About the Book
I'm Glad My Mom Died is Jennette McCurdy's memoir about growing up as a child actor, best known for her roles on iCarly and Sam & Cat, under the control of a mother who shaped nearly every part of her life, including her relationship with food, her career choices, and her sense of self. The book covers her development of eating disorders, struggles with alcohol, and the years she spent working in an industry she didn't choose and couldn't easily leave.
The title is deliberately provocative. McCurdy's mother died in 2013, and the book doesn't frame that loss as straightforward grief. Instead, it works through the complicated truth of surviving an enmeshed, controlling parent, and what recovery from that kind of relationship actually looks like. McCurdy is candid about the way her mother's influence continued to affect her even after death.
This is not a celebrity tell-all in the tabloid sense. It's closer to a trauma memoir that happens to take place in Hollywood. The book deals seriously with disordered eating, emotional abuse, and identity, while also maintaining a dry, often dark humor throughout. It was a significant commercial and critical success when first published, and the audiobook version was released through Simon and Schuster.
Narration & Audio Performance
McCurdy narrates this herself, and it's one of the stronger cases for author narration you'll find in the memoir space. Her background as an actor means she's comfortable in front of a microphone, and she reads with a timing and emotional range that feels deliberate rather than accidental. The humor, and there is real humor in this book, lands better in her voice than it likely would in a hired narrator's interpretation.
The tone shifts between sections with some skill. Passages about her childhood are delivered with a kind of flatness that underlines the dysfunction rather than dramatizing it, while later sections feel more open. It doesn't sound like a performance in the theatrical sense; it sounds like someone who knows exactly what they wrote and why.
One note: this is a genuinely difficult book emotionally, and McCurdy's narration doesn't soften that. Listeners who prefer some distance from heavy material may find the first-person audio version more intense than the print. That's not a flaw, it's a feature of the format, but worth knowing going in.
The Audible Verdict
Author-narrated memoirs about this kind of material are relatively rare, and McCurdy's performance justifies using a full credit here. The combination of her acting background and firsthand knowledge of the material makes the audio version a genuinely different and stronger experience than reading the text. If you've been sitting on a credit, this is a good use of it.
Listen on AudibleIs This Book a Good Fit for Audio?
Memoir is generally one of the best formats for audiobooks, and first-person accounts narrated by the author are about as well-suited to audio as any book gets. There are no charts, no footnotes, no non-linear structure that requires visual navigation. It's a sustained personal narrative, and the audio format handles that cleanly.
The emotional texture of this book in particular benefits from being heard. McCurdy's comic timing, which is central to how she frames dark events, requires delivery. On the page, the humor reads well. In audio, with her rhythm and pauses intact, it reads differently. The memoir's specific blend of irreverence and pain is something the audio format preserves better than a neutral read-through would.
The one caveat is that some listeners find audio harder to pace themselves through when content is heavy. This book covers eating disorders and emotional abuse in frank detail. If you're someone who reads difficult material slowly and revisits sections, the print version gives you more control. Otherwise, audio is the right call.
Popular Listener Questions
Is this audiobook narrated by Jennette McCurdy herself?
Yes. McCurdy narrates the audiobook herself. Her acting background translates well to the recording, and the narration is widely considered one of the stronger aspects of the audio version.
Is this suitable for listeners who aren't familiar with iCarly or her TV work?
Yes. The memoir doesn't require any knowledge of her television career to follow. The show business context is part of the story, but the book is primarily about family dynamics, identity, and recovery, not celebrity.
Does the book deal with eating disorders in detail?
It does. McCurdy writes about anorexia and bulimia specifically and doesn't avoid clinical or personal detail. Listeners who are sensitive to this topic should factor that in before starting.
Is this part of a series or a standalone?
It's a standalone memoir with no sequel or companion volume.
Is the tone of the book depressing throughout?
No. McCurdy uses dark humor consistently, and the book's tone shifts across sections. It's not a comfortable listen, but it isn't relentlessly bleak either.
Similar Audiobooks
Another memoir about escaping a controlling family environment, told with clarity and restraint. Listeners who respond to McCurdy's framing are likely to find Tara Westover's account similarly affecting.
Michelle Zauner's memoir deals with a complicated mother-daughter relationship and grief, told with a similar balance of love and honesty about damage. Also author-narrated.
Jeannette Walls's memoir about a chaotic, neglectful upbringing shares the dynamic of a child navigating a parent who caused real harm. A useful companion read.
Brain on Fire
Susannah Cahalan's memoir about losing control of her own mind and reclaiming herself covers different ground but has a similar structure of crisis, confusion, and recovery.
Tina Fey's memoir is lighter in tone but shares the author-as-narrator dynamic and the comedy-background pacing. A good option if listeners want something less heavy after McCurdy.
Audiobook Details
| Title | I'm Glad My Mom Died |
|---|---|
| Author | Jennette McCurdy |
| Narrator | Jennette McCurdy |
| Genre | Memoir |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
| Abridged | Unabridged |
| Cast | Single narrator |
| Author-narrated | Yes |
Ready to listen?
I'm Glad My Mom Died is available on Audible and is a reasonable use of a free trial credit or a paid one, the author narration makes the audio version worth seeking out over the print edition.
Open on Audible