SOLVED. YA comedy turns into dark action in the end, while still comedic. Huge stylistic clue: the narrator is periodically interviewed as if the events are nonfiction and being adapted into a movie about the events that took place in this boot camp. [s]

[tay]

n the beginning a boy and his best friend are being sent to a boot camp because his parents think he’s wimpy. They end up at this isolated camp in the mountains with one ‘leader?’ I guess. He’s a man who dresses in all military clothes, although I don’t think it’s ever determined whether he was actually ever in the military, and is seen as a joke for awhile. They go through some trials—the one I remember clearly is archery, but there were a few others. The final trial is the kids going out into the woods and basically having a sort of Hunger Games-esque paintball fight. After this it gets actually very dark. Spoilers will start next. It turns out that the man is in trouble with men (possibly the mafia), I think because he borrowed money for the camp and didn’t make enough to pay it back. They came to get the money while the kids were in the woods, and thus it took quite awhile for them to realize what was going on and even longer for them to believe the kid who witnessed it, who they thought must be just drawing him out of hiding. The men had guns and eventually the guy actually gets shot and dies. The kids end up needing to fight the bad guys and win, and I don’t remember any of them dying, although I think the MC ends up shooting one of the men, or at least has a huge conflict about it. All of this dark action is still comedic as well I read this book last year and it was fairly recently published. Probably the 10s, maybe late 00s. I really enjoyed it and would love any help in finding it again.

[Rainbowheart]

I Have a Bad Feeling about This

[Rainbowheart]

Still out there, Taylor?

I'm sure this is your book.

[tay]

THIS IS IT THANK YOU SO MUCH

[Rainbowheart]

Awesome, glad to help out!