Author: Jennette McCurdy
# of Pages: 320 (ebook)
Genre: Nonfiction, Autobiography
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: 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.
Review: This book got me out of my reading slump. It's been a while since I craved to read a book, and once I got some time to get around to reading this one, I could not put it down.
Like many others, I only knew McCurdy from her role as Sam in iCarly. I didn't know any of her other work (nor did I ever watch her spin off series Sam & Cat). When it was announced that she would not be part of the iCarly reboot, I was more surprised that most of the cast was returning than her not being in and not being an active actor. So many of these young stars seem to disappear from the public eye as they grow up - I didn't think there would be anything special about Jennette's story.
And yet I started seeing promotional material related to her book - interviews were she talks about her past that I never expected from a Nickelodeon starlet. That being said, everyone celebrity (or self-proclaimed celebrity) seems to be writing books these days, so her writing a book didn't particularly stand out to me. But then, despite her being out of pop culture for so long, her books started doing well and receiving positive reviews, I decided that I might as well check it out.
McCurdy's writing is pretty easy to read (this matched with what I expected from an actor with a career pivot toward writing). This was the exact type of read I was looking for to get me out of my reading slump. Unlike other celebrity autobiographies I've tried to pick up, McCurdy doesn't over romanticize her hardships - her writing reads like a genuine recollection of her past, and she's just stating it as it is.
That being said, I wish she presented her childhood with more of the perspective that she had as a child. Her recognition of her mother's abuse only came in retrospect, and I would've found it more impactful if I learned about her mother through the same idolizing point of view she had as a child and learn with Jennette about how these "loving" motherly gestures were actually negatively impacting her habits in adulthood. Instead, McCurdy recollection of her childhood highlights many negative memories (e.g. her mother throwing a tantrum, her mother encouraging her eating disorders) that make the reader cringe with the obvious abuse (regardless if her mother considered her influence to be abusive or not). When she later states in adulthood (before coming to terms with her abuse) that she thought her mother was the perfect mother and refused to let others disrupt this narrative of her mother, it is hard to relate with her because of the way she presented her childhood.
Despite all of this, I thought that she overall did a good job at telling her story. Although few can say that they had experiences just like McCurdy, many reader with overbearing parents can relate to McCurdy's childhood - loving their parents while still recognizing their faults and the impact they have on their lives for better or, especially in this case, for worse.
A very quick read about a very complex, codependent mother-daughter relationship. I would recommend this book!
