#brian conaghan

[treesofreverie]

Inside and outshe is beauty full.

We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan

[quiet-librarian]

We Come Apart

‘We Come Apart’ By: Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan

Description:

“To her friends and teachers, Jess is a tough girl, rebellious and troublemaking.  But at home, her stepfather forces Hess to witness -- and often film -- his violence against her mother, and any attempts to stop him only results in more abuse.  Always hiding from the truth, all Jess wants is to get out.

Nicu is a Romanian immigrant, here to allow his parents to make enough money for him to find a suitable wife in Romania -- a future that terrifies him.  Despite the bullies who torment him because of his heritage, Nicu loves the opportunities available in his new country.  All Nicu wants is to stay.

Jess and Nicu meet during required community service after they’re each arrested for shoplifting, and form an unexpected bond.  As they grow closer and closer, their secrets begin to surface.  Soon, the only safe place they have is with each other.  But they can’t be together, forever, and stay safe -- can they?”

My Thoughts:

So, this book was quite the wild ride.  It is definitely a read you could finish in one sitting, as it’s written sort of weird.  At most, the most paragraphs per chapter are around twelve to fifteen.  They aren’t really chapters, just switching between two perspectives.  This is a very quick read, and a very interesting and fresh concept.

[bookishbloomsbury]

Happy book birthday to the phenomenal The Weight of a Thousand Feathers, which publishes  in the UK today!  Angry, stirring and tender, this is a bold, questioning exploration of the lengths to which we’ll go for the people we love. From the Costa Children’s Book Award winning author of When Mr Dog Bites and The Bombs That Brought Us Together.

[aworldinpages]

We Come Apart ~ Sarah Crossan & Brian Conaghan

We Come Apart follows two teenagers called Jess and Nicu. Jess, written by Crossan, and Nicu, written by Conaghan, lead very different lives but are brought together through litter picking in the park for community service. Nicu is definitely not Jess’ type but Nicu cannot help but be in awe of her beauty. Nicu’s family has very different plans for him when it comes to love with a looming arranged marriage on the horizon. This contemporary take on star crossed lovers is a high-impact emotions rollercoaster.

Click here to read my full review!

[random-bookquotes]

It seem her kiss sprinkle the magic diamond dust on my fear and my panic.

Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan, We Come Apart

[yaliteraturebookshelf]

We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan - Book Review

Jess lives in an abusive family. Nicu is about to be forced into marriage by his parents. Their worlds collide and out of it comes a beautiful bond.

This free verse novel instantly had me hooked. Jess and Nicu are so different, which makes seeing them grow closer that more engrossing. Nicu is Romanian and his poems are written in broken English, which added a lot to the story and really made his character come alive.

The pair meet during community service and as they get closer, you see them start to rely on each other as both of their lives spin out of their control. Their story felt very real, which made parts of it heartbreaking - still on over the end!

The poetry is beautifully written and draws you into their teenage lives as they fight to protect themselves and the ones they love. A great collaboration by  Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan.

My Rating: ★★★★★

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[noveltyreads]

We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan Book Review

When I first picked this book up I thought it would be another poetry book: powerless and meaningless to me (I read Pookie Aleera Is Not My Boyfriend when I was 11 and haven’t picked up another book in that style again so that’s the reason really behind my prejudice against poetry books) My thoughts at first were “well, it’s short and it’s in poetry so might as well try this out for something quick” As it turns out, this book IS powerful and I must admit I was COMPLETELY wrong about it. So, the book is about this girl called Jess who lives with her mum and stepdad whose abusive nature spirals out of control. In her spare time she shoplifts items from stores which brings her to doing community service in parks picking up litter. This is where she meets Romanian boy Nicu who is preparing for his wedding and to meet the wife his parents picked out for him. The two characters become closer and closer and their relationship flourishes. As Luke Skywalker said from Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi “This is not going to go the way you think.” The whole story takes on a dramatic twist at the end where you feel like throwing the book out the window. I’m not going to spoil it for you because you just need to read it although I should also warn you about the English in Nicu’s parts of the story just in case you dislike that type of writing but you have to understand that he doesn’t know English well so in that sense I congratulate the authors on portraying Nicu and people who can’t speak English very well in that sort of realistic camera lens. All in all, a powerful read that you should pick up. ACTUAL RATING: 3.8 STARS 

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan Rating: 4/5

This was sad and beautiful and really interesting.

