Dark Much?

Wow, talk about a dark book. The Chocolate War is a book I've had on my "must read" list for ages and had never gotten around to it. A small part of me wishes I had never gotten around to it. It was utterly depressing. I knew going into it that this was not going to be a light-hearted folly, but I thought it at least might have a happy ending! I know it might make me sound immature or unintelligent, but I just prefer a book to have a satisfying ending. The end of The Chocolate War just made me throw up my hands and ask myself why I had spent the last few days reading it! It was just bleak and left me feeling as if nothing had changed at all. I didn't feel that any of the characters grew. I felt like Jerry took a step in the wrong direction and that everyone else ended up exactly where they had begun. So what exactly was the point of the journey if nothing really changed?