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蛍子
Reviewed in Japan on February 15, 2025
Funny, quick, good read
Nataly Kratos
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2025
Overall. I loved the book. Contains self-reflecting ideas about her major struggles and many people’s.Up until the 71st page, I started to feel she was saying the same over and over about her initial career. Every chapter was around the same topic how her mom was to her but after that page on, it switches to a more fast paced, entertaining, meaningful reading. I am assuming it was about showing her raw and be very detailed about what she was going through. It also gave me the diary or journaling vibe. Which is great. The reading has a lot of food relationship problems chapters and descriptions that may trigger but at the same time heal. I loved the book and hopefully Jennette is able to heal, deeply heal.
Jannia Ledesma
Reviewed in Mexico on May 8, 2024
Crecí con icarly y leer su autobiografía fue un gran abrir de ojos, la otra cara de la fama es muy fuerte y también, darte cuenta que todos somos humanos, idealizaba a las estrellas de vivir perfectamente, y leer este tipo de biografías te ayudar a dejar de compararte con personas de la fama
Diane Burroughs
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024
Jennette McCurdy, child Star of Kids shows iCarly, and Sam and Cat is a gifted, storyteller. Now 31, Jennette hasn’t written another self-help workbook or how-to book. She reveals her domineering, maniacal mother and their dynamics with hilarity, pathos, and agony.“Naked” is the best way to describe how our author depicts her fascinating journey. She was not without a plethora of trauma:• Waking at 4am for her first day at age 6 as background on the show X-files• Growing up in a hoarder household• The impact of being a Mormon• Stardom• Emancipating herself from the bondage of an eating disorder instigated by mom• Her struggle to develop into a womanThe reader is sucked into Jennette’s very entertaining, pungently real, and disturbing world. “How many times can you pratfall over a carpet or sell a line you don’t believe in before your soul dies?”Debra McCurdy was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer when Jennette was two. Jennette’s two purposes growing up were; 1) to be the closest person in the world to her mother and 2) keeping her mother alive. Every birthday Jennette wished her mother to live another year believing her mother’s life was in her little hands.Debra loved to recount her cancer story to the family. “She goes so far as to MC a weekly rewatch of a home video she made shortly after learning of her diagnosis. ‘All right, everyone, shhhh. Let’s be quiet. Let’s watch and be grateful for where Mommy is now’ “Mom says.” Jennette reveals the fragility of her Mom’s life became the center of hers.It was drilled into Jennette’s consciousness that her grandparents killed her mother’s dream of a life of fame and fortune as an actress. Therefore, mom was hell-bent on giving the life her parents wouldn’t let her have to “Net”, Jennette’s nickname. When she asked Jennette if she wanted to be “mommy’s little actress,” there was only one right answer. “Yes, mommy.”If you’re struggling with a love/hate relationship with mom, need validation on how heroic you are for your independence from mom, or just want to read a terrific memoir, this is a must-read.
H
Reviewed in the United Arab Emirates on October 22, 2024
I recommend it to every single person. The best book I ever read.