It was fascinating reading Nicu's sections and seeing how the language barrier and prejudice affected him. Jess's chapters were heartbreaking to read too. But I wish we'd gotten a bit more of a resolution - to see whether certain characters got their comeuppance or not.

Another wonderful book from Sarah Crossan and one that has me interested in tracking down more of Brian Conaghan's works.

[thepaige-turner]

TBR, TBR, TBR....

[paperfury]

REVIEW: We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan

buy // publisher // goodreads ///// ★★★☆☆ 

When I finished We Come Apart, my main feeling was: CONFUSED.

I still don’t know what the book was trying to say. Maaaaybe that's just me, so AS ALWAYS, I encourage you to read it for yourself! It's by two teens who have awful lives and what they choose to do about it. But their decisions made about as much sense as as the existence of marmalade. (Spoiler: there is no point in marmalade.)

Nicu is a POC immigrant from Romania to England and Jess is a teenage delinquent from an abusive family. They both end up doing community service where they slowly become friends. Nicu was adorable. He’s ridiculed and bullied because of his skin colour and broken English, but he had a really positive attitude and was just a bright spark in a really dark, sad book. Jess, however, was really hard to care about. She was really a brat. I understand she had a bad home life, but nothing gives you an excuse to be rude.

It’s also told in verse, which I admit I generally struggle with. While I appreciate the lyricalness of the story, I find poetry eliminates a lot of description so the story felt a bit flat and one dimensional.

I did like the story! But it just wasn't really written in my style and I don't fully understand WHAT the message was or what anyone really achieved.

The ending left me feeling majorly cheated. But character development was A+ and I think the world should pause and hug Niku because he is a precious little cinnamon roll. The book critiques society and humanity and discusses the power of friendship. So it’s definitely worth picking up, especially if you enjoy stories in verse!

[clarislam]

"The Bombs That Brought Us Together" Review

A war-torn town brings big trouble for friendship in "The Bombs That Brought Us Together!"

Warning: If you have not read “The Bombs That Brought Us Together” by Brian Conaghan, avoid reading this review if you don’t want spoilers. If you have read the book or don’t mind spoilers, go ahead and read it! I’m back with another book review, and this time it’s “The Bombs That Brought Us Together” by Brian Conaghan! Here’s a summary so we know what it’s about: “Fourteen-year-old Charlie Law…

[treesofreverie]

We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan & Brian Conaghan

[touretteinmedia]

when mr. dog bites

[image: a book cover. The background is yellow lined paper. At the top it says, in red letters, “‘it’s the F word — funny, foul-mouthed, fantastic!’ – Charlie Higson, author of the Enemy series”. Underneath that is 6 giant black speech bubbles arranged two across and three down. The top two are censored words. The second two say “when” and “mr. dog”. The last two say a censored word and “bites”. A picture of a poodly drawn doodle dog in underneath. Next to the dog it says “a story about life, death, love, and swearing.” At the very bottom it says the author’s name “Brian Conaghan” ]

Book: when mr. dog bites

Author: Brian Conaghan

Summery: Dylan Mint has Tourette’s. His life if a constant battle to keep the bad stuff it. The swearing, the tics, the howling “dog” that escapes when things are at their worst — nothing about Tourette’s makes it easy to meet cute girls or have normal friends (or many friends at all). But a routine hospital visit changes everything, when Dylan overheard a hushed conversation between his doctor and mother that he has less than a year to live.

He decides to grant himself three parting wishes, or “Cool Things to Do Before I Cack It.” The list isn’t long, but it’s ambitious, and he doesn’t have much time. But as Dylan sets out to make his wishes come true, he discovers that nothing about his life — and no one — is quite as he had always believed. In fact, th world has more surprises left for Dylan Mint... surprises that will knock him off his feet (literally) and ultimately change everything he has ever known.

Hilarious, powerful, and utterly transformative, Dyaln’s journey to come to terms with the disorder that has defined his life and his preconceptions of the world around him will resonate long after his story ends.

My review:

I rate this book three (3) out of five (5) stars. The plot was intriguing and somewhat easy to follow. A few times I did trip up, but I believe that has to do with some of the slang used (the author is Scottish, and so are his characters. There is a lot of Scottish slang used that, as an American, I don’t understand. ) and also that he story is being told from the first person point of view of Dylan. This first person point of view gives some nice insights into what his intrusive thoughts are (pedophiles attacking him) and his thought process. Dylan uses a brain games to deal with his Tourette and rhyming words when he thinks (Usain Bolt rhymes with bolt so he replaces bolt with the name Usain Bolt. This gets explained in one of the chapters).

