Book Review - Half His Age by Jenette McCurdy

Title: Half His Age
Author: Jenette McCurdy
Genre: Fiction/ Romance
Published: 2026
 
Description: Waldo is ravenous. Horny. Blunt. Naïve. Wise. Impulsive. Angry. Forceful. Hurting. Perceptive/ Endlessly wanting. And the thing she want most of all: Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher with the wife and the kid and the mortgage and the bills, with the dead dreams and the atrophied looks and the growing paunch. She doesn’t know why she wants him. It is a passion? His life experience? The fact that he knows books and films and things that she doesn’t? Or is it purer than that, rooted in their unlikely connection, their kindred spirits, the similar filter with which they each take in the world around them? Or, perhaps it’s just enough that he sees her when no one else does.

Review: After the impressive “I’m Glad My Mom Died”, my expectations for Jenette McCurdy’s fiction debut were sky-high. Unfortunately, “Half His Age” is a massive disappointment that falls short in nearly every way. What works as a direct and honest voice in her memoir feels unpolished and repetitive here.
 
We meet Waldo, a 17-year-old girl who starts to show a special interest in her creative writing teacher, Mr. Korgy, who is 40.
 
Waldo is meant to be a complex character struggling with trauma and a shopping addiction. Instead she comes across mainly as insufferable and one-dimensional. Her obsession with her teacher lacks emotional depth. Mr. Korgy himself is a cliché and he is utterly uninteresting. Because you don’t connect with either of them, their destructive relationship feels more like a tedious repetition of tropes than a bold literary statement.
 
The book relies heavily on explicit, often vulgar scenes that push the boundaries of discomfort. Although McCurdy indicates that this discomfort is intentional, in practice it mostly feels like cheap shock value. There is one scene especially (if you read it, you know which scene I mean) that was so gross. The couple already gave me the ick, but that scene made it worse.
 
I love Jennette McCurdy, and I really wished I liked this book, but it lacks humor, nuance and sincerity that made McCurdy such an interesting voice. “Half His Age” is mainly a frustrating reading experience that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone.
 
Rating: 1/ 5

Book Review - I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jenette McCurdy

Title: I’m Glad My Mom Died
Series: -
Author: Jenette McCurdy
 
Description: Jenette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jenette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what mom called “calorie restriction”, eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay> You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers”? She was even showered by mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, e-mail and all her income.
 
In “I’m Glad My Mom Died”, Jenette recounts all this in unflinching detail. Just as she chronicles what happens when the dream family comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called “iCarly”, she is thrust into fame. Though mom is ecstatic, Jenette is riddled with anxiety, shame and self-loathing, which manifests in eating disorders, addiction and a series of unhealthy relationships. After her mom dies of cancer, Jenette embarks on a recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.
 
Review: When Jenette McCurdy was two years old, her mother Debra was diagnosed with breast cancer. From then on, Jenette felt she had to take care of her mother and did everything her mother wanted, to make her happy. Her mother’s dream was to make Jenette famous, and so Jenette was forced into acting.
 
To fit into the perfect picture of Debra and Hollywood, Jenette’s mother talked her into an eating disorder. At 14, Jenette had to start counting calories from her mother to stay young. As a result, according to Debra, she would get roles more often. In addition, her mother did not want Jenette to grow up, because then she could no longer dictate to her what she wanted. Jenette had to be weighed five times a day and on Sundays she measured her upper legs with a tape measure.
 
Debra was a control fread and still wiped Jenette’s butt until she was 10 years old. Furthermore, she regularly performed medical check-ups to make sure Jenette din not have cancer. Debra did this by feeling Jenette’s breasts and vagina. In addition, Debra showered Jenette up until she was 16 years old and did the same to Jenette’s youngest brother Scott.
 
In her book, Jenette writes that she never wanted to act and wanted to quit doing so. She told this to her mother before she was cast for the hit series “iCarly”, but she became hysterical. Jenette continued acting. When she finally stars in the show, Jenette was severely exploited. She had to wear bikinis and was forced to kiss. Her self-worth diminished. In contrast, her bond with co-star Miranda Cosgrove has always been good and she has been incredibly supportive of Jenette.  
 
While starring on the spin-off series “Sam & Kat”, Jenette was comparing herself to counterpart Ariane Grande. She was jealous of her career and youth and at first didn’t even know she was going to be a part of the show. She thought the spin-off was just about her. And Grande was paid more than Jenette for the same amount of acting.
 
When Debra died in 2013, Jenette was only 21 years old. Soon after Jenette suffered a relapse of her eating disorder and later alcohol addiction. She still adhered strictly to her mother’s rules in order to keep her legacy alive. She went to therapy several times and had to face her life as it was. Jenette had been abused by her mother and is now living with the consequences. And where people think the title of the book is tasteless and disrespectful, Jenette McCurdy things very differently. She claims that people who have been abuse by their parents understand this title. And people with a sense of humor understand the title. This book is meant for them.
 
I’m not a big memoir reader, but I believe this should be read by everyone. It touched me, grabbed me and I felt heartbroken about her story. The way McCurdy writes her story is so honest, raw and heartbreaking. I read this while listening to the audiobook, which is narrated by McCurdy herself. Would recommend, it’s such a beautiful book.
 
Rating: 4,5/ 5