Title: The Distance Between UsGenre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publication: July 2nd 2013, Harper Teen
Pages: 320 Pages
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 Cupcakes!
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.My mom got a new phone, weird way to start a review but anyway, and it has the Kindle app on it. My phone is an oldish Blackberry that isn't able to have the Kindle app on there. When I put the app on the phone and I was going through the books I had purchased, I saw The Distance Between Us on the phone. I purchased it last week, as I thought it looked really cute! I've been wanting to read a light-hearted novel and I felt like this would be the perfect read. And for the most part it was!
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 is about seventeen-year-old Caymen that lives above the doll shop that they own with her single mother. Caymen studies the rich, they're almost like an experiment to her that she is constantly observing, she has come to the conclusion that they're shallow people with the only intention of spending money. Caymen's mom fell pregnant with Caymen at a young age, her mom's parents disowned her and her dad's (who was never in the picture) family paid off Caymen's mom to keep quiet. So it's understandable why Caymen's mom disapproves of her mingling with the rich, not like she would anyway. She understands what they are like.
Her perspective changes on them, however, when in walks handsome Xander, one of the doll shop's best customer's grandson, comes in to buy a doll for her, Caymen can immediately sense he is filthy rich, from the way his hair is done, to his expensive, labelled clothing and the way he walks with an air of attitude that only the river are capable of possessing. When he comes back to her every day, with his charming ways and sweet smile and Caymen starts enjoying his company, she knows she has to keep him at a distance. Because if there is one thing she has learnt, is that the rich don't keep interest long, and soon he will throw her heart side and go for someone else and she will be left standing there, shaking her head at how foolish she was...well, that's what she believes anyway.
At first, I was worried that Caymen's dry sense of humour and her exceptional (if you've read the book, you'll know what I'm talking about) skill at sarcasm, would, instead of being funny, come off as irritating and if the author were trying to hard to make the book entertaining. Luckily, Caymen's sarcasm was perfectly written and she was a likeable, funny, down-to-earth main character. I did, however, get slightly annoyed with her when she constantly assumed that every rich person was a jerk. She kept stereotyping and it slightly annoyed me, but I could understand her actions for doing so.
Xander...*adds him to favourite book-boyfriend's list* He was just so completely and utterly sweet and adorable! Him and Caymen's "career days" were so sweet and I was constantly looking forward to what they would choose next. It was also so lovely the way he brought her hot chocolate and muffins and the way he slowly melted her heart. It was honestly stunning watching their romantic developments and it was the furthest thing from insta-love that I've ever read, so THANK YOU!
Their relationship was amazing. The way Caymen slowly started falling in love with him even though she knew that she wasn't allowed to, was really beautiful and you could really feel the happiness she felt when she was with Xander...but also the despair and hopelessness she felt as she wasn't allowed to be with him. The Distance Between Us was one of those books where you have no idea how it's going to end. I was constantly hoping that they would end up together but I was never certain if they would or not.
The Distance Between Us a fantastic contemporary novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was completely absorbed in the characters's world and I honestly couldn't put it down. I loved the easy, conversational flow of dialogue between the characters and Caymen's dry humour. My only disappointment is that I wish it was longer, but it was still a wonderful read. You saw the magic of falling in love for the first time, but knowing that it wouldn't be allowed and is simply impossible, the devastation and despair the characters felt as those times. A great novel about facing the challenges that comes with love that is not allowed.
I give it: 4/5 CUPCAKES!
