CBR 14 Bingo: Monster
The author’s mother is rather a monstrous one, which is only compounded by the codependent relationship between the two of them.
Jennette McCurdy was a household name as a child actress, but it was because her mother wanted it, not here. In the aftermath of her mother’s death, she faces a slide into eating disorders before she understands the complex relationship between her and her mother that led her there.
I think everyone has an occasionally fractious relationship with their mother, but perhaps not the extant that McCurdy does. From an early age, McCurdy’s mother micromanaged her life, pushed her into acting, and encouraged her in her spiral into eating disorders. Yet at the same time, she was an actress on a beloved children’s TV show, one I myself watched – and not one hint of it showed. I was really intrigued by this book because I was excited to see how McCurdy herself would portray her experience.
McCurdy has a strong voice through this book, bleakly humorous and candid about her conflicting feelings about people in her life. Despite her being an actress, this really isn’t a Hollywood memoir but more of a recounting of a toxic mother-daughter relationship, which was what I was more interested in anyway. She presents the facts of her life with minimal judgment, placing the reader in each moment so that they can draw their own conclusions, and I think this really worked for the book.
I did think the second half of the book was a little weaker though, as we skate past some of the major incidents in McCurdy’s life, as well as the realizations she has – but I understand this may also be due to how recent those latter events were.
Overall, this was a sharp and incisive read that I really enjoyed, and one that I think even people who have never heard of iCarly will appreciate.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
