The Distance Between Us - Kasie West ~ adara

Blurb:

Money can't buy a good first impression.

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers learned early that the rich are not to be trusted. And after years of studying them from behind the cash register of her mom's porcelain-doll shop, she has seen nothing to prove otherwise. Enter Xander Spence—he's tall, handsome, and oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and the fact that he seems to be 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 just when Xander's loyalty and attentiveness 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. With so many obstacles standing in their way, can she close the distance between them?

The Distance Between Us bercerita tentang Caymen Meyers, cewek yang seumur hidupnya tinggal di semacam ruko gitu. Ibunya bisnis boneka porselen dan mereka tinggal di atas toko itu.

Menurut Caymen, ibunya cerita kalau dia dulu hamil Caymen di luar nikah terus diusir sama orangtuanya dan enggak mau diakui juga sama keluarga cowok yang udah ngehamilin dia, cuma dikasih uang terus disuruh pergi. Akhirnya, dia dan Caymen pun harus hidup serba terbatas di toko boneka itu.

"There are two types of people in our small beach town: the rich and the people who sell things to the rich."

Dari situ, ibunya tuh kayak selalu anti-orang-kaya.

Nah, suatu hari, seorang cowok yang masih muda, paling seumuran Caymen--tujuh belas tahun--masuk tuh ke toko bonekanya Caymen dan nyari kado buat neneknya. Sekilas lihat aja, Caymen udah tahu kalau ini cowok tajir melintir dan karena dari dulu Caymen udah dibilangin sama ibunya jangan pernah percaya sama orang kaya, kita enggak bakal bisa berbaur sama orang-orang kaya, dll, Caymen tahu kalau dia bukan levelnya ini cowok.

Btw, nama cowok ini adalah Alexander Spance, yang biasa dipanggil Xander.

Nah, tapi lama-lama, yaa, bisa ditebak lah ya, si Xander sama Caymen jadi deket gitu, gara-gara Xander kayak tertarik sama Caymen dan terus-terusan nyamperin Caymen.

Di satu sisi, Caymen seneng-seneng aja karena Xander emang baik banget (+ ganteng HAHA), tapi di sisi lain, dia jadi harus bohong sama ibunya karena dia tahu ibunya enggak bakal setuju kalau tahu Caymen hanging out sama orang-orang kayak Xander.

"I've needed my morning hot chocolate, but someone got me addicted to it then took it away."

"Is that your subtle way of saying you missed me last week?"

"I've missed 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."

He laughs a little, and I find myself wishing I could see his face so I could witness how his eyes light up when he smiles.

Tapi... lama-lama, ibunya Caymen juga bertindak mencurigakan. Caymen pun tahu kalau selain masalahnya dengan Xander, Caymen juga punya masalah lain, di antaranya adalah toko bonekanya yang terancam bangkrut dan mengungkap rahasia apa yang sedang (atau selalu) disembunyikan oleh ibunya.

Akhirnya kesampaian juga baca buku inii, hehe. Setelah suka sama P.S I Love You sama The Fill-in Boyfriend-nya Kasie West, saya jadi tertarik baca buku-buku Kasie West yang lain, salah satunya ini.

Sebetulnya, saya udah lama punya sih, cuma baru niat baca sekarang, haha, dan saya sukaa!

Dari awal baca, saya udah ngakak-ngakak sama celetukannya si Caymen yang kocak banget. Suka banget deh sama sarcasm-sarcasm ala Caymen.

"So, Caymen..."

"So, Xander..."

"Like the islands."

"What?"

"Your name. Caymen. Like the Cayman Islands. Is that your mom's favorite place to visit or something?"

"No, it's her third favorite place. I have an older brother named Paris and an older sister named Sydney."

"Wow." He opens the bag, takes out a muffin, and hands it to me. The top glistens with sprinkled sugar. "Really?"

I gently unwrap it. "No."

Saya juga suka karakter Xander! Anaknya sweet, polos-polos, lucu, baik, gitu dehh HAHA. Enggak annoying sama sekali. Sukaa!

Terus, saya juga suka sama aktivitas 'career days'-nya Caymen sama Xander. Menyegarkan banget baca tentang remaja-remaja yang masih enggak tahu masa depannya kayak gimana & sadar kalau sebenarnya, banyak jalan yang bisa dipilih, enggak harus terpatok sama keinginan keluarga, dll.

"I wonder why some people seem to be born knowing what they want to do with their lives and others--mostly me--have no idea."

Hubungan Caymen sama ibunya juga dibahas dengan bagus. Walaupun sempat renggang, cuma saya bisa ngerti keputusan ibunya Caymen dan saya juga enggak bisa nyalahin Caymen karena kesal sama ibunya gitu.

"My mom always tells me to blame it on her if I am ever in an uncomfortable situation. It seems to work well."

Alurnya sendiri cukup pasaran, romance-nya ketebak tapi tetap lucu! Agak enggak nyangka tentang rahasia keluarga Caymen itu dan saya penasaran juga kedepannya kehidupan Caymen bakal gimana mengingat dia sebenarnya.... ya gitu, deh. Silakan baca aja sendiri, haha.

"I love you," I whisper.

"What was that? I didn't hear you."

"Don't push me."

"I love you, too," he says. He puts his cheek against mine. "So much."

Ini beberapa kutipan yang saya suka dari buku ini:

"Feelings, my dear daughter, you will perhaps learn one day, can be the most costly thing in the universe."

"But nothing good ever happened without risk."

"Maybe you should let yourself fail at something. Fail hard. Then you won't be scared anymore."

"Well, if that's all you're looking for then you better watch it because you know the difference between a 'boy friend' and a 'boyfriend.'"

"I'm talking abot your humor. I know that sometimes you use it to hide things."

"It's weird to see something created from nothing. I think about myself and how Xander is trying to create something out of my nothing life. How he kind of has. He took the ridiculousness, the fire hydrant, from my song and made me realize it could be something more, something different."

Terakhir, 4 dari 5 bintang buat Eddie's.