Half His Age by Jeannette McCurdy

Half His Age

Author: Jeannette McCurdy

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Publish Date: January 2026

Read: June 2026 (DNF’d)

Story Synopsis: Waldo is a horny, lonely young adult in Anchorage, Alaska. She’s tried to be with guys her age, but she feels no connection with any of them. It’s not until she enters her creative writing class with Mr. Korgy that she feels something… desire? Connection? Understanding?

Why does this book beguile? I got this from the library and made it far enough (about 10% in) to know it wasn't going to be my kind of book. McCurdy can write. That's not up for discussion. The prose is sharp and confident and she has a specific gift for making the uncomfortable feel inevitable on the page. If you loved I'm Glad My Mom Died, you already know what she's capable of, and this book has that same quality of unflinching interiority.

The narrator made my skin crawl within the first few pages. Not because the writing failed, but because it succeeded completely. The character is written so precisely that I felt the ick before I could talk myself out of it, and I realized fairly quickly that I wasn't in the headspace to sit with that feeling for an entire book. That's a reader problem, not a book problem. I'd pick this up again in a different season. Right now it's not mine. If you have a high tolerance for morally complex, deeply uncomfortable and unreliable narrators written with genuine craft, this one is for you.

Bookshop.Org Link*: Half His Age by Jeannette McCurdy

Amazon.com Link*: Half His Age by Jeannette McCurdy