We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan

3 Stars

"We come together. Now we come apart."

I'm going to get the not so great part out of the way first because I have a lot of lovely things to say about this book. My not so great point is, I don't really understand the point of the book. Actually, I get the point, I think the point is two people on the outside coming together. But, I really don't get the ending. It was sad, definitely sad but I don't really understand it. It felt rushed to me because everything happened so fast and nothing was explained. And I need to know what happens. I was left more than a little confused.

I thought Nicu and Jess were lovely characters with a lot of depth. I thought it was really interesting to read that inner monologue of Nicu and it felt very realistic. I think the verse format gave Jess and Nicu a lot of shape. It told of their relevant thoughts and made everything more important and relevant to the story rather than the regular way of storytelling. It was much more condensed and therefore a lot richer.

I think it was such a wonderful story of two outsiders building a friendship under unlikely circumstances. Both such troubled teens and both so different. I think that's absolutely wonderful. I love a good unlikely friendship story. Jess really cares for Nicu and you could really tell throughout the book. Jess has a good heart.

It was quite confronting to read though. Seeing the way the other kids treated Nicu, it was shocking. I've grown up in a place where that doesn't really happen. I go to a school with kids from Afghanistan and Iran and Singapore and all sorts of places. For me, it's never been anything but a normal thing and no one has ever treated the international students any differently. But, obviously it happens and it's really sad to me that it does happen. It gave me something to think about.

I was really excited to finally be reading something from Sarah Crossan because I've heard a lot of good things. She did not disappoint and neither did Brian Conaghan. A book unlike others and something definitely worth checking out.