The Distance Between Us by Kasie West - Book Review

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Published by: Harper Teen

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

Source: Bought

Rating: 6/5 hearts

Buy the Book or Add to Goodreads

FROM GOODREADS: 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.

MY THOUGHTS:

First off, there's one specific type of books that I absolutely never ever read. Like EVER!! However, the explanation behind picking this one up can be summed up pretty simply. I am in love with Kasie West. That's it. I don't care if that sounds creepy at all, either!! I absolutely adored Pivot Point, and the wait for Split Second has been complete and utter torture for me. TORTURE, I tell you!!! So I decided that maybe I could satiate my need for more amazing Kasie West-style writing by picking up another book that she had written, and it was the BEST decision ever!!!!!! 

Kasie West has converted me into a contemporary reader with the awesomeness that is The Distance Between Us.

I mean, just the names in this book are completely unique and so cool!! Caymen? I have never heard of someone named Caymen, and even if she gets the Cayman Islands joke all the time, it is still a pretty bad-a name! I just love the fact that she lives above her mom's porcelain doll store too! That in itself is super creepy to me, and to add to the creepy factor, her best friend's dad is a mortician! Xander came off a little rude at first, but I quickly came to love him and swoon every time he appeared on page. I yearned for Xander and Caymen to get together probably more than Caymen yearned for it herself. The easy back and forth banter between the two was the cutest!! 

I rode the ups and downs throughout this novel as fast as my eyes could speed through the pages. I loved this book so much that I only stopped reading it when I got to the point that I could no longer put off going to the restroom unless I wanted to pee my pants. 

Caymen and Xander bond quickly through setting up "jobs" to try for one another to see if they can find what they want to do for the rest of their lives, instead of taking over their parent's businesses. The jobs were interesting and hilarious to read, because they were on the complete other spectrum than what the person was used to. For instance, Caymen always picked lower end jobs for Xander to try, and Xander always picked higher-end jobs for Caymen. 

West throws a few kinks into the book to cause problems and drama, which only had me flipping pages faster!! There are a few things that come up that I never saw coming, but only made the story even better in the long run. As of right now, The Distance Between Us is a stand-alone, but I would completely freak out if I found out Kasie decided to continue Caymen and Xander's story. I fell in love with them that much! 

Overall, I think contemporary lovers should definitely pick this one up if they haven't yet. Even if you aren't much of a contemp reader, you should think about giving this one a try! I gave this one 6 stars out of my 5 star rating system, because 5 just didn't seem to do this book justice!!

Now, I just need to go watch The Shining, because it's mentioned so much in this novel, and believe it or not, I have never seen it! 

Stacking the Shelves #3

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, where bloggers share their weekly book hauls! This is my third time participating, and I love showcasing what I received over the week, and seeing what everyone else got!!!

Bought:

I bought a lot this week. 

 

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs (FINALLY!!!!)

  

Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Won:

Wait For You *SIGNED* by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Which I won from Jaime, Erin, & Cosmo from Fiction Fare for their December Month of Giving Giveaway!! Thanks so much guys!!)

Gifted:

It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but I got signed bookmarks from Kasie West herself, because I emailed her about how much I'm in love with her and her books!! She was sweet enough to send me some bookmarks, and then Melissa Landers was holding a pre-order promo for anyone who sent her their receipt from pre-ordering Alienated! I squealed LOTS when I opened both of these envelopes!!! 

Well, that's it for my StS this week!! Check out my other posts, and if you participated in StS this week, leave me a comment with a link so I can check out your weekly goodies! Thanks for visiting, and make sure you follow me so you can keep up with my weekly musings!! 

