Spin by Catherine McKenzie -Review

Plot: Katie is a music writer about to turn 30. On the eve of her biggest job interview for her dream job, she parties a little too long with her friends. The morning of the interview then becomes the morning of hangover hell.

But all is not lost, as Katie is offered a job in the company for their gossip magazine. The one catch, she needs to go to rehab to get the story.

Katie's life is about to change in more ways then one when she meets her fate in the form of Amber and Conner, the two biggest movie stars in rehab.

I read this book in 2 days. It clocks in at just over 400 pages but breezes through. It's witty, fun and just what the doctor ordered.

I found myself nodding to a lot of the situations Katie was finding herself in. Not knowing how to handle herself around men, feeling different from her family, reaching for her dream no matter how low she had gotten. All things I could identify with myself.

Growing up is never easy, and it seems to hit women harder then men.

The social commentary of how we treat people was a main theme throughout. The lead character seems to have a nice balance between seasoned journalist and fan, (something I personally still don't have a handle on) which makes her befriending the very people she is suppose to be spying on very believable. Even the "playlist" she carries around in her iTouch throughout the story lends itself to the building blocks of the personalities around her.

Catherine McKenzie has the Austen touch in this novel, (it helps that there is a direct mention of Northanger Abby and Persuasion) making you able to view the society the lead character finds herself in from the same quiet nobility that Anne Elliot does, or Catherine Morland's dreamy view of reality (in Northanger Abby Morland reads about fantastic lives where as in Spin Katie watches on television celebrities)

This is one story that makes you sit up and take notice of not just the characters but of yourself. Having the subplot being rooted in rehab (finding one's core truth) had me walking away from it and thinking about my own life and goals.

Can you dig into the dirt of your own vices and not come away clean?

I will be having an interview with the author Cathreine McKenzie later in the month on Jan 27th. Please come back then for more on Spin.