The Distance Between Us

I think The Distance Between Us is one of the first YA romance books that I have read. It is also the first book written by Kasie West that I have read. I immediately shared this book with my best friend, knowing that she would love it.

The Distance Between Us is sweet, filled with charming moments that captured my heart. From the first paragraph until the last sentence, I was glad that I chose to read the book.

Caymen's sarcasm is refreshing and makes one laugh when reading. She is a character who is realistic and not materialistic like most female characters tend to be. She's bright, but doesn't want to study after school, rather choosing to help her mother out in the doll store. She can sniff out a rich customer in the first few moments and doesn't want to become friends with Xander, knowing that he'll become bored with her and leave, as her mother told her.

Xander is one of my favourite book boys. He's cute and funny. He doesn't brag about how much money he has, which is good, as it is rather irritating (I know that from first-hand experience). He doesn't seem to live up to his father's expectations, which is why he and Caymen spend their Saturdays on ‘career days', to find each other's dream job. I loved his scenes with Caymen, as he seems to be somebody who understands her.

This book is meant for anybody who is looking for that sweet teenage romance book. I strongly recommend this YA novel for any reader wanting to read a light romance novel.

http://www.katyasmind.blogspot.com/2014/03/monday-1.html

Just wanted a fast and easy read. This was just that.

The story overall is a bit lacking, but the dialogue makes up for it. Caymen's sarcasm is A+
Would have given it 4 stars but the ending took me by surprised and the L-word immediately made it lose a star.

I loved Caymen's sense of humor.

I absolutely LOVED this contemporary romance novel! It was beautiful and written so well. It made me laugh and cry at times. The main character, Caymen, was perfectly sarcastic and it put me in sarcastic moods. I loved her personality, background, and humor. Everything she described was funny and very sarcastic. She is a very sarcastic character and you will fall in love with her wit.

When she met Xander, it was very humous how she viewed the rich and his actions. It made me laugh how he beckoned her. You could tell though that once he looked up from his own world and into hers, he was interested. I loved their chemistry and how they wanted to figure each other out. It gave me new ways to want to date. I wanted someone like him. To take me away and try to discover what makes me tick..

[ SPOILERS ]

Xander and Caymens relationship was so different than others. When Caymen found out about her grandparents at his mothers banquet, I was so shocked. I did not expect her mother to come from a very rich family! Once you met the grandparents though, it was perfect. Her sarcasm comes form her grandfather and it made me tear up a bit when he said that her knew she was his granddaughter. Everything with her mother made her seem so stubborn. I had no idea she hated the rich so deeply because of her family and where Caymens father came from. I expected us to meet her father at some point but I was happy that her mother gave her the chance at the hospital.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to laugh and cry along this beautiful journey. I can't wait to read more of Kasie West's work!

The first quarter or so of the book was quite good, very engaging, despite all the clichés. Based on the prose alone, the book seemed like a promising beach read. Then it all went downhill. It felt like the author got bored of writing and decided to make everything so convenient just to be able to tie all loose ends in a spiff and then garnish it with a huge pink bow.

The cute beginning of what seemed to be a generic, yet sweet romance between Caymen and Xander, turned into a drab, chemistry-lacking relationship. I can't say I was crazy about Caymen's character, but she sure was more interesting than Xander, whose personality was so faded that I couldn't figure out why she would ever be attracted to him.

I couldn't bring myself to care for what happened to them. The occasional bumps they encountered on their way to happily-ever-after were total lacklusters. The love triangle was pointless, it was there just to fill in the pages.

What I also disliked very much was that their relationships with their parents were so underdeveloped. The book mentions that Caymen has this strong bond with her mother, but we never see any of that. Xander's family is brought up just so we could feel sorry for him, but hardly anything is explained.

Overall, this book was just a big, dry mess. This snippet pretty much sums it up:

Is that your subtle way of saying you missed me last week?I've missed my hot chocolate. I just think of you as the guy who brings it to me. Sometimes I forget your name and call you hot chocolate guy.