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - Book Review

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1
Published by: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 377
Format: Paperback
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology
Source: Bought
Rating: 5 hearts
Buy the Book or Add to Goodreads

FROM GOODREADS: Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

MY THOUGHTS:

I originally bought The Lightning Thief when the first movie went to theaters, (which apparently was 2010) because I like to read the book of any book-to-movie adaptation before I watch the movie. For some reason, I never got around to doing that with this one. I watched the movie before I read the book. At the time, I thought it was an okay movie. Time passed, and my copy of The Lightning Thief sat on my TBR shelf, lonely and collecting dust FOR THREE YEARS!! *cringes* I cannot believe this book sat there so long. Anyways, I actually watched the second movie before reading this book!! Then, I started blogging, and I was peer pressured countless times to read this! COUNTLESS times, I tell you! So a fellow book blogging friend and I decided to buckle down and get our Percy Jackson fix. We actually tweeted our reactions via #PercyPowWow. It was SO much fun!!

So now you may be asking what was my reaction to The Lightning Thief? WOW. Guys, THIS BOOK. I was not expecting to read something that I would fall in love with like I did Harry Potter. This book is nowhere near what I watched in the movie adaptation. Honestly, I'm glad I watched that *cough* pathetic excuse for a book-to-movie adaptation *cough, cough* BEFORE I read the book, because I would have been incredibly disappointed.

First of all, I absolutely LOVED the chapter titles in this book! They had me giggling throughout the entirety of the novel. Percy's narration is nothing less than hilarious as well. All in all, if you don't think a book can make you laugh out loud and make strangers stare at you like you're crazy, then you need to pick up The Lightning Thief.

The characters were relatable, and I quickly found myself pining for some romance between Percy and Annabelle. Their back and forth banter was too cute!! Grover rounds out their friendship, and keeps everyone's spirits up with his crazy and weird antics!

I never thought I would enjoy Percy Jackson as much as I did, even though, everyone swore up and down that I would! I'm so glad I finally gave it a chance! You can officially call me a Percy Jackson fanatic, and Percabeth is definitely one of my new favorite ships!!!! The Lightning Thief delivers nothing less than a truly unique, action-packed, and heartfelt adventure! After I finished, I actually drove around my town searching frantically for the rest of the books in the series! Unfortunately, I was only able to find one, so I had to buy the others from Amazon!! Now all I need to round out my newest obsession, is a Camp Half Blood t-shirt!!! 

#FF Feature & Follow (2): My Blogger BFF

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View & Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it will allow us to show off more blogs!

MY BLOGGER BFF

Well, I just started blogging at the beginning of this year, so it hasn't been that long, and I have met quite a few really good friends so far, but I have one blogger that I talk to more than any others. She's pretty awesome, and we are starting a new weekly feature on our blogs SOON, so make sure you follow her as well!! Elizabeth from REDHEAD READER is the best! She is such a sweetheart! She loves to read Horror, Thrillers, Murder Mystery, and Fantasy! Anyways, I'm really excited for ya'll to see what we have in store for you!! It's definitely something you don't want to miss!!

Let me know who your Blogging BFF is in the comments!! 
(I prefer GFC or Bloglovin follows.) 
Thanks for visiting! :)

Cover Puppies (2) - The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Cover Puppies is a weekly post here on Pivot Book Reviews, where I combine my love for my doggies and YA books, and recreate my favorite book covers!

This week, I am featuring The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings.  

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings Release date: June 10th, 2014
From Goodreads: An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young's Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.
Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.
The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is- although he doesn't know it- one of the MC's programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?
Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings.
**
I know I'm featuring a book that has yet to be released, but I just love this cover, and I love the author. She is funny and super nice! I love watching her hilarious, relatable videos on YouTube, and watching her life through pictures on Instagram! Anyways, Lindsay's book sounds amazing, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it! Mostly because I want to read about the mysterious Zephyr. That name in itself just sounds so schmexy!! 
Oh, and the dog featured in this week's Cover Puppies is my Australian Shepherd, Dixie (Cup). :) Did you like this feature? Have a book cover you are dying for me to recreate? Let me know in the comments!! I LOVE COMMENT LOVE!! 
Thanks for visiting and be sure to follow so you get the new Cover Puppies posts the second I hit publish!