Child actors shouldn’t exist. That’s one of the main takeaways from this book—so many adults in her life failed her, and it’s heartbreaking and disgusting to read about just how thoroughly she was mistreated. And while all that was going on, I was part of the problem, tuning in to the occasional iCarly episode and laughing along. 

This book is a brutal look of the behind-the-scenes life of a child star, and she isn’t afraid to show the gritty truth. Her mother was an abusive, obsessive weirdo and all the adults around her just kind of let her force Jenette into this stuff because what? She was making money and cute? Jesus Christ. 

The worst part of the book is the knowledge that while obviously this situation is extreme, stuff like this happens in Hollywood—Jenette was not the only person in Hollywood that had to deal with The Creator, overbearing parents, substance abuse, or eating disorders. We need to do better. 

All that being said—this was a fantastic read, but I do have conflicting feelings about it. She’s a great writer and it was a compelling story, but it just feels exploitative again—but I suppose the difference between this and her previous work, is that this is all on her own terms. For that reason, I think this should be required reading for anyone that has watched a show with a child actor in it (so, everyone).