We Come Apart tells the story of two young people, Jess and Nicu. They meet unexpectedly, after both being put on a youth rehabilitation programme having been caught in separate incidents of shoplifting.
Nicu, as the son of Romanian immigrants, suffers a lot of prejudice and bullying at school. Jess, meanwhile, slowly gravitates away from her friends as it becomes clear their attitudes start differing too much. Jess and Nicu become close, and confide in each other. Jess is living with her mum and mum's boyfriend, who abuses her regularly, and Nicu's parents are arranging a marriage for him.
Tragedy piles upon tragedy and Jess and Nicu make a plan to escape.
The book is written in free verse, alternating between Jess and Nicu's POV. It makes sense for Nicu's perspective, as it is an effective portrayal of his broken English, but it makes less sense for Jess' POV. It would have been interesting to read the story in straightforward prose, but the fragmented sense of writing could be seen as a good metaphor for their fragmented lives.
Overall, I enjoyed it as something fresh and different. It was a sad story in many ways, and raised lots of necessary questions about immigration and treatment of non-nationals (Brexit was referenced a few times). I think it particularly works well as a read for teenagers as it is a captivating story with some interesting challenge in it, too.
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