Wednesday 16 August 2017

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We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan

Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)

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.
 



Image from Most Ardently Alice
We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan
Published February 9th 2017 by Bloomsbury
Hardback 320 Pages

There are those books, the ones that leave you hungover - and you have no idea what story will ever get you out of it. You pray for a cure...well, pray no more. We Come Apart is the perfect hangover book. First off, it's written in verse, so you fly through this thing. When you are hung up on another book it can feel like the pages won't pass. You are trying so hard to push through but are achieving nothing. That's why this is so perfect, every page has like thirty words and it just soars. It likely also helps that this story...is beautiful. 

Nicu is a Romanian teen living in England. It's safe to say he hates it, with his basic knowledge of English and an uncertain future in which his family will buy him a wife - he is not in a good place. Neither is Jess, she's got done for shoplifting, again and her family are not supportive. Jess's step-dad is beating her mother and her brother is gone, run away and she is left defenseless. Inevitably, both mixed up kids end up in a young offenders group. They meet once a week to pick up rubbish and pay their debt to society. Whilst most are roughens and mock Nicu - Jess finds he's the only person she can speak to. He is the only person who knows about her family and she is the only one who knows about him. 

At school, Nicu and Jess don't talk. Jess just can't deal, it's like Nicu is a target for trouble and all her friends attack him. Literally, everything he does they take as a sign of aggression. It angers them, his existence. And Jess keeps quiet - until she can't. Things go too far and her "best friend" accuses him of touching her. She leaps to his defense and then they are inseparable. I was waiting for this moment, craving it, when Jess would finally discover that being a good person is better than being popular. 

Afterwards, it feels like everything is going to be okay - but of course, hate runs deep and after showing them up at school - Jess's EX friends want revenge. Jess's step-dad is coming fro her, she needs to run and Nicu wants to run too. He refuses to marry the wife bought for him, and he's going back to Romania. He flees, with Jess. Then, it all goes to shit. There's a fight, we get caught in it. And someone is stabbed. Jess and Nicu are going to prison. They run. Nicu is covered in blood, someone else's blood. He won't get away, not with this, not when he isn't British. He tells her to meet him on the train...and like a ding-bat, she believes him. 

The police arrive...and Jess watches Nicu disappear into the distance. 

They come apart. 

It is lovely and tragic and even though I slowly started to think something like this might happen, it still broke my heart.. Nicu and Jess are too cute together, both of them just trying to make their way in a world where the odds are stacked against them. Honestly, they we're not doing that bad. They were lost. Yes. They were angry. Yes. But, they were kind to each other. They managed to be empathetic and kind when the world around them cannot offer the same. 

We Come Apart was wonderful, and I would expect nothing from Sarah Crossan, her books are always consistently well-written and enjoyable. I gave this book 4 stars! I wish there was more, but also really enjoyed the fleeting tale of Nicu and Jess. 



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