Title: We Come Apart
Authors: Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s

Teacher review

When I saw that We Come Apart was co-authored by young-adult stars Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan, I knew I was in for a quirky and well-written treat. I enjoyed Crossan’s idiosyncratic verse style in The Weight of Water, Apple and Rain and One. And Conaghan’s offbeat When Mr Dog Bites was satisfyingly rude and funny at the same time.

So in We Come Apart we have a literary double whammy: the two main teenage characters Jess and Nicu tell their stories in the first person in alternate chapters, with Conaghan penning Jess’s voice, and Crossan writing Nicu in a “foreign” accent that may not appeal to all readers.

Jess is brittle, knowing and unhappy, concealing her many insecurities with a gobby, challenging attitude. Nicu, recently arrived in North London from Romania, simply cannot understand the hostile treatment he receives from his fellow students in Year 10 (including Jess, initially). His idealism, transparency and naivety only fuel his victim status, as he struggles with a new language and incomprehensible British customs.

Both Jess and Nicu have seemingly insurmountable problems at home: Nicu’s family are busily arranging his marriage to a Romanian girl, while Jess lives in terror of her violent and controlling stepfather, Terry. While Nicu tries to rationalise his increasing isolation with a wry sense of humour, Jess alternates between compliancy at home and defiance at school.

Eventually, Nicu’s efforts to get to know Jess pay dividends, and a secret friendship develops as they realise they have more in common that they initially thought. But, as their home situations decline further, their shared desperation for escape leads them each to make a series of drastic decisions that will have far-reaching consequences.

We Come Apart has circulated widely in Year 8 and 9. Some of our most reluctant readers have devoured it, loving its chopped-up structure and easy-to-read verse style, with many students finishing it in just one evening. I can see this novel is going to be a winner, and rightly so.

Natalia Marshall is manager of the learning resource centre at The Compton School, North London.

Pupil reviews

‘It reminded me of a poem’

We Come Apart is a fantastic novel based on the love of two new-found friends and how they live their completely opposite lives.

The idea of two children living different lives coming together is a bizarre concept, but I quickly found that I was quite fond of the idea. There were moments in the novel where I felt my eyes beginning to tear up as there were some sad moments. The end of the novel had a great twist and a surprise for me.

The idea of Nicu (one of the two main characters) being a foreigner coming into the country knowing hardly any English and then Jess assisting him in making life decisions provided a new concept to me and took me a while to get used to. Then after he started using phrases which I am familiar with, I understood more about his character. There were moments in the story where I was hoping that it would go into greater detail about how Nicu ended up on the young offenders’ programme where he and Jess first met. There is not much detail which I felt was necessary to get a deeper understanding of the character.

The way that the authors have laid out the text took some time to get used to. But, after the first few chapters, I got to like it and it reminded me of a poem. The language in the book is not too difficult to understand, with the exception of a few profanities and some graphic content. The text as a whole was really interesting, and the way that the text flowed was very clever as it was almost like a timeline, with the ending being almost predictable but not giving it away with clues.

Albert Mock, Year 9

‘I cared about the characters’

I think the book is adventurous and interesting, and in some bits it’s kind of sad. People make fun of Nicu, one of the two main characters, and he could get upset or depressed. They call him names because he’s from Romania. He’s probably feeling scared and isolated. He likes Jess because she is pretty and aloof.

He’s being bullied and they call him names like “gypsy”. I came from Romania myself aged around 10 and didn’t have the same horrible experience. But I think my experience of arriving knowing no English has helped me understand what the character is going through. The way the character thinks and speaks is quite convincing, and some people do speak like that in other countries.

I found the story engaging because I found I cared about the characters and wanted to know what was going to happen to them. The way the book is written in verse actually makes it easier to read and it’s not too long. When I first started, having two different authors was a bit confusing but then I got used to it because they speak so differently. I was really hoping that Jess and Nicu would get together at the end…

Tudor Chirvase, Year 9
 

‘Melancholy events’

I found the book sad because of the events that happened, like Jess and Nicu’s friendship being very challenged, Nicu being bullied and Jess being forced to watch as her mum was abused by her stepdad, Terry.

But I enjoyed reading the book, despite there being a lot of melancholy events, because the plot line was interesting and it was just easy to read. Moreover, I liked how the authors wrote in incorrect grammar for Nicu, to show his way of speaking.

My favourite character is Nicu because his personality is sweet and gentle all the time, even though he gets bullied and forced to marry a girl in Romania by his parents. My least favourite character would be Terry, since he was abusive and an overall horrible person. My favourite moment was when Nicu and Jess went ice-skating at Ally Pally, as it was both funny and exhilarating.

Mishel Stefanova, Year 9

‘I looked forward to picking up this book’

The reason I like this book is because it draws my attention and it is relatable in some ways.

In school Jess has loads of friends, and is happy, but when there is a new boy things change. Jess doesn’t say anything because she has grown a secret friendship with him.

The two voices are a new style to me. I think it is very clever - it makes people want to read more. One page is Jess and you can really be engaged with her story, then it swaps to Nicu and that pulls your attention to Jess and makes you think what she is trying to say. Nicu finishes this story in an interesting way.

I don’t usually enjoy reading that much but I looked forward to picking up this book at each reading session, and was keen to read it right to the end.

Emily Duggan, Year 9

‘Everyone needs someone who does not judge them’

Almost instantaneously, from the way the book is written and the actions that are taking place, we are drawn into a teenager’s life. Jess is caught shoplifting and her friend Meg has left her to finish off what they started together, and all the while Jess is dealing with a broken home. Meanwhile, Nicu is lost and isolated in England although he thinks it is an amazing place compared to his home in Romania and he detests the idea of this arranged marriage. Nicu and Jess do not know it yet, but the bonds they will make will be the only source of refuge they have from the problems they face.

I like the way the book is written because it gives us an insight into the minds of both Jess and Nicu when something is happening. The writing style is quite simple, but we don’t need lots of description to understand what is going on. It is easy to understand and, because there are two different viewpoints, we are able to experience each event twice and each time in a different way.

Another aspect was that Nicu has a distinct dialect which might be harder to understand as his sentences are formed differently from ones that some readers are used to. However, even though this makes the book different I think that the sentences Nicu used sometimes made the book not quite flow and I think the book could have been better without the accent. However I do think that many people will like this change, because it is quite unconventional.

Furthermore, another aspect that was great about this book was that the ending was quite unexpected. Reading the book, you sometimes do not question a character’s motive, and rereading that section at the end you realise how clever the twist was.

Teenagers would be able to relate to the issues addressed in the text because they are quite relevant. In addition, because the key characters were experiencing similar issues, it meant that they could aid each other throughout the difficult period that they were going through. I  think that the message that both authors were trying to portray was that everyone needs somebody who does not judge them, but who understands the problems they are facing.

I enjoyed the book because, although it was unusual, it was different and unique and altogether quite unlike other books. It doesn’t follow a traditional structure, so first-time readers of Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan can expect a surprise.

 Asha Mudey, Year 9

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