Review: Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy
Today we’re going to be talking about the book Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy. This year marks the release of her debut novel, after her memoir in 2022 became a bestseller. I know that when I read her first book, I was captivated by her story, but also her talent as a storyteller. I made a note that if she were to release anything in the future that I would definitely want to read it!
Half His Age is not an easy read. In fact, the main character’s best friend describes Waldo’s life story as “harrowing”. So that should tell you something. But as the story unfolds and we are introduced to the different difficulties that Waldo has to face on a daily basis, I immediately felt for her. She’s not exactly a likable character, but it is easy to feel empathy for her and her situation. At least in my opinion.
I’ll try to keep things vague, but there are going to be a few spoilers in this blog post. If you’d like to find out more about Half His Age by Jennette Mccurdy, keep reading for my full book review!
What is Half His Age About?
Waldo is ravenous. Horny. Blunt. Naive. Wise. Impulsive. Lonely. Angry. Forceful. Hurting. Perceptive. Endlessly wanting. And the thing she wants 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. Is it his 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.
Startlingly perceptive, mordantly funny, and keenly poignant, Half His Age is a rich character study of a yearning seventeen-year-old who disregards all obstacles—or attempts to overcome them—in her effort to be seen, to be desired, to be loved. (from Amazon.com)
Who is Author Jennette McCurdy?
Jennette McCurdy is a former child actor and writer. She is best known for her work on Nickelodeon where she starred as Sam Puckett in iCarly and Sam & Cat. In 2022 she published the bestselling memoir called I’m Glad My Mom Died.
My First Thoughts
My first thought when I started reading this book is, oh… this is going to hurt. I knew that Half His Age was going to be an emotional story filled with power dynamics, female rage, and a broken heart.
Then I finished the book and had to sit with it for a while. I really liked this coming-of-age story because of how heartbreaking and real it felt. But at the end of the day, I’m also confused. It didn’t really feel like there was a good conclusion. The ending felt very abrupt. And I’m sure that the author and editors did that on purpose but I don’t think I like that.
This Books Covers a Difficult Topic
This book is not a Lifetime movie. The middle age teacher who had a relationship with an underage girl did not face any consequences. I mean, I guess he kind of did. But you’ll just have to read the book to find out more about that.
I felt really grossed out by Mr Korgy, which is a good thing. A lot of books like this don’t seem to really grasp how gross it is for older man and a high school student to hang out in the real world, even when it’s not sexual.
I read this quote on Threads the other day where someone was like, “There’s literally no such thing as a young woman. The world you’re looking for is girl. A child.”
And that’s so true. You should’t even call teachers and students seeing each other as age-gap relationships because they’re not. It’s not a relationship. It’s a power imbalance.
Jennette Did a Good Job of Showing the Power Imbalance
There’s this scene where Waldo and Mr. Korgy are out to dinner where she admonishes him for taking a long phone call from his wife while they are out to dinner and he looks at her and is like, “But you’re usually so accomodating. I’m doing this so that she’s not suspicious and we can still hang out together.”
And that scene really sticks with me because it’s so gross. He’s trying so hard to give her the illusion of control, which she obviously doe not have. And I just felt like that was really powerful. There’s a lot of chapters like that where the scene might feel inconsequential, but it has big stakes in the story. That’s something I really enjoy about Jennette’s writing style.
I think Jennette did a Great Job of Creating Waldo’s world
Living in Anchorage Alaska means that Waldo doesn’t have the most exciting or glamorous life. But I liked all of the detail that Jennette put into creating her backstory. It really hurt my heart when Waldo came home to an empty house everyday and sticky notes. The online shopping addiction felt very real, as Waldo tried to cope with the different stressors and sadness in her life.
I don’t know. When it all comes down to it, this is a very unapologetic novel. It’s a coming of age story that doesn’t really have a conclusion. Waldo’s personality is that she uses dark humor and unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with the discomfort of her life and it’s not always super comfortable to read about.
In Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed today’s book review of Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy! This isn’t a 5 Star read for me because I would have liked a better ending for Waldo, but I did think it was pretty good. I really enjoy McCurdy’s writing style and can’t wait to see what else she’ll come out with in the future.
She in no way glorified or romanticized this topic, which is something I think people were concerned about when they first heard that book was releasing. Instead, she wrote an honest story that will entertain and really make readers think.
