Title: We Come Aprt
Author: Sarah Crossan | Brian Conaghan
Genre: Contemporary YA | Poetry
Format: E Book
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s
Publication Date: 9th February 2017
My Rating: ★★★★ (4 stars)
Goodreads | Storygraph
Synopsis:
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.
My Review:
We come together, Now, we come apart.
My first Sarah Crossan book was One and which remains one of my favourite books so when I stumbled across this one I knew I had to read it.
This novel is written in free verse with dual perspectives. Jess has a tough home-life enduring abuse from her violent stepfather. On the other side, we have Nicu, who has recently emigrated from Romania and is struggling to make end meets to pull together a dowry. They become unlikely companions when they are both arrested for theft. This story is current, covering issues about bullying, racism, and abuse but also about how the two teenagers are affected by it. The story explores the different homelife the two characters experience and it was interesting to see the comparison. It took a while for me to connect to Jess, but I loved Nicu from the beginning; he was the sweetest and I loved seeing him come to life.
The free-verse narrative adds to the pacing of the novel. The story is fast-moving, and I became engrossed in the two characters. You always know which character it is that is speaking, Nicu speaks in broken English and is passionate while Jess’s thoughts are angry.
This novel is poignant and beautiful. Sarah Crossan is a wonderful wordsmith who brings her characters to life. It explores friendship, family life, and stereotypes. It was a novel that I couldn’t put down and I highly recommend it.
