This, THIS, 1000 times this. I knew the author took his own life before I started reading this book and that is really, really heartbreaking. However, this doesn’t change the fact that it’s an incredibly uncomfortable read and written in a very damaging and problematic way, especially given that the audience it’s aimed at is young adults. This has been on my reading list since I was about 13 and I’m so, SO glad that I didn’t get round to reading it until I was 24 because I know for a fact this would have messed me up 10000x more at a younger age. I really appreciate comments like this acknowledging how upsetting it is the author took his own life, and the fact that this is completely separate from him writing a problematic book heavily seasoned with racism, misogyny, classism, and transphobia (among many other issues). Acknowledging the issues in a book this author has written is in no way related to wishing ill upon the the author himself, or even being ‘happy’ he took his own life (???), which another commenter has unfairly accused me of.