After fraudulent use of my Amazon account, it had to be closed and with it my kindle email which I used to download Netgalley arcs; therefore, I am unable to access this title. Thank you for the opportunity.

I requested this because I LOVE dual perspective stories and thought it was cool to see one with an immigrant lead. But middling reviews have made me less invested, and since I was only invested as far as "oh, I guess this looks cool" I don't really have an interest in getting to this.

We Come Apart by Sarah Crossand and Brian Conaghan final thoughts: I give up. DNF.

I started reading this book having forgotten entirely what it was about, I just picked it up and started reading it. First off: it's told entirely in verse. So: it's super fast to read! Yay! Anyway, it tells the story of two poor youths in London - a girl living with her mom and abusive stepdad in a shitty estate and a Romanian immigrant. Both end up in trouble for stealing, and they both end up in the same youth offenders group and they become friends. It's a lovely, albeit sad story, and I wish we could've gotten more answers. The ending is rather abrupt. I need to know what happens to Jess and Nicu. Please tell me.

Cute contemporary. Not the best book I've ever read, but I did enjoy it, and I think the characters have a lot of heart. The plot is lacking though. It just didn't really feel cohesive to me. There were a lot of directions it could have gone, and it kind of just went nowhere instead...

So much of this book was so gorgeous! I'm a fan of verse, and the characters are so engaging and compelling. I loved the dual POVs, even if they were hard to navigate at times. This story deals with a lot of hard things - abuse and racism and sometimes it will not sit with you well. But you keep going. Many people will want to devour this story in one sitting.

Nicu has recently emigrated to the United States and is having trouble adjusting to life away from Romania. Jess is trying to deal with her mother's abusive boyfriend. After Nicu and Jess become friends, neither one expected a romance to bloom. Unfortunately, Nicu's parents have arranged a marriage for him and both are unsure where their lives will lead them next.

We Come Apart is a stand-alone novel in verse that is told in the alternating voices of Nicu and Jess. Conaghan and Crossan have developed a story that is easy to relate to and quick to finish. Since the book is so short, it would be a good opportunity for readers who have yet to try reading a novel in verse. A good read that can be completed in a short evening on the couch.

wooosh...I knew to expect emotional upheaval from Sarah Crossan and she didn't disappoint. The poetic interplay of Nicu and Jess came across beautifully. I hadn't read and of Brian's work before...but his words melded seamlessly with Sarah's to help forge this heartbreaking story. The end left a gaping hole in my heart...but I wanted more.

This was an okay read which had a seemingly meaningless plot (not much really happened) but was redeemed by the fact that some parts of it were intriguing.

Not what I thought it was, and I can't get into the story at all!

A timely look at the immigration experience from the young adult perspective.

Hello,
I'm sorry, I requested this without realizing it was supposed to be prose. I did give it a try, but the way it looked on the Kindle was making it difficult to read, so I couldn't continue.

It was a bit interesting though, so I do wish the book the best.

Thank you for giving me a chance to read it.

My feelings for this book were all over the place. From "whatever" to pretty into it to kind of let down. I think verse novels are a pretty bold choice because there are so many ways they can go wrong. They rely quite heavily on the narrator's voice. THat part worked well for this book. The voices are quite strong. Nicu could have relied on broken English for characterization and while that's certainly a major part of his voice it's not all of him. While the family histories were a little shaky, I was pretty well engaged with the novel until the final fight. I was pulled immediately out of the moment

(I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

Whereas I am all about books in verse, this one was only fine, just fine.

Jess and Nicu are two teens from different worlds and find each other during a community service project. Jess tries to overcome the abuse she faces at home and tries to fit in with her friends, but sometimes that means ignoring her budding friendship with Nicu. Nicu is facing his own challenges: learning English, turning the other cheek to constant racism, and fighting the traditions of his culture. In the end, they come together and stuff happens.

Nicu’s sweet and charming voice really made up for Jess’ complete inability to be a nice and reasonable human. She’s such a brat, and not really likeable ever. We do feel for her and the fact that she’s stuck in an abusive situation, and the book does an excellent job of making the reader consider various facets of domestic abuse (i.e, considering why victims are ‘stuck’ in the first place and how to break the cycle).

The characters’ decisions rarely make sense, culminating with a nonsensical final act that leaves the reader dazed and confused.

As the title suggests, there are many reasons why and how our world may come apart or how people grow distant from each other - through crime, domestic violence or prejudice - but this novel is also about how people have so much in common if they can just see every situation by standing in another's shoes. It is also a love story between Jess and Nicu, who meet at a rehabilitation program after each are caught shoplifting. Jess's home life is marred by an abusive stepfather who beats her mother and forces her to record it. She is always terrified, and does not trust anyone. Her "friends" are the nationalistic mob, who put pressure on her to conform to their bullying ways. She has never known much kindness until she meets Nicu, a Romanian immigrant who falls in love with her at first sight. This novel teaches kids about the politics of our world and the politics of being a teenager, but it is also about how empathy and trust can change someone's life. Many world situations are mirrored in the microcosm of Nicu and Jess, so many parallels to what is actually happening in the wider society, but it is also about how simple it is for two people to reach out to one another. I recommend this read - students will enjoy reading the spare, free verse format as well.

DNF book. Formatting on the e-copy I received was terrible so I didn't continue reading.

Jess gets set up by her "friends" while shoplifting. During the ensuing community service, she meets Nico. The two form an unlikely friendship yet each is feeling increasingly stuck in circumstances.

This was a quick read, probably because it is told in verse. Jess was very different from me, yet I was sympathetic to her plight. The ending was rather unsatisfying, but that it because not much is resolved. I would have liked a little more story.