The Distance Between Us: A YA Romance About Love That Bridges Class Divides

Kasie West debuted earlier this year, and she's pretty much one of my favorite authors already. She excels at characters and romances. Basically, her books make my heart oh so happy. The Distance Between Us has a little bit in common with Pivot Point, but is largely a departure from the much more serious tone of that series. The Distance Between Us is fluffy good times of the highest order. To figure out if you would enjoy The Distance Between Us, ask yourself if you like the following things: Pretty in Pink and The Gilmore Girls. If you answered yes to one or both, then you should probably make reading this book a priority. If you haven't seen them, then you should probably rectify that AND THEN read this book. If you don't like either one, well, GOOD DAY SIR. Caymen, whose name is never explained, which is to me the biggest flaw of the book, is my girl. Seriously, she is acerbic and sarcastic like you would not even believe. I imagine that some readers will be rubbed the wrong way by her attitude, but it was like coming home. People never know if she's serious or joking, because she always says things with a straight face. Also, she cannot resist answering a stupid question with an especially sarcastic response, and, oh, how I love her for it. Here's where things get quirky. Caymen works in a doll store, owned by her mother. Dolls and More barely pays the bills, and Caymen has been raised to hate the privileged, like the man who left her mother. As such, Caymen is disgusted when this obviously rich guy comes into the store and beckons to her, as he talks on the phone. His outfit alone would probably pay expenses for her and her mom for a month. He also happens to be kind of cute, but, ugh, so stuch up and rich. Of course, that's not all there is to it, because cute, rich boy (Xander) comes back. The relationship between these two is super sweet, especially because all of their problems coming together are really internal aside from her mom being iffy on her dating a rich boy. However, otherwise, the only obstacle really is Caymen's trust issues, which are pretty mighty. Xander definitely becomes a candidate for best book boyfriends, because he is so considerate, doesn't overreact, and apologizes when he's been out of line. There's a lot of bonding and banter here, and, though they do get serious, it feels real and not like forever love; maybe it will last and maybe it won't. Social classes and economic disparity are central to The Distance Between Us, which is pretty great. Caymen's poor, like shops at thrift stores because she has to poor. There's an incredibly adorable moment where Caymen takes Xander there because his clothes are too nice for a particular outing. The treatment of some of it's a bit idealized, since most of the discomfort about her economic status comes from her. However, Caymen does have some insulting friends, like the ones that show up in Pretty in Pink. Anyway, I really appreciate that West chose a heroine who's not in the upper or middle classes. On top of that, West, like in Pivot Point, does a fantastic job building out the supporting cast. There's a healthy female best friendship depicted between Caymen and Skye, who couldn't be more different, but love and support each other endlessly. Skye's boyfriend, Henry, who initially is kind of weird and didn't mesh with Caymen or me, turns out to be a sweetie and hilarious. Xander and Caymen's families both are well built as well. I love that West doesn't skimp out on the supporting cast. I love it so much. When you find yourself in need of a fluffy, happy-making read, look no further than The Distance Between Us. With well-developed characters, snappy dialogue and abundant humor, Kasie West's novels are must reads for me.

First off, I just want to say this is my first Kasie West novel--I know! I own PIVOT POINT and need to start it--and I was pleasantly surprised! I'm a big plot lover but the characterization of Caymen is what truly impressed me. Caymen is your typical high school senior who is working way too hard to keep her little family afloat, never wanting to let her mom down. She works long shifts in her mother's doll shop, willing to risk her education and her own dreams. In walks Xander, the heir to a 500 hotel chain franchise. Caymen has had it drilled into her that people like Xander would never want someone poor like her. In this worlds colliding novel, the two characters start a quest to find a future for each other that does not involve their predestined ones. Filled with highs, lows, and witty, sarcastic humor, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US is a great contemporary YA novel you can't help but devour. I'll start off with Caymen. I loved her attitude. You can immediately tell how much she hates working in that creepy doll shop. You can tell that she'd much rather be doing other things but is willing to sacrifice her own fun for her single mother who is just trying to make ends meet. I loved the devotion she had to her mom. Even though her life wasn't glamorous or her ideal version of fun, she still appreciated everything her mother did for her and never seemed to take anything for granted. But that certainly doesn't mean she doesn't have some of that teenage rebellion in her. Caymen is probably the most sarcastic person I have ever "met" in my life. She's so quick to make a comment, she doesn't miss a beat. I loved every remark that came out of her mouth. I'm very sarcastic and have the dry humor like she has but man, that girl is good. She comes up with the perfect thing to say at exactly the right moment. I usually think of good things, after the fact. (Fun fact: this is called "L'esprit de l'escalier"). Sometimes I did think that she got a bit whiny and jumped to conclusions way too soon but overall, she had a great head on her shoulders. This brings me to Xander. Xander is the kind of guy you wish would walk into your place of work and fall in love with you. I mean really. Caymen gives him all these rich boy stereotypes that he just completely shoots down. He's sweet, he's super thoughtful--I wish I had a guy to bring me coffee on my way to school everyday!--he fires away sarcastic comments right back at Caymen, and he's just the all around good guy you can't help but love. I love how he never once looked down at Caymen for being someone not in his social class. Besides beckoning at her when they first met, he treats her with the same sort of respect he would treat his mother. He takes her on all these elaborate "career days" and when she takes him to a graveyard, he doesn't even bat an eye. He enjoys spending time with her and could care less about the money issue. I do wish he would've stated his feelings for Caymen sooner. Although he did all the gestures that point exactly to that, girls can be silly and don't believe anything until they hear it come from your mouth. If he had said something sooner, I feel like a bunch of the drama that took place could have been avoided--see above mentioned jumping to conclusions part. As Jess said in her review of this book, we miss out on a lot of the relationship building between these two characters. She says it more eloquently than I could. Here's the gist: we know they have feelings for each other, it's super obvious, but we don't get to see those feelings evolve into something more. Again, check Jess' review for better explanation! I did love the plot of the story, though. I loved the idea of these two perfect strangers planning fun "career days" for each other. These showed just how much they paid attention to each other. Each day was unique and let their personalities shine. I think this is a great way to truly get to know someone! Aside from the great characters and plot, West teaches the readers a very important lesson. Firstly, don't judge a book by its cover. Always take the time to get to know somebody, they may surprise you. Next, take time for yourself. While it's nice to make others happy, you have to make yourself happy too. Do what you love and take some risks. And lastly, learn forgiveness. One of my all time favorite things about YA novels are the moral lessons that are in embedded in them. I adore authors who take the time to show true character growth and learning. It's what life is all about. Although I did have some slight issues with it, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US was a highly enjoyable read that I would recommend to any YA contemporary fan!

