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⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
The title alone stops people in their tracks.
Some people laugh. Some people flinch.
Either way, they want to know more.
I'm Glad My Mom Died is Jennette McCurdy's memoir about growing up as a child actor under her mother's control, and it's one of those books that's genuinely funny and genuinely devastating, often in the same paragraph.
She narrates the audiobook herself, and that choice changes the whole experience.
Listen to it if: you want a memoir that's honest, dark, funny, and doesn't soften anything for comfort.
Skip it if: you're not in a place right now to sit with heavy material about family, control, and eating disorders.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | I'm Glad My Mom Died |
| Author | Jennette McCurdy |
| Narrator(s) (audiobook) | Jennette McCurdy (author-narrated) |
| Series | Standalone |
| Genre | Memoir |
| Subgenre | Celebrity memoir, coming-of-age |
| Audiobook length | 6 hrs 26 mins (unabridged) |
| First published | 2022 |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster Audio |
A note before you start: this memoir touches on disordered eating, addiction, and childhood emotional abuse. If those topics are heavy for you right now, it's worth keeping in mind before you dive in.
Jennette McCurdy went to her first acting audition when she was six years old.
It wasn't really her dream. It was her mother's.
From there, the book follows Jennette through years of child stardom, including her time on iCarly and Sam & Cat, all while her mother controls nearly every part of her life. Her food. Her money. Her privacy. Her sense of what she's even allowed to want for herself.
When her mother dies of cancer, Jennette expects to fall apart. Instead, something more complicated happens.
The rest of the book is about what comes after. Therapy, stepping away from acting, and slowly figuring out who she is without her mother's voice running the show.
It's told with a lot of dark humor, which sounds like a strange combination given the subject matter. Somehow it works.
The heart of this book is the relationship between Jennette and her mother, and it's messy in a way that feels real instead of dramatized.
Her mom isn't written as a cartoon villain. She's loving in some moments and deeply controlling in others, and that mix is part of what makes the book so hard to shake. Jennette doesn't pretend her feelings about her mother are simple, even after everything. There's love tangled up in the resentment, and that honesty is what people keep talking about.
What makes it land is that Jennette isn't asking you to feel one specific way about any of it. She just lays it out and lets you sit with how complicated it actually is.
Most celebrity memoirs stick to a pretty safe formula: a few career highlights, some polished lessons learned, maybe one juicy story that made headlines. This one doesn't do that.
Jennette writes about her eating disorder, her mother's control, and her own anger with a level of detail that a lot of memoirs shy away from. The dark humor keeps it from feeling like a misery memoir, but she never uses the jokes to dodge the hard parts either.
The honest criticism: because the material is so heavy, this isn't a book you can casually put on in the background. It asks for your full attention, and some chapters are genuinely difficult to get through. That's not really a flaw in the writing, but it is something to know going in if you're looking for something lighter.
Jennette McCurdy narrates this one herself, and it's hard to imagine anyone else doing it justice.
Because she's reading her own story, in her own words, the delivery carries a weight that a hired narrator just can't replicate. You can hear exactly where she leans into the humor and exactly where her voice tightens up on the harder passages.
At six and a half hours, it's a fairly short listen, but it's not a light one. A lot of listeners find it's the kind of audiobook that sits with you well after it ends.
Good fit if you:
Maybe not for you if:
The I'm Glad My Mom Died audiobook is one of those rare memoirs that actually earns its reputation.
Jennette McCurdy doesn't write this as a redemption story with a neat bow on it. She writes it as someone still working things out in real time, and that honesty is what makes it stick with you. Hearing her read it herself only adds to that.
It's not an easy listen, and it's not meant to be. But if you're in the right headspace for it, it's a genuinely well-told story about getting your own life back.
Some audiobook platforms offer free trials or promotional credits for new listeners, so if this one's on your list, that's a low-pressure way to check it out.
Who narrates the I'm Glad My Mom Died audiobook?
Jennette McCurdy narrates it herself.
How long is the I'm Glad My Mom Died audiobook?
It runs 6 hours and 26 minutes, unabridged.
Is I'm Glad My Mom Died part of a series?
No, it's a standalone memoir.
How can I listen to I'm Glad My Mom Died audiobook for free?
Eligible new listeners may be able to listen to I'm Glad My Mom Died through a 30-day free trial. You can find the free-trial link below to check availability and start listening. You can also check your local public library, as many libraries offer audiobooks through apps like Libby or OverDrive with a library card.
Is I'm Glad My Mom Died a hard listen?
Yes, in parts. It deals honestly with disordered eating, addiction, and childhood emotional abuse, though it's balanced with a lot of dark humor throughout.
