With biography and memoir, it's always a little difficult to give a fair review. After all, you don't want to rate the experience of the author - Oh, you had a traumatic childhood, zero stars - but the reading experience itself. That's especially challenging with this book, because from the first
page to the end, Jeanette McCurdy's story is not only sad, but downright depressing.
The book…mehrWith biography and memoir, it's always a little difficult to give a fair review. After all, you don't want to rate the experience of the author - Oh, you had a traumatic childhood, zero stars - but the reading experience itself. That's especially challenging with this book, because from the first page to the end, Jeanette McCurdy's story is not only sad, but downright depressing.
The book contains many triggers that should be thoroughly looked at beforehand if you have any areas of concern.
SPOILER!
The fact that McCurdy talks so much about her personal life, as well as life off the set (specifically regarding the children's channel), sends a cold shiver down your spine. Because it is clear: Not everything is said, but only what the public can take. It's downright creepy to think that under certain circumstances much worse things HAVE happened or COULD have happened - especially concerning the director of the children's station. How she and also many others report about it leaves no doubt about the nature of this person. Not only this one children's station seems to be filled with such people and so it happens that child stars are often, if not always, exploited and mistreated. This aspect leads one to become VERY thoughtful as a reader, especially when it comes to media and acting. For this reflection alone, the book actually deserves a full five stars rating.
I also found it terrible that EVERYONE looked the other way. Instead of seriously supporting the author, people looked away or accepted the behavior of certain people. Yes, she had friends, but they hardly seemed to know anything about the actual situation. And also the grandfather interfered here and there, but also quite half-heartedly. The money, the power and the fame stood above everything. You probably can't imagine that if you weren't or aren't part of it all. If you now look at the scenes of the former actress in the children's show, some things become clearer. Scenes that were previously dismissed as "comical", weird or "funny" now seem to have a completely different background.
Creepy, traumatizing and fearful - that's how the story makes you feel.
At the end, I was missing a serious ray of hope. This one is probably not common for a memoir, but the story itself was so depressing that I felt it was definitely needed. After reading the book, one feels deep sympathy for the author and is left with an uncomfortable feeling for a long time. I hope Jennette McCurdy overcomes her past well and sees her opportunities in the present and future as a young woman.