Monday, February 20, 2012

Book Review: Catherine McKenzie’s SPIN

I worked in publishing for about ten years before I went to graduate school. Which is probably why I felt an immediate affinity for Catherine McKenzie’s debut novel Spin. When writer Kate Sandford got an interview at her favorite magazine, The Line, I remembered walking into the USA Today offices for the first time. Okay, I didn’t go down in flames spectacularly by showing up to my interview drunk. And I didn’t get an offer to “try out” for my dream job by going undercover at a rehab facility to spy on a famous actress. But I really did relate to the whole “trying-to-get-a-job-in-publishing” pressure that Kate put herself through.

Kate is a very likeable character: talented and driven, but also deeply flawed. She meets starlet Amber Sheppard and is amazed to find her a real person with real problems. Problems, as it turns out, that aren’t so different from her own.

Spin would have been a pretty light chic-lit title, if not for Kate’s own emerging realization that outside of the tabloid spotlight, she has more in common with Amber than she ever would have believed.

Now, I don’t usually drink in the morning, but there was something about that morning that felt out of the ordinary. It was a combination of things, really. Seeing the tiny plane I was going to have to fly in. Going undercover. Being about to meet a celbrity I’d been watching for weeks on television. Having the opportunity to finally get where I wanted to be as a writer. Going to rehab. It all balled up inside me, and I needed something to calm me down. The chamomile tea I had before I left for the airport wasn’t cutting it, so I headed to the always open airport bar and ordered a gin and tonic. p. 83-84
McKenzie did a credible job of showing Kate’s growing ambivalence about her assignment as Amber transforms from tabloid fodder to a living, breathing human being. Kate’s growing self-awareness definitely made the novel more interesting. That being said, I was sort of surprised by the grittiness of the story. Based on the description and the cover, I thought the book would have a “lighter” feel to it – but it’s definitely not a comedy, not even a dark one.

I also have to admit that the love story element didn’t work well for me. This may be because there were so many characters to keep track of – but there just weren’t enough interactions between the characters to truly develop a good romance. That’s not to say I wasn’t rooting for the main characters, I just didn’t feel all warm and fuzzy when the resolution came.

I liked Spin, and am intrigued by McKenzie’s writing. Her first-person narration was direct and accessible, without ever feeling “staged.” I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

I read this book as part of a TLC book tour, and received a copy of the book in return for my honest opinion. For other opinions, check out the links here.

13 comments:

  1. The book sounds pretty good in spite of the romance.

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    1. It was a good book, Kathy. Just kind of strange that the romance was a fizzle in a book that was very much in the chic lit genre :)

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  2. ooh, I'm intrigued! I'm not so wild about chick lit so I initially dismissed this, but the grittier element you talk about really appeals to me. I'm going to add this to the TBR and keep an eye out for it at the library!

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    1. I'm not usually wild about it either, but the situation really appealed to me, and it paid off for me! I hope you enjoy it.

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  3. I enjoyed this book too. I agree that the romance was a bit overshadowed by more serious issues.

    Glad you liked it too!

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    1. It was an interesting tension. I had the feeling that the book evolved over time and became more serious, in a good way I think.

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  4. This book sounds like something I would like. Romances are tough in chick lit-they either work or don't. I'm going to have to check this one out.!

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    1. I think you would enjoy it -- the romance isn't great, but the story is really interesting.

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  5. I am surprised that the book is not light- I would expect it to be so based on the cover. I didn't realize you worked in publishing before grad school - sounds interesting!

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    1. I think they should definitely rethink the cover. Having read the book, I get what they were going for, buy the image somehow comes off as humorous.

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  6. First-person narratives can be tricky to do well - glad to see this was one of the good ones!

    Thanks for being on the tour.

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  7. I also thought that this one was going to be of the light chick-lit type offering after reading the blurbs and seeing the cover...how interesting that it was not. Your review has made me want to check this one out further - thanks!

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  8. I enjoyed this one much more than I expected. I thought it was interesting and unique.

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