I have seen (probably) every episode of iCarly and Sam & Cat (I have 3 kids; don’t judge my taste in television, because those little heathens constantly hijacked my TV growing up). I haven’t actually sat and watched them all per se, but I’ve heard them and been around them trying to find something else to do while they have been playing.

I mention this to give context to my next statement. Jennette McCurdy is one hell of an actress. I would NEVER have guessed that she had so much crazy shit happening in her life. That girl can act. I don’t know much about the production of television shows (I learned more from this book that I ever knew before reading it), and I realize several takes are done of scenes to get them just right, but even with multiple tries to nail a scene, you still have to nail it at least once, and she was able to do that, even though her home life was a MESS.

The title of the book was what first drew my attention. Honestly, if it wasn’t so bold and in your face, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to learn what it was about, instead assuming it was just another Nickelodeon kid/child actor story of growing up in an industry that brought fame, money, and some potential bad fortune. I listened to her interview on the Armchair Expert podcast, and decided I had to read it, so into my online shopping cart it went.

The story Jennette shares begins from around the age of two into her mid-twenties. The writing is very well done, and the lack of humor threw me off at first, until I sat and thought about the fact that her life just wasn’t funny. The character she was portraying on screen was just that, a character, not the person she truly was.

I appreciated her honesty. I am sure some of the stories she shared were not easy to put down on paper and then put put into such a judgmental world, but she did it anyway. I don’t want to give too much away about her various life experiences, but this book includes everything from a narcissistic, abusive mother to an emotionally abusive grandma, questions about religion, eating disorders and the driving forces behind them, to sexual repression and alcohol abuse. It was an eye opener, and definitely worth a read.

Rating: None given. I don’t want to rate a memoir of someone else’s life.

I don’t know why this came out so blurry. I adjusted the size of the image repeatedly. 🤷🏻‍♀️