Jennette McCurdy’s ‘Half His Age’ Book Ending, Explained

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy.]

It’s clear that there is a little bit of Waldo in all of us. That’s why we finished Half His Age repeating one impassioned affirmation: May this kind of love NEVER find us.

After her poignant memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, topped the charts, Jennette McCurdy released her debut novel, Half His Age. The novel follows Waldo, a ravenous teen with an unexplainable, unescapable thirst for her married teacher, Mr. Korgy. A meditation on female rage, consumerism, and more, the former Nickelodeon star’s novel is just as good, if not better than, her memoir.

While this is one love story where it’s safe to say that we were not hoping for a happy ending, the ending definitely left a lot open for interpretation. Scroll to find out what happened at the end of Half His Age, if Waldo and Korgy end up together, and more.

Do Waldo and Korgy end up together?

No, (thankfully) Waldo and Korgy do not end up together in Half His Age. While it appears that Korgy is prepared to pick Waldo over his wife, Gwen, Waldo silently walks out on Korgy moments before they are set to take off on their flight to Hawaii.

Waldo’s choice to leave Korgy is inspired by her mother, who breaks up with Tony, the most recent douche in her string of horrible boyfriends, after attending a sex-and-love-anonymous meeting. Turns out, her mom’s list of symptoms for “love addiction” aligns with Waldo’s relationship with Korgy as well. If her mom can break that cycle, Waldo can, too.

McCurdy previously explained that Waldo’s relationship draws some parallels to her own experience as a late teen. “My first relationship was with somebody who was in his mid-30s, and I was 18,” she explained. “I would say there are some loose inspirations from there, but Waldo is a character entirely her own.”

What happens at the end of Half His Age?

At the end of Half His Age, Waldo abandons Korgy at the airport, heading home to find that her mom and Tony have already gotten back together. When Waldo finds that her mother has gone back to Tony, she tells readers, “I just stare at her as an immaculate wave washes over me. A wave of recognition. Of peace. Of freedom. The peace and freedom that can only come from lowering your expectations of someone.” In that moment, she walks out on her life entirely, leaving both Korgy and her mother in the dust as she drives off to Seward.

She realizes that all along, Korgy, shopping, sex, and everything else she had become so drawn to were simply distractions. For once, she is content with just herself. She concludes, “No chaos, no turmoil, no endless list of wants. Right now, I don’t want for anything.”

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Does Korgy leave his wife?

Yes, Korgy does leave his wife, Gwen, and their son, Gregory, to be with Waldo. However, he never tells Gwen that he is dating Waldo. Looking back at his split from Gwen, Korgy tells Waldo, “I said this would be better for both of us and for Gregory too. And I know it will be. I know it will be. But it’s still the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” In the end, Gwen never found out that Korgy was having an affair with his student.

Does Half His Age have a satisfying ending?

No, really, we’d love to know your thoughts on this one. If you had asked us during Chapter 66, when Waldo was forced to hide naked in Korgy’s closet, on her period, since Gwen had come home early, we would have predicted that the novel would have a far more explosive or catastrophic ending.

However, instead of writing a showdown between Waldo and Gwen, a professional consequence for Korgy, or anything similarly concrete, McCurdy chose to leave things pen-ended. Comment below to let us know if you craved a more dramatic ending, or if McCurdy’s hopeful conclusion was exactly what you had hoped for.

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy is available now.