Title: The
Distance Between Us
Author: Kasie
West
Publisher: Harper
Teen
Publication Date: July
2, 2013
Genres: YA,
Contemporary Romance
Reviewed by: Ellen
Fritz
Ellen’s rating: 5/5
SUMMARY
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.
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.
REVIEW
Wonderfully
relaxing, The Distance Between Us is
the kind of book you would want to read after a hard day, or on a weekend.
While keeping her developing relationship with wealthy Xander Spence a secret
from her mother, who despises the rich, Caymen discovers that her mother is
also keeping a few devastating secrets from her. Enter her best friend's
boyfriend, Henry, his friend Mason, as well as some of Xander's upperclass
friends, and things get a whole lot more complicated.
This is
an exceptionally well-written romance novel for young adults. The magic of this
story definitely lies in the brilliantly crafted characters and their witty,
highly realistic interaction. Caymen is
a lively, likable main character with a smart, often sarcastic mouth and a
quick, quirky sense of humor. At first I thought Caymen to be a bit too
interested in every boy that is more or less good looking. The appearance of
Xander changes that however.
In the
beginning Xander comes across as a placid, even slightly weak, rich boy. His
strengths are revealed when he has to cope with a demanding father and way more
responsibility than a seventeen-year-old should have. I truly respected Xander
when he handled Caymen's indecisiveness with extremely good grace.
Although
The Distance Between Us is a romance,
the romantic interludes do not dominate the story. While the age old conflict
between rich and poor, as well as the issue of class, is addressed in this
book, all the characters show remarkable growth and development.
Having
thoroughly enjoyed reading the story of Caymen and Xander, I want to recommend
it to all who love a clean, relaxing romance with an astounding amount of
depth.
ABOUT the AUTHOR
I write YA. I eat
Junior Mints. Sometimes I go crazy and do both at the same time. My novels,
published through Harper Teen are: PIVOT POINT, its sequel SPLIT SECOND (Feb
2014), and THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US (a contemporary novel). I also have two more
contemporaries, ON THE FENCE coming out July 1, 2014, and THE FILL-IN BOYFRIEND
coming out the summer of 2015. My agent is the talented and funny Michelle
Wolfson.
Follow us with:
No comments:
Post a Comment