Reader’s Guide to Kasie West

The contemporary queen Kasie West has easily become one of my favorite, auto-buy others over my past few years as a reader. I discovered her writing in the summer of 2017 and I’m proud to say I’ve read every. single. one. of her contemporary books! Kasie West was my first choice when I decided I wanted to begin writing out guides for author’s books, so I couldn’t wait to begin! In this guide I will be talking about which books are the best to start with along with information about what you should know before going into her books.

About the Author

Kasie West is a YA author who has been writing books since 2013. Her first book, Pivot Point, is part of a duology that’s a lot different than her popular contemporary books. She’s still a writer who publishes 1-2 YA books a year. She’s a mother of four, and keeps active on her social media accounts:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KasieWest?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kasiewest/?hl=en

The Best Books to Pick Up First

Out of all seven of Kasie’s published books at this point, there’s only actually been one I didn’t give 4-5 stars. Her books are super enjoyable and quick, but out of all of them three books in particular stand out to me the most.

The first book is easily The Distance Between Us! This was Kasie West’s first contemporary novel which was published in 2013. This adorable read follows a teenage girl named Caymen who lives in a town full of rich people and people who serve the rich; Caymen lives in a small apartment with her mom above their porcelain doll shop. Caymen’s mom has always warned her to stay away from rich boys… but then comes Xander. He’s oozing rich but Caymen just can’t keep him off her mind.

The Distance Between Us is not only swoony and adorable but the humor in it is AMAZING. The banter and dry humor mixed into this story makes the characters unique from other books in the genre. The entire story is a lot of fun and it’s the perfect book to hit you right in the happy fuzzy feels.

The second book would be By Your Side, which is actually the first book I ever read from Kasie West! This book was published in 2017. This book follows a girl named Autumn who has an anxiety disorder and a closed off boy named Dax who no one has ever really gotten to know. The pair start off this book by being trapped in a library over a three day weekend where they get to know each other while figuring out a way to survive in the freezing library. But life outside of the library is a lot more complicated when the two are welcomed back into reality and have to figure out if their possible feelings will last despite Dax’s determination to avoid commitment, and the drama of Autumn’s old life.

As I said, this book was what started my love for Kasie West’s books! It’s adorable and the characters are interesting. I loved the dynamics between them and loved the idea of characters who don’t know each other at all being trapped in a library together.

The third book I would recommend is P.S. I Like You, which is Kasie West’s most popular book. This story was first published in 2016. The story follows a girl named Lily, who one day scribbles some song lyrics onto her desk and finds that someone has continued them the next day. Plus, they added a message! Pretty soon Lily and her desk pen pal are exchanging full blown letters, secrets, and opening up to each other…. but who is he? While trying to discover who her secret desk buddy is Lily also has to balance family, drama, and her annoying classmate Cade who gets on her nerves whenever he can.

This book was full blown adorable! I loved the characters, interesting dynamics, and above all the slow burn romance. I don’t want to give too much away with this one, but it’s really too cute and romantic for words.

Tropes

Although Kasie West’s writing may not bring many new things to the table, I love her use of tropes! I think she executes them well and incorporates them well into her writing. Here are just a few of the highlights:

Fake Dating trope: The Fill-In Boyfriend

Hate-To-Love romance trope: P.S. I Like You

Friends-to-Lovers romance trope: Love, Life and the List

Tomboy trope: On The Fence

The “bad boy” who has a good heart trope: By Your Side

Superlatives

Best Couple: The Distance Between Us – Caymen and Xander

Best Female Character: P.S. I Like You – Lily

Best Male Character: The Distance Between Us – Xander

Funniest Book: The Distance Between Us

Best Chemistry: By Your Side

Best Plot: Love, Life and the List

Other Notes

Although I do love Kasie West’s books I do want to note that they lack diversity. All of the couples are heterosexual and only recently has she begun to mix in characters of colors with Seth from Lucky In Love who is Vietnamese. Some of the books touch on darker subjects but remain really fluffy and don’t go into it that much. By Your Side touches anxiety and the foster care system, The Distance Between Us touches poverty and social norms, On The Fence touches loosing a parent, and Love, Life and the List touches on having a parent with anxiety and a parent in the military. Her stories don’t add a lot of new things to the YA contemporary table but are a lot of fun to read and are pretty well executed! I highly recommend her work to anyone who is thinking about picking her books up.