With a poignant title and impressive PR rollout plan, Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died surfaced on my radar more than a few times. But with a reading list that is constantly growing and a schedule allowing less and less time for reading, this book never ended up on my list. I should’ve known better because, sure enough, my friend Ella had a copy of the book that ended up in my hands days before a cross-country flight.
Growing up as a Nickelodeon kid, I was excited to start reading this book and see the experience of an actor on my second favorite childhood T.V. show (yes, I love iCarly but will always have a soft spot for SpongeBob). But my excitement was quickly drained as I read the first fifty or so pages of the book. A nuanced, powerful story was bogged down by a lack of structure and all-over-the-place writing skills. I’m no author myself, but it felt like I had read three hundred pages of McCurdy’s scattered inner monologue.
The ~300-page book had a total of 90 chapters which were chronological in order but felt incredibly disjoint and uneven in time distribution. Certain stories were allocated multiple chapters while larger (and arguably more critical) plotlines were either ignored or given a 1-page chapter. Turning the pages, I never knew if the next chapter was going to follow up on the story being told in the current chapter or skip multiple years ahead to the next segment of McCurdy’s life.
Although I was disappointed by the writing itself, McCurdy was ultimately able to convey the multiple narratives and struggles she faced as a child forced into acting. Although I had previously heard about some of her struggles, it was opening to be able to hear these thoughts come from McCurdy herself rather than an aggregation of questionable gossip sites. It was saddening yet eye-opening to learn the extent to which McCurdy was abused and forced into acting, and my perception of the show is certainly tainted knowing that the actor behind the perpetually happy character was plagued by so many struggles caused by the acting itself.
McCurdy did a fantastic job of not exclusively focusing the book on iCarly and instead gave equal weight to the childhood experiences that landed her role on the show in addition to highlighting how the problems rooted during her childhood carried on with her after iCarly was canceled. Although the sporadic writing style made it feel somewhat burdensome to read, I’m glad this book ended up in my hands to shine some light on a situation that was so tightly intertwined with a show I spent so much time watching.
Rating: 2/5