Tanita Dawn De Bruyn
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2024
Jennette McCurdy unveils the poignant narrative of her challenging childhood. The book, echoing the title of her one-woman performance, serves as a poignant reflection on the tumultuous years marked by what the author characterizes as enduring emotional abuse inflicted by her demanding and emotionally unstable stage mom, Debra.Hailing from Los Angeles, McCurdy, alongside three older brothers, navigated a home dominated by her mother's control. At the tender age of 3, her mother faced a diagnosis of breast cancer, a battle she initially survived but one that would ultimately claim her life when the author was 21. McCurdy courageously lays bare the intervening years, delving into the depths of how "my mom emotionally, mentally, and physically abused me in ways that will forever impact me."Debra, driven by an unrelenting desire to mold her only daughter into "Mommy's little actress," orchestrated auditions for McCurdy starting at the tender age of 6. As the author matured and secured acting roles, she found herself caught in a relentless pursuit to impress her mother, who, in turn, grew increasingly fixated on her daughter's physical appearance. The narrative unfolds to reveal a mother who, with a cruel perfectionist demeanor, subjected McCurdy to extreme measures—tinting her eyelashes, whitening her teeth, enforcing strict calorie restrictions, and conducting invasive examinations during her teenage years.As McCurdy naturally sought independence and distance from her mother, her burgeoning celebrity status exposed her to the perils of eating disorders, alcohol addiction, self-loathing, and tumultuous relationships. Throughout the memoir, McCurdy candidly portrays Debra's abusive behavior patterns, showcasing a woman prone to rage triggered by everything from crooked eyeliner to spilled milk. Despite the cruelty, the author approaches her deeply flawed mother with a sense of compassion.Towards the conclusion, McCurdy shares a heart-wrenching secret unveiled by her father in adulthood. While she didn't emerge unscathed from her tumultuous childhood, McCurdy transforms her harrowing experience into a powerful stage act, achieving a catharsis that brings solace to her mind, body, and acting career.The memoir unfolds as a heartbreaking account of an emotionally battered child, narrated with captivating candor and grace, showcasing McCurdy's resilience and ability to find healing through her artistic expression.
pissedasf
Reviewed in Singapore on July 20, 2023
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK. This book is so well-rounded and well-thought-out and considered, where Jennette doesn't just depict her mom as this one-dimensional kind of villainous figure when she talks about the way that her mother behaved, but instead, also recognizes that her mum was troubled in her own way too and yeah like I said she's a complicated and nuanced person. The writing style is great it is so concise and to the point but also very very readable, and it feels very self-aware. She's not on the defence here, trying to paint herself out to be a saint, it's not like a hero and villain story. She also acknowledges when she makes mistakes and when things that have impacted her and her life caused her to act in a certain way. One thing I loved was the discussion of friendships, especially adult friendships, and how often those friendships are contextual. So they'll be like someone that you worked with or someone that you had an opportunity with someone that you were dating at a certain time in your life and she talks about how people do kind of move in and out of your life and how sometimes friendships do fluctuate or oscillate which I thought was fascinating to read. I'm glad I read this book because it's so brilliant and insightful, and I think everyone will rlly enjoy it and you don't need to have followed Jennette McCurdy's career or to know that much about her in order to appreciate this book and take a lot from it.
Kath H
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2023
It's rough to recognize what child stars have to go through, and worse when it's one you saw growing up with during your life. To be aware of the pressure, abuse, and psychological damage of being a big name actor, when you're living as a normal everyday person, it's hard to wrap your head around.Jennette does a fantastic job of writing it all out, not just about the career she didn't want in the first place, but the aftermath of dealing with a narcissistic, abusive parent. Not just with how genuine and blunt her recounting is, but with how sincere and honest her mindset is. What it was like to be a mediator as a young child in an emotionally unstable household revolving around the mood of one emotional timebomb. How family rationalizes abuse when it's all you've ever known. When mental illness or eating disorders develop and abusers control the narratives in their favor to make you the emotional punching bag and their anchor all in one.I loved her writing from start to finish not just because of how it resonated, but because this felt so vulnerable and incredible, like watching a champion howling at a turbulent storm, a small human in the face of a giant, and you half expect them to grab hold of the whirlwind and throw it into the sun.I'm glad I read this. I'm really glad she got through it all. Every chapter was like a short story, a theme to highlight, a moment in time of relevance and powerful ripples through her life. It added, expanded, and grew her character that I almost forgot I was reading a memoir, and I had to pause whenever I did. Someone real felt these things, thought these things, triumphed over these trials, and it doesn't always end that way, with a conclusion that beings peace, but if ever there was a protagonist, a hero that I rooted for from start to finish, it was Jennette.Thank, Jennette. I hope to read more of your work in the future.
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