Review : The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : The Distance Between Us
Author : Kasie West
Publication Date : July 2nd 2013
Publisher : Harper Teen
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Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

Personal Thoughts

Kasie West's debut novel, Pivot Point, impressed me because of how strongly I managed to connect with the characters. I knew I wanted to read The Distance Between Us for precisely that reason. I'm glad I decided to try this out because it was all kinds of adorable and brought a smile on my face the whole time I was reading it.

Like I mentioned above, Kasie West is strong when it comes to her characterizations. Caymen (gorgeous name, by the way!) and her mom are broke. They run a doll shop and business hasn't been good in a long time. Caymen, having lived her entire life poor, is prejudiced towards all rich people. So, when she meets Xander, who is completely unlike any rich guy she's ever met, she learns a thing or two about rich people and herself. Caymen wasn't the most likeable character at first because she had a bitter tone, but throughout the book she started to grew on me. I loved how she didn't mince her words and said whatever came to her mind. Her dry humor and sarcasm were the highlight of this book for me. It felt like her snark was actually an outlet to vent out. She had a lot going on in her life, with being poor and having never met her dad. She was also an introvert, who didn't like to share her feelings with anyone. Xander's entry into her life changed that. He was such a sweetheart. You can't help but love him. He was the perfect fictional boyfriend and I loved his interaction with Caymen. They pushed each other to do things that probably would never have done in their lives. Their growing friendship was yet another brilliant aspect of this novel that I enjoyed. There were a bunch of side characters in the book as well, but I didn't think they were as developed nor were they as interesting as Caymen and Xander.

The romance in The Distance Between Us was my favorite kind, one that developed first from a sweet friendship between the two main characters. Xander and Caymen really got to know each other well on an emotional level before they embarked on a romantic relationship and I loved that. The banter they shared together was funny and made me smile. Of course, you can't have a YA contemporary book without some kind of drama and in The Distance Between Us, the misunderstanding came in the form of their class differences. But regardless, the amount of drama wasn't, in any way, smothering. All relationships have their ups and downs, so yes, it was realistic for them to have some form of obstacle to overcome. Caymen's relationship with her mother was another main theme in this book. It was a complex relationship and although I was angry with her mom for keeping secrets from her daughter, I could see where she was coming from. Their relationship wasn't all rosy, but it had some sweet moments, especially towards the end of the book. I will admit that the ending was a little unsatisfying in the sense that there were some questions regarding Caymen's biological father that were left unresolved. However, that didn't mean that I didn't enjoy the book in its entirety. Kasie West's writing in The Distance Between Us was as beautiful as it was in Pivot Point. It has this nice smooth flow to it, which makes reading anything that she writes a blast. She's an author to keep an eye on, for sure!

Sweet, charming and adorable, The Distance Between Us is the perfect summer read. Fans of YA contemporary books with a snarky heroine will undoubtedly find a gem in this one.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5