OK. OK. Who read this? Can we talk about this?

I read a lot of reviews praising this for its realistic teen guy voice (true) and how funny it was (true) and how cute the narrator's cartoon illustrations were (true).

So I had NO IDEA that... okay IDK, I'm putting this behind spoiler tags but just generally I think people should know that this has a very sad ending?? That is like... um... anyway I guess I would be careful about recommending this to younger teens, due to the unexpectedly upsetting ending, even if they would really enjoy the first 5/6s of the book.

Spoiler

Joeyyy 3

I guess the ending isn't totally out of left field--the violence and slurs and stuff had been escalating throughout the book. But it is a dramatic tone shift? I guess... was this necessary? For Joey to DIE? It's certainly more shocking than if he had been non-fatally beaten. But at the same time it seems like a VERY dark ending for what up to this point had been a relatively light-hearted book. But sometimes life is just like that, I suppose.

It's also interesting and weird that it happens at the end of the book and we don't get much of a chance to see how everyone reacts to his death? Of course, we can IMAGINE, but... kind of unsatisfying?? IDK.

Overall, a funny, honest, and complex look into a teen boy's head & all that goes on in there, for better & for worse.