Half His Age by Jenette McCurdy
Half His Age
by Jenette McCurdy
Contemporary
288 Pages
Released January 2026
Rating: ★
Goodreads
Content Warnings
Last year, I’d heard so many raving reviews about Jenette McCurdy’s biography I’m Glad My Mom Died (though I had no interest myself in picking it up). So when I heard she was coming out with a debut fiction novel, I had tentative hopes it would be good as well.
Well….it wasn’t.
This book follows Waldo (an underaged girl) who becomes obsessed with her creative writing teacher. There’s nothing particularly appealing about Mr. Korgy, an average man with an average family, and yet Waldo becomes increasingly infatuated with him, determined to win him over.
This book was kinda (really) gross. I’m struggling to put it any other way. The descriptions were borderline too indulgent and extremely uncomfortable and I thought many times about DNFing the book (ultimately, I wish I had).
Waldo is not necessarily a likable character. She’s crude, lusty, naive and has her sights set on her creative writing teacher - convinced he understands her in a way no one else can. He becomes surprisingly easy to “win over” (i.e. seduce) and what follows is an overly descriptive (not in good way) affair that really just had me either cringing or scratching my head.
And I mean, I get it, she’s a young girl with a rough upbringing and her obsession with Mr. Korgy is the result of that. But while this could have focused more on psychological aspects of traumatic young women that become obsessed with a stable male presence, ultimately this book read more like a cross between a middle-aged man’s wet dream (think Lolita) and a cliche “daddy issues” girl acting out. And don’t get me wrong, I love a good spicy book that dives into the “forbidden” but this just felt gratuitous in a way that made my skin crawl.
And who knows, maybe that was point. What I’m trying to say is that I, personally, did not enjoy it.
On one, small, positive note, I will say that this book felt…well…realistic. The characters are raw and flawed and make poor decisions. I appreciate that this didn’t turn into some happily-ever-after type of story.
But, if you are someone that enjoys uncomfortable forbidden relationships with rather raw and realistic characters you might end up liking this. Personally, I wish I had stopped much earlier.