La trama può sembrare la classica storia tra un ragazzo ricco e una ragazza povera e in realtà è così ma allo stesso tempo la relazione tra questi due ragazzi è trattata in modo diverso dal solito, è originale. Caymen e Xander sono due adolescenti che stanno cercando di capire cosa fare in futuro, quale strada intraprendere e grazie a un'idea davvero carina di Xander si aiutano a vicenda. Ecco come inizia la loro amicizia...

Well made and tough enough to carry around. Covers are thicker then the pages. Should last a long time.

I really love this book! Kasie has a unique way of describing and delighting the reader, with the perfect touch of reality. Of six books I read by her, four became my favorites, I'll leave the names here in case anyone is interested: The fill in Boyfriend, By your side, P.S. I like you, and of course, The distance Between us ❤️ About the edition, it's light and smells great, I already have the Brazilian editions of her books, but I like it so much that I had to have the originals too!

Caymen is seventeen and lives with her mother in a tiny appartment above their porcelain-doll store where she helps her mother. Her mothers has issues with rich people as her father left her when she got pregnant and his parents paid her money to get rid of her. Caymen was raised to not trust people with money. One day changes all when rich Xander Spence walks in the store to pick up a doll his grandmother has ordered. He seems different but Caymen is sure she is just a novelty and he gets bored with her soon. But Xander seems to prove her wrong - or is he? What a charming story! I loved Caymen's sarcasm and her witty remarks which made me laugh out loud while reading this book. She is a tough cookie and had to deal with a lot. The story was nicely written and I enjoyed the read very much. The end was a bit abrupt and I would have loved to learn more about how it finally ended - I don't want to go into detail to avoid spoilers but some things are still open. Nevertheless, it was a great book and I will definitely recommend it to friends.

Protagonist Caymen expresses her feelings about the wealthy from the very beginning of the book. She also states that her father was from a wealthy family who abandoned her and her mother after paying them off. Obviously, she has issues because of this event and so I couldn't really blame her for her preconceptions. Caymen could be bitter but she isn't. She makes the most of what she has, even if she hates living above and working in her mother's doll shop. Dolls are bloody creepy so no wonder Caymen doesn't enjoy her job. As a character, I absolutely loved Caymen. She was funny and sweet although snarky and sarcastic at the same time. She gave as good as she could get and was so fun to read about. Then comes Xander aka Alex or Alexander. To begin with I had a bit of a problem with him because of his name. Now, Alexander is a normal name but I hate names being shortened. My fiancé and I have had a big thing over this particular name as an option for our own children because I would refuse to have it shortened to anything. So, because Alexander has two alternatives, this really bugged me. Name aside, I did like him. He comes from a world so completely different to Caymen's and the banter between the two was fantastic. Caymen has ideas about Xander from the very start whereas he doesn't judge her at all. He is from a very well off and successful family but he isn't what Caymen expects him to be at all. What I really enjoyed about this book was the relationship building between Caymen and Xander. There isn't any of this instantly falling in love stuff that we get in a lot of young adult books. Instead, the two form a friendship and build from there slowly. At the same time, West gives us a really fun plot about finding yourself and trying new things. Neither Caymen or Xander know what they want to do with their lives and a large part of the book is spent trying to figure that out together. As the characters spend quite a bit of time together, we get to know each of them individually and together which was a great thing. Throughout the book, we get to realise that even though their families have different incomes, Caymen and Xander really aren't that different in the end. So, not only is the plot great and the main characters fantastic, but there are other awesome things about this book too. The Distance Between Us is really funny. Caymen has this dry sense of humour which had me laughing out loud at times. Add her sarcasm into that and she's a definite winner. There are also some great twists in the plot which were quite exciting and they also broke up the romance between Caymen and Xander. Secondary characters were also great and all (especially Caymen's mum) brought something different to this book. Overall, I loved this book. Kasie West's writing is addictive, as is her plot. She writes great characters who are easy to relate to and also who I liked very much. I can't wait to read more from this author.