I'm Glad My Mom Died

Bookseller recommendation

“I genuinely enjoyed this book, though it wasn't an easy read. The writing was superb, and the infusion of humor into a challenging narrative added a poignant layer. My heart goes out to Jeanette, and while her story is difficult, it provides a profound understanding of her journey and personal evolution. Despite the heaviness, I found the book to be a rewarding experience, and I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a read.”

— Alycia • Books on Main

Bookseller recommendation

“This is such an important memoir, tackling the difficulties of exploring the traumas of childhood abuse, the underbelly of the entertainment industry, and the addictive nature of eating disorders. By telling her story through her signature candid, dry humor, Jennette McCurdy has finally become known as a writer by her own name. ”

— Amanda Scroggins • Watermark Books

Bookseller recommendation

“There is something about listening to a memoir narrated by the person who wrote it that makes one’s experience feel complete. McCurdy’s writing 'voice' and actual one give dry humor and a low folksy charm while describing truly harrowing abuses from her mother. She doesn’t hold anything back whether it’s her time on set on iCarly to her first sexual experience to the description of her vomit after a binge and purge. If you wanted a fun celebrity tell-all…this ain’t it. This is a survivor’s story.”

— Lissa • Book Club Bar

Bookseller recommendation

“From the eyes and experiences of a child-actress, Jennette McCurdy recounts her life with a heavy focus on how her mother developed, impacted, and controlled it. It’s a fascinating and heavy read, and the lasting effect it leaves will make you really think about how you view celebrities. They are just as human as everyone else and the lasting thought this book leaves is: 'I wish her the best'. ”

— Makayla • Tattered Cover

Bookseller recommendation

“Ah, the book that everyone is talking about. I had to try it. As a person who had a troublesome relationship with my own mother (not as troubling at Jeanette's), I took comfort in Jeanette's journey into learning to heal and make peace with mother's actions. It is a hard book to listen to, but Jeanette's honest and head-on approach made me keep listening. As I've told others, don't let the title put you off. Being around my own mother and dealing with her was mental and physically exhausting. There are days I am glad my mom died, but I still love her. And like Jeanette, I've learned that not all mothers deserve the pedestal they've been placed on.”

— Terri • Swamp Fox Bookstore

Bookseller recommendation

“A Nickelodeon child star, Jennette McCurdy was raised by a mother desperate to live out her show-business dreams through her daughter. That pressure to succeed--and to please her mother--sent McCurdy into a downward spiral of eating disorders, drug addiction, and destructive relationships from which she is only beginning to recover....Most of the time I listen to audiobooks at one-and-a-quarter speed because it feels like the reader is just plodding along, but McCurdy's memoir is paced and performed wonderfully. McCurdy shares her own difficult truths with a voice that is strong without being strident, vulnerable without becoming maudlin, and with a few achingly beautiful moments when her voice betrays sorrows not yet healed. Jennette McCurdy's story would be engaging on the page, but it is exceptional in your ears.”

— Adam • Prairie Lights Books

Bookseller recommendation

“The descriptions of what the author suffered through as a child stayed with me after finishing the book. A good reminder that we really don't know what goes on in someone's life behind their outward appearance.”

— Ellen • Banter Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“This is such a heavy and wonderful story. A rollercoaster of emotions with a light at the end of a very long and windy tunnel. Jennette McCurdy is such a strong woman, and even without knowing her personally, her story has made me so proud of who she has become and how far she has gotten. Very personal stories that are quite tragic, to super silly and comedic stories that'll probably have you laughing out loud. You will not regret this listen! ”

— Andie • Vroman's Bookstore

Bookseller recommendation

“Equal parts hilarious and devastating, Jennette McCurdy reviews her acting career with stark clarity, irony to fill your soul, and a presence of control over the uncontrollable. I'm Glad My Mom Died reflects on undiagnosed narcissism with a mother forcing her child to live out her mother's dreams as a childhood actor. The dichotomy of gratefulness and criticism take center stage in this beautiful memoir read by the author with honesty, pain, and a performance that will resonate with you for months to come. Please listen to this.”

— Nick • Cream & Amber

Bookseller recommendation

“From the eyes and experiences of a child-actress, Jennette McCurdy recounts her life with a heavy focus on how her mother developed, impacted, and controlled it. It’s a fascinating and heavy read, and the lasting effect it leaves will make you really think about how you view celebrities. They are just as human as everyone else and the lasting thought this book leaves is: 'I wish her the best'. ”

— Makayla • Tattered Cover

Bookseller recommendation

“Wonderful read that draws you in with its intensity. While a lot of the content is heavy, there's an unflinching honesty about this memoir that is resounding and deeply touching. Not for the faint of heart (TW: eating disorders, child abuse, religious trauma)”

— Jayme • Second Flight Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy’s memoir of a childhood spent in the spotlight and under the thumb of her abusively controlling, narcissistic, cancer-surviving, Mormon mother is as bitterly funny as it is brutally honest. You will rage, cringe, gasp, cheer, laugh, literally scream out loud, hope against hope, and ultimately just root for McCurdy as she struggles to recover and reclaim her life. A triumph of real life horror, humor, and healing. ”

— Megan • Underground Books