Whew... where to start... Jennette McCurdy's candor and skill with creating scenes rich with emotion and environment make this book an engaging read that felt impossible to put down.  I find her admiration of "umless" people pleasantly ironic, since her writing is presented in a quick-moving, straightforward manner where her words are not cushioned by insecure pauses. 

I acknowledge that McCurdy has taken a huge risk by writing this book, but it is one that will hopefully pay off. One should never underestimate the difficulty of rebuilding your life's foundation and sense of identity after coming to understand that it had been defined by an abusive relationship with a caretaker, that warped into an abusive relationship with your body and own needs. Our society still has much work to do to improve understanding and cessation of abusive dynamics between parents and children that still involve a level of codependency that looks, and may feel like, a loving relationship. The fact that McCurdy has made such a dramatic recovery in her sense of self and eating disorder so soon after coming to terms with her abuse is a testament to the determination she always had, and can now exercise to make herself happy, instead of her mother. 

While McCurdy may never escape the limelight, I hope she can find some peace in knowing that she will now be known by millions as a multi-talented woman with wisdom, grit and the courage to let her honesty empower others in similar dysfunctional relationships with their caretakers or their bodies. The horrors she endured as a survivor of complex maternal abuse and as a child performer have affected young people for generations, but few have shared her bravery to dissect and expose the details of these experiences the way she has.