The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: June 2nd 2013
Pages: 320
Source: ALA
Genre: Contemporary, Roamance
Goodreads

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 love Kasie West. Kasie West is the author of one of my favorite books of 2013, Pivot Point, and if you haven't seen my review for it I highly suggest you check it out. So, as you can imagine I kind of needed to read a copy of this book, and I got it as soon as it was available to me. This book is so completely different than Pivot Point, but Kasie West still did her magic, and I still really liked it.

This is a contemporary story about a girl named Caymen,  a poorer girl who lives with her mom and works in her mother's doll shop. Caymen's life isn't exactly going so great at the moment. Caymen's mom is trying to hide their money troubles while keeping their troubles quiet, but Caymen knows a lot more than she lets onto. One day a very rich, very good looking Xander walks into the shop, and after they run into each other a few times Caymen can't help but like him a little too much, no matter the fact that her mother would disapprove.

The main character, Caymen, was exactly the kind of character I'd like to know in real life. She was funny an full of sarcasm, I loved her. She was very conscious about her family's money situation, and she wasn't afraid to embrace what they had. I thought it was great how she wasn't ever afraid to be who she was around Xander despite the fact that they come from such different family situations. Xander was a wonderful character as well. He was very understanding and never judged Caymen on her situation. He was extremely charming, and he and Caymen just sort of fit well together.

One of the major things that stuck out in this book was the setting. How many books out there partially take place in a doll shop?  Other than the doll shop I loved how Xander and Caymen always went to lots of different and interesting places together, keeping the setting fresh.

The only thing that was kind of hard to like about this book were some of assumptions that Caymen began to make about her mom without actually communicating and asking what was wrong. The same happened at one point between Caymen and Xander as well and it bugged me both times.

I feel like I should have more to say about this book, but there isn't much else left to mention. It's a cute, quick summer contemporary, and I really enjoyed it.