Book Review | The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Format: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: July 2, 2013

Pages: 312

Goodreads | Amazon

 

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.

 

I read Pivot Point a few weeks ago and I loved it (My Review) so I went to Goodreads and looked up the author and when I seen that she had a Contemporary book out I immediately went to Amazon and bought it and I am so glad that I did, The Distance Between Us is AUH-MAZ-ZING!  Congratulations Kasie, you are now one of my favorite authors.

Caymen Meyers is a seventeen year old girl who spends most of her time working in her mother’s porcelain doll shop in a town full of mostly rich people.  Caymen has a strong distrust of said rich people that stems from her mother.  But once Caymen meets Xander Spence, she slowly starts to question if all rich people are as bad as her mother makes them out to be.

Caymen is the definition of sarcasm…seriously; I bet if you looked up sarcasm in the dictionary you would find a picture of Caymen beside it.  And while I’m not sure how other people will take her, I loved her.  I loved her dry sense of humor, her loyalty to her mom and the fact that she is willing to put off what she wants in order to help out her mom’s struggling doll shop. I really adored Xander.  Xander is such an incredible character; he’s sweet, charming, he really understands Caymen and he even likes her sarcastic attitude.

I really enjoyed the secondary characters as well.  I loved seeing the interactions between Caymen and her best friend Skye.  And against all odds I even started liking Skye’s boyfriend Toad Henry. 

Even though The Distance Between Us has a ton of sigh-worthy romance, that’s not all it about.  This is a great contemporary about two young people not only finding love but also finding out who they are and what they want to do with their lives.  I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by this author. 

 

Favorite Quote

“Mrs. Spence picks up a roll of toilet paper from the counter and scrunches her nose.
“Ask Caymen about that,” Xander says.
Great, now I have to explain to his mother about my vandalism? “Your son called me with a toilet paper emergency. I rushed right over.”
She looks confused so Xander says, “She’s kidding, Mom."