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Half His Age

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Half His Age

By: Jennette McCurdy
Narrated by: Jennette McCurdy
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THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLER

Half His Age is a highly anticipated, funny, sad, thrilling novel about sex, class, desire, and power – and the (often misguided) lengths we’ll go to to get what we want, from Jennette McCurdy, the three-million copy bestselling author of I'm Glad My Mom Died.

'SHOCKING, HONEST AND UNSPARING' SUNDAY TIMES STYLE

'A HILARIOUS AND UNCOMFORTABLE TRIUMPH' GUARDIAN

'EERIE, UNSETTLING AND BELIEVABLE' GILLIAN FLYNN, AUTHOR OF GONE GIRL

'ABSOLUTE DYNAMITE' ELIZABETH DAY

Waldo is ravenous. Horny. Blunt. Naive. Wise. Impulsive. Lonely. Angry. Hurting. Endlessly wanting. And the thing she wants most of all? Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher.

Mr Korgy, 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 that she doesn’t? Or are they actually kindred spirits, sharing the same 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 an incisive study of a yearning seventeen-year-old who disregards all obstacles in her effort to be seen, to be desired and to be loved.

'THOUGHT-PROVOKING, SHOCKING AND DARKLY COMIC' INDEPENDENT

©2026 WAFFLE CONE, INC (P)2026 Penguin Random House LLC Coming of Age Dark Humour Editors Select Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Women's Fiction Funny
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Editorial Review

Jennette McCurdy’s foray into fiction
As a fan of Jennette McCurdy’s bracing I’m Glad My Mom Died, I couldn’t wait for her debut novel. Half His Age, about a precocious teen who falls for her English teacher, is decidedly NOT Nickelodeon material. But despite the skin-crawling plot, I found myself rooting for Waldo (yes, Waldo) and even laughing at the comic moments. McCurdy writes short, propulsive chapters and cutting observations (my favourite, “The lemon verbena is a double-edged sword,” describes how Waldo’s mom’s preferred hand soap eats away at her spray tan), and her narration is at once matter-of-fact, sharp, sad, and funny. Like My Dark Vanessa for the anxious generation, Half His Age is set against a backdrop of frictionless tech and late-stage capitalism. At a lean 4.5 hours, it asks you to sit in discomfort—but no longer than necessary. —Kat J., Audible Editor

Critic Reviews

‘Eerie and unsettling and believable’ Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl
'Absolute dynamite. I could not stop reading until I had devoured it whole' Elizabeth Day, author of One of Us
'A bleak, hilarious and uncomfortable triumph. Underscores McCurdy’s talent for focusing in on the multilayered nature of trauma and artfully unpicking it, one scab at a time’ Guardian
‘A postmodern novel for the fast-fashion generation and a portrait of civilizational decline told through relentless consumption. McCurdy’s brittle commentary made me think of Don DeLillo [and her] furious writing is hard to tear yourself away from.’ The Atlantic
‘A bold and unapologetic novel for edge-seekers, doom-scrollers, latchkey kids, horn-dogs and all those who love hard’ Brittany Newell in the New York Times
‘Shocking, honest and unsparing. A sardonic voice, finely tuned to the push and pull of tragedy and humour' Sunday Times Style
‘A beadily intelligent novel. Waldo is a brilliant creation, and I hope McCurdy makes the transition to novelist a permanent one’ The Times
'Thought-provoking and shocking, darkly comic and witty' Independent
'Dark, raw, funny and razor-sharp' Red Magazine
'Jennette McCurdy writes sentences that glimmer and cut like razors. This novel is uncomfortable, unpredictable, and unputdownable' Aria Aber, author of Good Girl
'A riveting examination of lust and self-delusion. McCurdy is a fearless and darkly funny writer with an unerring eye for the perfect mortifying detail' Tom Perrotta, author of Election
PRAISE FOR I'M GLAD MY MOM DIED…
'An important cultural document just as much as a searingly personal one' Lena Dunham
'A vivid, biting, darkly comic writer' Vogue
'McCurdy reveals herself to be a stingingly funny and insightful writer, capable of great empathy and a brutal punchline' Time
'A coming-of-age story that is alternately harrowing and funny' The New York Times
'A magnum opus. Sharply funny and empathetic' The Washington Post
'The publishing sensation.' Guardian
All stars
Most relevant
It was ok. I love stories about relationships and affairs but this one fell flat a bit but unsure why. Also what the F with the speed of the narrator?

Sure. It was ok. Narrated way too fast

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Really enjoyed this book but had to slow the narration down to 0.8x !!! You feel the raw lust of the protagonist and also her disgust. Great writing

Great book, very fast narrating!

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Absolutely loved this book! The real and raw nature of human emotions that Jeanette can so eloquently example. She’s done it again, what an incredible read.

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeousss

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Fascinating and well crafted read! This book was visceral and vulgar and real. The voice of Waldo was quite authentic in its equal parts of maturity and innocence and I very much appreciated the way it drew me in. I had veered from the book due to its topic but found it equally engaging and repellent. Jeanette Mccurdy has a real and unique voice that was just as engaging in fiction. I’m not surprised that this got a different reaction than her memoir because it’s considerably more challenging. It’s easy to have compassion for a real victim of abuse but Waldo’s voice challenges us to STILL see that she is the kid in this situation despite her bravado. I think this book is a real accomplishment.

Visceral and Fascinating

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It was an ok read at the beginning. Felt hot but uncomfortable if I thought too long. Started getting annoyed with the way Waldo was being treated but thank goodness for the ending otherwise would have left this book feeling very uncomfortable.

Great ending

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