Review & Giveaway: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Published by: HarperTeen on July 2, 2013
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 320
Source: ARC From Publisher
Buy on Amazon • Book Details
Rating: ★★★★½

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.

The Distance Between Us was adorable! For the most part it was everything I hoped it would be. It’s sweet, hesitant, romantic, and proves that first impressions aren’t always right. But the best part about this book was the amount of pure chemistry between Caymen and Xander. After Pivot Point I had a feeling that the romance in The Distance Between Us would be awesome, and I was right! Xander is amazing. He’s ridiculously sweet, and so thoughtful. Everything he does for Caymen has meaning and thought behind it. And when Caymen and Xander spoke, I could just feel their chemistry. They fit so well together! Their dialogue really flowed and made it seem like they were meant to be together.

“I’m afraid that once you catch me, the game’s over.”
Page 232

I loved their quirky and out of the ordinary dates. They gave the book a unique vibe and kept me really engaged! I was always curious about where their next date would be!

Except for one big thing, which I’ll explain in a minute, I liked Caymen’s character. She had a hilarious sense of humour and she is really exceptionally good at sarcasm. Caymen struggled between balancing her “wants” with what she felt were her obligations, which made her seem very real.

The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was Caymen’s attitude towards rich people. She picked out all these stereotypes and assigned them to rich people. And if they didn’t fit the bill (which they obviously didn’t because stereotypes are bullshit) then she was so confused. Here are a few examples:

“My older brother, Lucas, is twenty and away at college.”
“Those are pretty normal names.”
“Normal?”
“No Chets or Wellingtons or anything.”
He raises one eyebrow. “Do you know any Wellingtons?”
“Of course not, but you probably do.”
“No, actually I don’t.”
Pages 65-66

She just assumes that all rich people have pompous names, or if they don’t, then they know loads of people with pompous names.

Here’s one from when she meets Xander’s brother Lucas for the first time:

Lucas turns to me and shakes my hand, a sincerity in his smile. And that’s the other thing that’s weirding me out. Friend or not, why does his family act like this is so normal? Like they don’t care that Xander picked up some girl off the street and is now hanging out with her, flying her around in the family’s private jet? Something isn’t adding up.
Page 203

She thinks it’s so unrealistic that Xander’s family would accept him taking a poor girl on their private jet. Surely something is amiss… as if all rich families despise poor people.

Then there’s this when she finds out Xander’s brother goes to UNLV:

It surprises me. Not that UNLV is a bad school. I just thought he would be at an Ivy League.
Page 210

As if all rich people attend Ivy League schools..

Obviously I still liked the book A LOT, but it just irked me how presumptuous Caymen was. I guess it does tie into the whole “First impressions” thing though. She starts out with this idea about rich people and View Spoiler » [she kind of gets proven wrong in the end. « Hide Spoiler] .

But other than that, I adored The Distance Between Us! It was so easy to breeze right through the book. The romance was so sweet that I didn’t want to stop! I love how they’re both so supportive of each other, but they also challenge each other. They force each other out of their comfort zones. That’s awesome in a relationship!! There is a bit of a love triangle but it doesn’t really take over the book. It mostly sits in the background and View Spoiler » [it’s obvious that Caymen isn’t that into Mason « Hide Spoiler] . I already guessed this after Pivot Point, but Kasie West is now officially on my auto-buy list! This girl knows how to rock a romance.

Giveaway

I have one ARC of The Distance Between Us to give to one United States resident! It saddens me to part with my copy but this book is so good that I must share the love!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Verdict