Reading Celebrity Books so You Don't Have to Pt.2

Hello everyone and welcome back to the blog! Today, I am back with another segment of celebrity books. I went back and forth for awhile trying to decide if I should read this. I have to say that the title is definitely very intriguing, and I have wondered "where is she now." Obviously, I decided to read it, so let's get into it!

This book is everything I expected. Some things were spoiled from spending too much time on Tiktok, but besides that I knew this was going to be brutally honest.

It was a lot longer than I thought it was going to be at around 310 pages which comparing to Josh Peck's book is a lot longer. Her chapters were very short and the timeline is chronological which makes the most sense. From a very young age, you can see the toxicity of her and her mom's relationship. Her mom was obsessive over McCurdy's physical appearance, and even obsessive over her daughter living the life she never got. Her mom wanted to be an actress and since she never had an opportunity to pursue her dream, she wanted nothing more than her daughter to.

That is a big focal point in the book because after awhile she was tired of everything and just wanted to live a normal life. She states multiple times that she wanted a normal childhood.

She also talks about how her mom basically taught her to be anorexic. Like I said, her physical appearance was a big thing. And her mom would control her calorie intake and what kind of foods she would eat on and off set. This would later turn into Bulimia. McCurdy fell into a vicious cycle of binging and then purging.

One thing I really liked was how she talked about Miranda Cosgrove. Their friendship seemed so pure from how she wrote it. They were close and still try to stay in touch to this day. I love their friendship and their support for one another.

I also liked how the book was split into two parts: before her mom's death and after. Her mom had cancer since I believe she was two years old. And I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to see her mom having to fight that battle. She wanted nothing more than to make her mom happy which is why she went along with the acting thing.

It's interesting because in the "after" part, Jennette attends therapy and once they start talking about her mom the therapist explains the abuse Jennette was put through. Jennette got so upset that she quit therapy. She didn't want to destroy the good narrative of her mother. But it's apart of the healing process--and while no one wants to admit or believe that a parent could be abusive it happens.

The best thing to do is to seek help in dealing with the trauma and aftermath of it. Which is exactly what she did. After she quit her therapist, she went to I believe some kind of food and nutrition therapist to help her with her eating disorders.

While there were a lot of dark moments in the book--it was real and honest. It was enlightening and inspiring. The book ends on a bittersweet note. I honestly wasn't ready for it to end.

There are chapters about her time on iCarly and her time with Nickelodeon. She talks about Sam and Cat as well. She talks about the real reason why Sam and Cat ended and how it wasn't even really supposed to be a thing. She also mentions the hush money that was offered to her to never talk about her time with Nickelodeon. Which there is some major tea. She didn't take the money but it's crazy that they offered that to her and who knows who else. Also, from a writer's stand point, I thought it was comical that she referred to Dan Schneider as "The Creator." I get it for legal reasons and all that, plus, he's crucial to that time of her life so he has to be mentioned. His name in the book just makes sense and fits perfectly...obviously.

Also, I can't believe that Nickelodeon allowed this man to work for them for so long. Screw the money he makes the company, the things these young actors went through on set is ridiculous. I won't say more because honestly read the book, but he should have been fired so long ago.  

I'm happy that Jennette McCurdy got to tell her story. As I said, this book is empowering and inspiring. She is such a respectable person, and I only appreciate her more after reading her book.

Overall, I give this a 3.5/5 stars, and I highly recommend checking this book out. It's definitely worth the read!

Alright, folks that is all I have for today! Come back next week for another blog post! As always, thank you for reading:)