My take on: A Long Way From You

Kitsy Kidd is a true fish out of water. She is stepping out of her comfort zone in Broken Spoke, Texas, and pursuing her dreams in New York City. She ends up finding more than she bargained for in A Long Way From You by Gwendolyn Heasley.

I had to do a double take on that name. Kitsy Kidd?!?! In the first couple of chapters, the alliteration was starting to bug me. I thought it was a misprint at first because this was an uncorrected e-galley. But I was wrong. It didn't help that her brother's name is Kiki Kidd. Once I got past the name, Kitsy started to grow on me.

Kitsy is just 17, but she is used to working for everything. She is more of a parent to her little brother Kiki than their mother Amber. She is captain of the cheerleading squad, but is in no way interested in being the popular girl around school. Amber is between jobs, and can often be found drowning her sorrows in alcohol. It's up to Kitsy to keep the family together. She works every shift she can at the local Sonic, despite all the snickers she gets from the town mean girl. Appearances mean nothing to Kitsy, making sure her brother gets to school, and has food and clothes is more important. When she can, Kitsy dotes on her boyfriend, Hands (no that's no his real name it's Clint). Hands is supportive, but every other word out of his mouth is about football.

Kitsy is always doing things for everyone but herself. That sounds like a lot of people, young and old. But now Kitsy is getting a chance to put herself first. As a budding artist, Kitsy is given the opportunity to study at Parsons for the summer. A summer in New York is a dream, but what about Kiki, Amber, and Hands? Taking time for herself will be harder than she realizes. Her sponsors in New York, the Corcorans and their daughter Corrinne, are like family.

Kitsy seemed very wide-eyed and naive, like a lot of people who have lived in a small town all their life. It's cute at first, especially when she accidentally takes the PATH train to New Jersey instead of towards the Village. But after a while the fish out of water story got a little annoying. I was thinking, "Grow up Kitsy!!"

Of course no story like this would be complete without a little romance. Tad, a musician with an affinity for the arts, starts to dominate Kitsy's thoughts. Is it the bright lights of the city that are distracting Kitsy or does she really have feelings for Tad? It's hard to know. Her whole world is in Broken Spoke, she doesn't know any other way of life. Will she be content being the girlfriend of a small-town guy like Hands? Or is Tad and his big-city dreams what Kitsy really needs? 

Kitsy is finally getting a chance to pursue her dreams, but at what cost? Maybe being in New York is giving Kitsy a chance to finally discover who she really is. But being New York is also leading Kitsy away from the girl she used to be. Which girl does she want to be? All in all, this is a cute story worth reading.



Rating: Give it a try


Note: I received an e-galley from Little Bird Publicity in exchange for an honest review.