The main plot of the book is having Dylan complete his bucket list before he “cacks it” (Scottish slang for passing away??? If somebody knows could you tell me?) the list consists of three things:

Have sex with a girl, preferably Michelle Malloy (paraphrased)

“Fight heaven and earth, tooth and nail, dungeons and dragons, for my mate Amor to stop getting called names about the color of his skin. Stop people slagging him all the time because he smells like a big pot of curry. And help him find a new best bud.” (Direct quote from back cover of book)

“Get Dad back from the war before... you-know-what happens.” (Direct quote from back cover of book)

Some mini plots, that involve the items on the list, are about finding love (though more focused on having sexual than actually dating), dealing with racists (and bullies), and dealing with medical things. Throughout the book Dylan has thoughts about wanting a cure for Tourette. Unlike other books I’ve read, he doesn’t stop wanting a cure at the end of the book. However he has ways to better manage his tics.

Some warnings about the book.

Dylan has Coprolalia. He also tends to use bad words in general So this book has a lot of cussing (because of tics and not because of tics)

Racism/racist language against people from Pakistan

Ableist language/insults(?? Maybe?? It’s Scottish slang, but it sounds like insults) against people with mental and physical disabilities.

Sexist language

Talk of abusive relationships

Intrusive thoughts about pedophiles

Talk of rape

A very weird scene where, for a few sentences, it seems like it’s about to be sexual assault (it’s just a wedgie, but the dialogue before it makes it seem otherwise)

Homophobia slang/tendencies(I read it as such)

Alcohol (possible underage drinking. What’s the drinking age in Scotland?)

The plot is good. Tourette syndrome is accurately portrayed. Dylan even says sorry after his tics. (I found one source online that says the author has Tourette, but it also said he was diagnosed age 20, which can happen) Honestly, if a few things were changed about the book, it’d be a pretty good one. Again, take a look at my bullet point list and if any of that triggers you or makes you uncomfortable, I wouldn’t read it or I’d proceed with caution. It’s so nonchalant about the topics, but it was very shocking for me (and I’m pretty chill when I read).

(Edit right after I posted: this book is labelled Young Adult)

[bookishbloomsbury]

COVER REVEAL! We are so excited to share with you the cover for the upcoming Paperback of We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan. Publishing 11th January 2017!

[booklover277]

We Come Apart by: Sarah Crossan & Brian Conaghan

3.5 stars out of 5

From two acclaimed authors comes an emotional story told in verse about friendship, love, and overcoming unbeatable odds.

Authors Brian Conaghan and Sarah Crossan have joined forces to tell the story of Nicu and Jess, two troubled teens whose paths cross in the unlikeliest of places.

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.

Release Date: June 13, 2017

‘But I want to stay here.’ I praying to them. ‘Here, what is here?’ Tata say. ‘People hate us here.’ ‘Nicu, people here only see our skin, not the thing    within,’ Mamica say,

We Come Apart is a very heartbreaking novel beautifully written in verse about friendship and love. The themes of immigration, racism, abuse, and bullying are all very prominent to the story as well. It is a quick read that took me no more than a couple hours. The characters are strong, well-developed and real. While I felt emotions and was invested in the story, I'm still not sure what the authors were trying to say. I can certainly enjoy verse in novels. I loved One by Sarah Crossan, but the verse worked more effectively there. It didn't add anything to the story here. And it made things a little more difficult with Nicu's narration since his was written in broken English to begin with. Some passages did feel very powerful like this one:

When I watching television movies all actors speak too speedy for my comprehending, and I thinking it be mission impossible to learn this language with fluent.

It so much frustrating when words can’t escape my head, when peoples not understand my meanings. All I want is for them to see how I am fun, clever and nice guy.

I afraid no one ever know who I am.

The story follows two troubled teens whose lives come together in a Reparation scheme they were both put in to avoid criminal records. It is basically community service and self-development sessions. Nicu and his parents emigrated from Romania to England. They are here to earn enough money to pay the family of a bride in Romania and marry Nicu off. Jess lives with her mom and abusive stepdad. Both characters feel stuck in their lives, but when they meet...their lives will change.

