Authors: Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan
Publication Date: February 9th 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)
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Blurb Description: From two acclaimed authors comes an emotional story told in verse about friendship, love, and overcoming unbeatable odds.
Authors Brian Conaghan and Sarah Crossan have joined forces to tell the story of Nicu and Jess, two troubled teens whose paths cross in the unlikeliest of places.
Nicu has emigrated from Romania and is struggling to find his place in his new home. Meanwhile, Jess's home life is overshadowed by violence. When Nicu and Jess meet, what starts out as friendship grows into romance as the two bond over their painful pasts and hopeful futures. But will they be able to save each other, let alone themselves?For fans of Una LaMarche’s Like No Other, this illuminating story told in dual points of view through vibrant verse will stay with readers long after they've turned the last page.
“We Never Get Lost
And
When I Wake
I fear that our love will never be
Found.”
I read We Come Apart in
one sitting.
In fact, I think it’s the quickest I’ve ever read a full-fledged
novel. Despite the fact that it was told in verse (like the quote above), We Come Apart was SUCH a different,
thought provoking and consuming book to read.
In fact, I found it VERY DIFFICULT to NOT put down.
I’ve never read a book like this one before – told in verse,
that is (is that what I should call it?) – Mostly because I never actually
thought I’d like it. Poetry has never appealed much to me but after falling for
this book, I feel like I should reconsider it.
REASONS I LOVED THIS
BOOK/ FELT ALL THE THINGS:
1.
NICU:
It’s very hard NOT to love someone who a) only wants a better life than the
almost homeless, below the poverty line life that he was living in Romania
before he came to England and b) who only wants to be GOOD, to make a life for
himself in this county and BE ACCEPTED. I hated how EVERY SINGLE PERSON, even the adults and HIS TEACHERS judged him
based on his language, his accent, his skin colour and the kids abused him and
tortured him and yet HE WAS STILL A HOPEFUL FLOWER, because all he wanted was a
good life for himself.
I especially hated the school kids that
beat him up and Meg (UGH) who said he touched her just FOR ATTENTION TO BE ON
HER and it broke my heart that there was ALMOST NOBODY that would be nice to
him, or cut him some slack.
2.
THE
REAL RAMPANT RACISM: Students enrolled in US universities after working
twice as hard as any “white” kid aren’t allowed to return to STUDY. A Minister
in India claims he will kill a hundred Muslims for even a single Hindu who
dies. WE LIVE IN A HIGHLY RACIST WORLD, and
We Come Apart captured the worst of
it in a heart wrenching manner.
3.
THE
WRITING STYLE: Like I said
before, I LOVED THE VERSE STYLE OF WRITING. It was a really raw form of
writing, that managed to capture all the emotions of the moment and yet it wasn’t
a rambling piece. I also loved how Nicu’s language problems were handled
because English IS A COMPLICATED language and I smiled and felt for him when he
spoke it.
The only reason that this isn’t a Five Star Read for me is
because:
a)
WE SAW SO MUCH RAMPANT RACISM AND ABUSE (and
that was the point of the book, I’m guessing, to see how rampant it was and to
see and FEEL what immigrants/ abused kids must go through)
b)
AND YET NOBODY – NOBODY – Said ANYTHING to the
entitled White British Kids, not even Jess. There was no defining moment to the
story that at least TRIED to teach those kids to be better (even if they won’t
change) but there was NO TRYING. You’re supposed to say something, right?
I guess I just wish that the ending, and the lesson about being conscious about
how you treat ANYONE was better put forth.
We Come Apart was a harrowing, eye-opening tale told in Lyrical
prose that will consume you, and I highly recommend you dive in.
Sarah Crossan is Irish. She graduated with a degree in Philosophy and Literature before training as an English and Drama teacher at Cambridge University and worked to promote creative writing in schools before leaving teaching to write full time. She completed her Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Warwick in 2003 and in 2010 received an Edward Albee Fellowship for writing.
Brian Conaghan was born in 1971. He was raised in the Scottish town of Coatbridge but now lives and works as a teacher in Dublin. He is the author of The Boy Who Made It Rain and has a Master of Letters in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. His second novel When Mr Dog Bites was shortlisted for both the 2015 Carnegie Medal and the Children's Book Award Ireland, while his novel, The Bombs That Brought Us Together won the 2016 Costa Chilrdren's Book Award. His new novel, We Come Apart, written in verse, and co-authored with multi award winner, Sarah Crossan was released in Feb 2017.
Have you read any books by Sarah Crossan or Brian Conaghan before?
What are some of the contemporary novels that moved or consumed you?
What are some of the contemporary novels that moved or consumed you?
Have you heard about or read We Come Apart?
