I received an Advance Listening Copy of this book thanks to the publisher and Libro.fm. All opinions are my own.
Jennette McCurdy came on the literary scene with a memoir bearing the memorable title of I’m Glad My Mom Died. I haven’t read McCurdy’s first book but it was widely lauded as being an honest and personal depiction of her time as a child actor and her difficult relationship with an abusive parent. I think a lot of people were curious whether or not McCurdy’s writing could carry her forward when she wasn’t writing about her own experiences. I certainly was and so when an ALC of her first novel came available on Libro.fm, I quickly opted in.
From there, I heard some reviews that said the book was deliberately shocking and overall fairly disgusting. I knew the premise – a teenage girl involved in a relationship with her high school teacher – would be upsetting and I was reluctant to listen to anything salacious. But the reviews were so mixed that I opted to give it a try and see for myself. In the end, I’m glad that I did.
Waldo is 17-years-old, slightly older than the age her mom was when she was born. Waldo and her mom live in a rundown apartment in Anchorage, Alaska. Her mom struggles to hold down a job, hopping from one relationship to the next, and Waldo is left largely on her own. As a new school year begins, Waldo ends up in a writing class taught by Mr. Korgy, a 40-something, self-professed failed writer. She is almost immediately drawn to him and pursues him, leading to an obviously illicit relationship between the two.
Like so many books, marketing is key. What turned me off of wanting to read this book were blurbs and reviews that touted Half His Age as glorifying this relationship in any way. I saw at least one review that described this story as Lolita from the young girl’s perspective. Now I would say that review shows a definite lack of understanding of both Lolita and Half His Age. Some reviews described Half His Age as being deliberate shocking and gross and I do think that’s true and I was glad to be warned of that in advance.
There’s a lot of sex in the book and it opens with a fairly graphic sex scene, but then pulls back from there. What’s interesting is that the sex is largely unappealing. McCurdy dwells on the physicality and the grossness of bodies. There is a lot of fluid and noise and discomfort. McCurdy wants to make you uncomfortable. You should be squirming. Mr. Korgy is never held up as particularly appealing or attractive. He’s a very average, middle-aged man and Waldo’s pursuit of him has a lot more to do with her than it does with him.
Yes, initially Waldo is the pursuer. But I think any reasonable adult will read this book and quickly see the ways that Mr. Korgy acts inappropriately way before they cross any physical boundary. As someone who knows a lot of people who work with minors, there are so many things an adult does in order to stay as far as possible away from that line. Mr. Korgy is the adult and therefore he is the one responsible for what happens, even if Waldo thinks it’s something she wants.
Waldo is an interesting character. She’s grown up barely above the poverty line with a mother who is constantly seeking validation from others, particularly men. Waldo is smart and thoughtful but none of those qualities have been encouraged in her. She’s bored, constantly searching for the next dopamine hit, wanting something to pay attention to. McCurdy really nails Waldo’s online habits – the doomscrolling, the shopping, the boredom of it all while not really ever allowing herself to actually be bored. While Waldo isn’t exactly likeable – she makes terrible decisions and she’s not particularly kind to anyone around her – it was easy to feel a lot of compassion for her. Again, she’s a child and she has no one on her side and the adults who should be are all failing her. I didn’t love the story and I’m glad it wasn’t longer but I do think McCurdy has some talent here.
A couple of nit-picky details: McCurdy narrates the audiobook herself and I didn’t love it. She reads with a very flat affect that felt distanced from what was actually going on.
The characters names drove me crazy. Why on earth is this teenage girl called Waldo? I feel like that needed a reference or an explanation. And Mr. Korgy was such a weird name to hear over and over again. I had to look it up because of course I kept hearing at as Corgi. Both of the names felt like there had to be some meaning behind them but that was never revealed.
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