The Distance Between Us by Kasie West {review}

Title: The Distance Between Us
Author: Kasie West (website)(Twitter)
Pages: 
Publication Date: July 2, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Rating: I so enjoyed this one!

I can't even begin to say how much I enjoyed this book. The main character, Caymen, is super sarcastic. She made me laugh out loud throughout the entire thing. And I smiled the rest of the time. She was such a unique character and I completely and totally loved her. 

She lives above a doll store with her single mom. They are poor. Poor poor. She shops at thrift stores and even then feels guilty for buying anything. So when uber rich boy Xander Spence stops by the store to buy his grandmother a doll for her birthday, Caymen's bias towards the rich comes out. Her mother instilled in her a real dislike for the rich. Caymen has been told her whole life that her rich father left her mom when she was pregnant. 

The problem is that even though Xander is super rich, he is also super charming and sweet and funny and Caymen is swayed. I was a bit worried that this would be a typical poor girl meets rich boy and insta-love begins. Not the case with this one. It is heart felt AND heart warming with a touch of mystery.

The other characters and varied and interesting on their own. There's hip Skye, Caymen's best friend, whose boyfriend, Henry is a part of the band the Crusty Toads. Lots of jokes there and Caymen hits them all. Mason or "Tic" is a smooth talking singer in the Crusty Toads and he's sweet on Caymen. 

The story flows easily and quickly. The humor was definitely my favorite part but there is a lot in there. Being yourself no matter what your bank account balance and finding real friends are big "lessons" to learn. The romance is realistic and so sweet. I was rooting for the characters and that doesn't happen often.

The only criticism I have is that it wrapped up faster than I wanted it to. Everything quickly comes to a close after lots of build up. Seemed just a bit rushed.

Overall I really loved this story. This was a great choice for the Bout of Books read-a-thon because it was quick and wonderful. Caymen is my favorite character by far. She had me as sarcasm.