosaur. 

rachel

“I don’t like knowing people in the context of things. 

Oh that’s the person I work out with. That’s the person I’m in the book club with. That’s the person I did that show with.

 Because once the context ends, so does the friendship.”

kait

This book absolutely blew me away! I don't really feel like I can do this review justice but I am going to try my best to write all my thoughts out. 

First and foremost, there are a lot of trigger warnings for this book so make sure to look those up before going into this. 

This brave and powerful memoir reflects Jennette's life in a very up-close and personal way. We start the novel with her being very young, with a narrative voice that reflects that age. She recounts her acting career, her relationship with her mother, her feelings toward her body, and many more topics. As she grows older, the narrative voice grows older and the reader begins to see McCurdy's mindset change. 

I adore that we got to see her grow up and dive deeper into her life. I felt as if I had known her very personally, almost as if we had been friends from a very young age. In a way, my generation did get to see her grow up but I think is important that we understand more of what happened behind the scenes. 

I think that this book had such an impact on me because of things happening in my own life, as I can relate to Jennette well. My mother was very abusive and I have struggled with an eating disorder for many years, so the entirety of this book hits very close to home. It was as if all of my feelings were finally put into words reading this memoir. Because of this, I feel like I learned a lot about myself, my own body, recovering from abuse, and more. 

Beautiful, devastating, and important -- I recommend this book to everyone (as long as you feel like you can get through it, of course). Definitely a 6-star read for me.

Alla Dumnych

Ніколи в житті не чула про Дженнет, але обкладинка свою справу зробила і вплинула на моє рішення прочитати книгу. 
Насправді я не дуже розумію, чому цю книгу багато хто характеризує як смішну, можливо, в англійській слово funny включає в себе дещо інший зміст, проте “I am glad…” чудова, я читала її з величезною цікавістю. Мені здається, потрібно мати величезну сміливість ось так викласти своє життя. Словом, я дуже вдячна можливості познайомитись із Дженнет і я впевнена, що однозначно захочу почитати її наступні книги, про що би вони не були.

Chell A

Admittedly, I picked this book up because of the title and iCarly being one of the shows that I tried watching when I was younger. I was never really fond of the show and Nickelodeon's child-actors' acting, in general - but I knew who Jennette McCurdy is.

Jennette's story is as captivating as it is sad. I knew of the abuse, stress, and pressures of child actors but I wasn't aware of the extent of these experiences. The author was also able to explain and narrate her experiences with eating disorders vividly and in a language that most people could understand. It was a plus that I was able to listen to the audiobook version of this memoir since listening to Jennette narrate her own story was powerful and moving.

This book made me want to read/listen to more memoirs!

Read this book in 2 days! Very gripping and sad to hear her story but loved the way she wrote it. 

Alicia Sahr

Jade 🌷

So much i want to say.. all i can say is, Real.

Pierre

I loved this. Wonder who recommended it to me. Or was it a "best comedy of..." some year on goodreads? Awesome.

Jennette McCurdy erzählt herzergreifend und mit bitterem Humor von ihrem traumatischen Leben als ehemaliger Kinder-Star in »iCarly« und der krankhaften Beziehung zu ihrer Mutter Seit sie denken kann, wird Jennette von ihrer Mutter beherrscht, emotional erpresst und psychisch wie körperlich missbraucht. Das einzige, was Debra sich für ihre Tochter – aber vor allem für sich selbst – wünscht, ist Jennettes Erfolg als Fernseh-Star. Es beginnt ein Kreislauf aus Castings, Angstattacken und Selbsthass. Dann bekommt Jennette die Rolle als Sam Puckett in der Nickelodeon-Serie »iCarly« – eine Rolle, in der sie sich gedemütigt fühlt und Produzenten ausgesetzt ist, die ihre Macht missbrauchen. Als Debra an Krebs stirbt ist der Kinder-Star 21 Jahre alt und hat das Zentrum ihres Lebens verloren. Das einzige, worüber sie noch Kontrolle hat, ist ihr Essverhalten und die junge Frau stürzt ab in Essstörungen, Alkoholsucht und toxische Beziehungen. Einzig eine wegen ihrer Bulimie angefangene Therapie erweist sich als Jennettes Weg in die Freiheit. Es kostet sie Jahre um zu erkennen, was ihre Mutter ihr ein Leben lang angetan hat. Doch jetzt kann sie zum ersten Mal entscheiden, was sie selbst möchte, und es ist an der Zeit, die Kontrolle über ihre eigene Zukunft zu übernehmen.

Meine Befreiung aus einer toxischen Mutter-Tochter-Beziehung

Bella Baxter

i don’t even want to rate this book because it’s not fiction yk it’s something real and how can you rate that but god this was so heartbreaking and raw and so sad and funny and she has a way of writing so natural, always to the point. i’m glad i listened to the audiobook cause hearing her read this… <\3 

yaya

Teresa Bonifácio

I've heard the audiobook instead of reading it. I don't know if that had a bigger impact on my opinion but I did not love the book as everyone else. It's a good book, it touches some important subjects but I did not like the way the author wrote some things. Sometimes if just felt a description of a porn movie. 
I did love the way she describes her food problem and the problems with her mother. The way her mother abused her physically, psychologically, the pressure she put on a little girl just because she wanted her to chase her dream. What that made to her. All of the authors' problems come from that. 
It's a good book/audiobook though I really don't understand why it's called a masterpiece. Maybe my expectations were really high.

