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.
Judul : The Distance Between Us
Penulis : Kasie West
Penerbit : Harper Teen
Jumlah Halaman : 320 halaman
Bahasa : Inggris
Tahun terbit : 2013
Ratings : 3/5 stars
Caymen
Meyers is the girl who helps her mom work in a doll store, Dolls and More. She is sarcastic, has dry humor,
and wise. Caymen has
issues with rich people (stemming from the fact that her Dad left her Mom when
he learned she's pregnant with Caymen and her Dad's parents gave her Mom money
to leave their son alone), she hates them. She meets Alexander Spence while
she's looking after the shop one day and automatically she assumes the guy's
just your typical arrogant, wasting-his-money-on-useless-stuff rich kid. They
were being friends and this turns out to be the start of the relationship,
especially after Caymen finds out that Xander is really Alex, the grandson of
one of the stores best customers. This leads them to starting what they call
career days, where they try and find jobs that the other would like to do, once
they bond over the fact that Xander doesn’t want his family business, nor does
Caymen want hers.
The biggest
misunderstanding comes from the night of the Gala that Caymen accompanies
Xander to, where we find out that Xander thought Caymen had money, just didn’t
live as such, and Caymen finds her grandparents. This causes angst between
Caymen and Xander as well as Caymen and her mother, who we find out, is sick.
But we do get a little bit of resolution on the grandparents front when they
come to the hospital to visit their sick daughter.
This book maybe a
little cliche with rich-guy-falls-in-love-with-the-poor-girl kind of thing
but,hey, this book isn't a disappointment, after all.The characters were
really very good. I like Caymen’s character. She's funny and very, very sarcastic that you really won't get the hint
that she was using a sarcasm. Caymen
had a distinct voice and personality, she was a decently complex character
without being annoying or angsty. I really did love the low level of angst in
this book. The relationship between Xander and Caymen develops slowly and has
many false starts, but instead of being irritating, this felt real. None of the
road blocks they faced felt forced for the continuation of the story. Xander is
sweet and wonderful, but he feels real as well, as he is not perfect and makes
his own mistakes. I also enjoyed the refreshing take on his family
interactions. This was not an instance overdone spoiled rich boy arguing with
his parents or rich parents who don’t listen to their children and try to force
them into a mold.
Sadly, I felt that
the ending was a bit rushed and some questions were left unanswered. Overall, this was a sweet
romantic read. If you’re in the mood for some light heartwarming reading, this
is definitely and excellent choice.