I love the ending for all it's ambiguity. It would have been nice if there was more of a clear-cut message to take away when such important themes were being discussed. Also, I started the story very confused while trying to figure out who was narrating when. There aren't any names at the beginning or labels on the chapters to let you know who exactly is starting. Once I figured it out, it was fairly obvious. If you enjoy quick stories about friendship that will quite possibly break your heart, you might want to read We Come Apart.

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[yabookprize]

New YA books out in February

Once again, Fiona Noble highlights some of the best YA books coming out this month:

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera Out on: 9th, Published by: Simon & Schuster, Price: £7.99, ISBN: 9781471146183

A powerful exploration of love, life and death from an author who has been compared to David Levithan. Silvera is popular in the US YA community.

Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley Out on: 9th February, Published: HQ, Price: £7.99, ISBN: 9781848455030

New from the Carnegie-shortlisted author. Expect a powerful coming-of-age novel about a bisexual girl on a summer trip to Mexico.

We Come Apart by Brian Conaghan and Sarah Crossan Out on: 9th February, Published by: Bloomsbury, Price: £12.99, ISBN: 9781408878859

I love the back story to this. Co-authors Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan were introduced when they were both shortlisted for the 2015 Carnegie Medal, and they started writing We Come Apart on Whatsapp. It’s one of my most anticipated books of 2017, and the result is something spectacular.

I’ve been a big admirer of Crossan since 2012’s brilliant The Weight of Water, and was wowed by Conaghan’s The Bombs that Brought us Together earlier this year. The immigrant experience is key to both novels, and it’s explored again here.

Romanian Nicu is in England with his parents, in search of a better life. Jess would never normally look at him twice, but thrown together doing community service, they become close and secrets are revealed: domestic abuse, racism, alienation, money troubles, parental expectations. Like Crossan’s One, the novel is written in verse and it’s a compulsive read: I challenge you not to devour it in one sitting. Jess and Nicu tell their story in alternating chapters, their voices utterly true and compelling. Their story will break your heart in the best possible way.

All About Mia by Lisa Williamson Out on: 2nd February, Published by: David Fickling Books, Price: £10.99, ISBN: 9781910989104

The Art of Being Normal was one of 2015’s most memorable YA débuts, winning the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and achieving strong sales in both hardback and paperback. A tough one to follow, but Williamson does so with aplomb in this story of sisters and self discovery. Sandwiched between perfect, academic Grace and sweet swimming star Audrey, Mia is the middle child, a gorgeous, brash, cool girl: trouble, in other words. She’s a chaotic, charming character and one of the most irresistible teenage voices I’ve read in a long time.

Ink by Alice Broadway Out on: 2nd February, Published by: Scholastic, Price: £7.99, ISBN: 9781407172842

Hands down the prettiest proof of the spring, this début is creating lots of buzz. The first in a trilogy in which the tightly controlled society is reminiscent of old school YA dystopia (think Ally Condie’s Matched or Lauren Oliver’s Delirium), but the hook is utterly original: every action and deed of your life is tattooed on your skin. Addictive storytelling of myth, memories, stories and how we measure the meaning of our lives.

The Cruelty by Scott Bergstrom Out on: 9th February, Published by: Walker Books, Price: £7.99, ISBN: 9781406372922

Pitched as a “YA The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, film rights for this “utterly compelling” thriller have already been snapped up by producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer Out on: 9th February: Published by: Macmillan, Price: £7.99, ISBN: 9781509814138

The untold story of the girl who becomes the Queen of Hearts. Standalone fantasy from The Lunar Chronicles author, who sells in huge numbers in the US.

Ariadnis by Josh Martin Out on: 9th February, Published by: Quercus, Price: £7.99, ISBN: 9781784298210

Magic, prophecy and thrilling competition in this “breathtaking” fantasy début, pitched for fans of Melinda Salisbury and Victoria Aveyard.

Unconventional by Maggie Harcourt Out on: 1st February, Published by: Usborne, Price: £7.99, ISBN: 9781409590156

Pitched for fans of Rainbow Rowell and Stephanie Perkins, a fresh comic romance set on the fan convention circuit, with lots of fun nods to the UK YA scene.

The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles Out on: 9th, Published by: Bloomsbury, Price: £7.99, ISBN: 9781408869079

“Gripping and cinematic” début, says Bloomsbury, of this epic fantasy romance about star-crossed lovers. The first in a series.

So much to look forward to - happy reading!