Rodrigo Figueiredo Severino

VERY interesting content. Felt the writing was a bit simplistic at times and not as engaging as it could have been. A brave story for Jennette to tell about herself, and one that I’m thankful to have read. It’s a good debut, hope she writes more and we can see evolution since I think the story is interesting and 4 Star worthy.

Having moms that died from cancer whose only daughter was a former child actor

Me           Jennette McCurdy

        🤝

Having moms that died from cancer whose only daughter was a former child actor

(WARNING BOOK HAS DESCRIPTIONS OF EATING DISORDERS; ANOREXIA AND BULIMIA) Why is Nickelodeon sooo weird and why IS HER MOM LIKE THAT. 

SHE ACTUALLY SENT THAT TO HER DAUGHTER AND SAW NOTHING WRONG EITH IT 

SHE ACTUALLY SENT THWT IN ALL THE SAME EMAIL

I might scream myself to sleep, like holy shit

finished it BEFORE WORK AND WANTED TO CRY

Susan

(WARNING BOOK HAS DESCRIPTIONS OF EATING DISORDERS; ANOREXIA AND BULIMIA) Why is Nickelodeon sooo weird and why IS HER MOM LIKE THAT. 

I WANT TK FIGHT HER

CAN I JUST

AAAAA

SHE ACTUALLY SENT THAT TO HER DAUGHTER AND SAW NOTHING WRONG EITH IT 

SHE ACTUALLY SENT THWT IN ALL THE SAME EMAIL

I might scream myself to sleep, like holy shit

I WANT TK HUG THE CHILDREN SO BADLY 

finished it BEFORE WORK AND WANTED TO CRY

Kendall Lobdell

Dyllan Erikson

Cristina S

This girl can’t catch a break! But I’m so proud of her for not giving up and continue picking herself back up to achieve all her goals. 

Andrew

Nick Perronteau

𓆨

ummm...okay...wow...now i understand everything

Salsa

this was an experience. im so sorry for all you been through, jennette. i hope youre doing great now.

Isabella 

this memoir was insightful and heartbreaking to read. jennette perfectly illustrates her story over the course of her life; it was so raw and vulnerable. she is so brave for speaking up about her story; the abuse she has gone through, her eating disorders, and more. it's so difficult to accept reality when the person ruining your life is the one you have looked up to. it makes me so sad for her, and i am happy for what she is achieving right now.

I’m Glad My Mom Died 

LIMEKI 

liana

3,5⭐️

I was angry throughout the whole fucking book. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? Being a mother is something you CHOOSE so why treat your kid like trash?????? I’m done. I’m sorry to say this but the time you decide to bring a child to this world is your fucking job to take care of them, but they owe you NOTHING.

Basically playing victim and choosing when to be religious is the mother’s motto apparently, she’s never wrong, she’s perfect, she’s given everything to her children, but oh “anorexia is nothing to worry about, darling”. I swear, I’m done with people. Thanks to Jennette’s mom her life is based on pleasing others and make her mom happy, which basically causes her a bunch of eating disorders, but when she slips?? “You’re not my kid anymore, but send money for a new fridge”. Please miss, GO FUCK YOURSELF.

I’m so happy to know Jennette has found a way in life to be happy and she’s getting help💗 and also, putting herself first for the first time in years, which is something a lot of people forget to do sometimes (I include myself). 

This is not a book for everyone, if you’ve been through/are going through stuff like anorexia, eating disorders, bulimia, mental illness, anxiety, emotional abuse, addiction, alcoholism, and a large etcetera, please check the trigger warnings and I advise you not to read this book.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book, but oh my Beyoncé (the only goddess a pray to) how difficult it is, that’s why I prefer fictional books, so I don’t have to deal with the outside world. 



(English is not my first language, if you find any mistakes please let me know☺️).

I will admit the title got me. I didn’t know much about Jennette McCurdy but I knew the book would involve poor parenting and the emotional effects that it would bring so I dove in. 

It’s interesting that children naturally want to please their parents. I remember feeling that way too but my childhood was far more pleasant. Is it instinct? How do some parents see this and want to push their kid even further solely because they can? And why would any other adult around see this clearly abusive behavior and allow it to happen? There were so many people who could have helped Jennette but either didn’t want to believe a mom could be so harmful or flat out didn’t care. 

It’s heartbreaking what Jennette went through at such a young age where personal development and growth should have been on the rise but was intentionally stunted because of her mother. 

I wish the book had a little more resolution but for now I can only hope that Jennette continues her healing. 

Christa Bell

I will admit the title got me. I didn’t know much about Jennette McCurdy but I knew the book would involve poor parenting and the emotional effects that it would bring so I dove in. 

It’s interesting that children naturally want to please their parents. I remember feeling that way too but my childhood was far more pleasant. Is it instinct? How do some parents see this and want to push their kid even further solely because they can? And why would any other adult around see this clearly abusive behavior and allow it to happen? There were so many people who could have helped Jennette but either didn’t want to believe a mom could be so harmful or flat out didn’t care. 

It’s heartbreaking what Jennette went through at such a young age where personal development and growth should have been on the rise but was intentionally stunted because of her mother. 

I wish the book had a little more resolution but for now I can only hope that Jennette continues her healing. 

Sandrin

Man this was depressing, and sad, and enraging... 4 stars

The writing style is very engaging and filled with raw emotions and honesty that I find fascinating.

However, I wouldve loved more reflections on her journey through therapy and how she is going about overcoming/coping with the abuse she experienced from such a young age.

I'm Glad My Mom Died

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