Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

*spoilers ahead*

Half His Age is Jennette McCurdy’s debut novel about 17-year-old Waldo, who pursues and has an affair with her creative writing teacher, Mr Korgy. The book is written from Waldo’s perspective and covers themes of addiction, obsession, power and intimacy.

After loving McCurdy’s memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, I was eager to read Half His Age as soon as it came out, as it was one of my most anticipated reads of 2026. I really enjoyed the addictive writing style of this book, as the chapters are super short. This is definitely uncomfortable to read in places because of the nature of the age gap, student-teacher relationship, but also due to the way McCurdy writes sex. It’s not romantic, but mechanical, methodical and very graphic (especially the period scene!). McCurdy is clear in that this relationship is bound by lust, not love, and with the concept of wanting something you can’t have. The plot reminded me a lot of My Dark Vanessa, but it does not delve as deeply into the moral complications of their relationship. However, the book does deliver on what you expect as it covers sex, obsession and power.

There are lots of parallels between Waldo and her mother, with her mother being an example of what Waldo is trying not to grow up to be:

She creates and nurses a fantasy in her mind of what the guy could be, what the two of them could be together, instead of living in the reality of what he is and what they are. – p36

This is Waldo talking about her mum and her ex-boyfriend, yet she cannot see the comparison between her and Mr Korgy. I wish we’d seen Waldo’s mother find out about their relationship and her reaction, which would have given the story another angle and told us more about her mother’s behaviour.

We also see Waldo using junk food and online shopping to fill a void to give her bursts of serotonin, albeit short-lived. This did become quite repetitive as it was Waldo’s coping strategy for whenever things were not going well with Korgy. I did notice that Waldo always refers to her teacher as Korgy, never his first name, which is indicative of their problematic relationship.

The writing in this book is incredibly bold; however, I was expecting more female rage and a more poignant message to be present throughout the book. One of my main concerns about the book before reading it was that the book looked too short for the topic it was covering, and when I got to the end, which I found abrupt, I do believe the story could have been expanded. I wish it were longer and explored everything in more depth, including some of the side characters. I would have loved to see more of the Waldo we see at the end of the book, and even just a few more chapters of her thoughts.

I’m glad the book went in the direction that it did, but sometimes the reality of Waldo and Korgy’s situation took me away from the book. For example, how did they never get caught, especially at school? Why did Frannie never report their relationship? How did Korgy’s wife never suspect anything, especially after having Waldo around for dinner? One thing that also strikes me as odd is that there is no use or discussion of contraception and with McCurdy’s writing being so particular and graphic, I’m surprised it never came up in Waldo and Korgy’s conversations when they appeared to talk about everything and left me wondering if this was going to appear as a plot twist, but it was never covered.

Despite being an uncomfortable topic, the book is very easy to read, and I got through it within two days. I also attended An Evening with Jennette McCurdy in conversation with Jack Edwards in London, which I really loved. It helped me understand the book more, the characters and the locations used, as well as hear more about McCurdy herself.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this book even though the writing was very explicit. I had high expectations and found myself feeling a bit flat after finishing it, as ultimately, I wanted more from the book, in all aspects. I didn’t relate to any of the characters, so that’s most likely why I didn’t connect hugely with this book, but I’m glad I gave this a go, and I really hope McCurdy continues to write fiction, as I’ll always read her books despite their heavier topics.

3/5 stars