Spin

Everything about Spin can fool one into thinking that this debut novel of Catherine McKenzie is yet another YA novel about a troubled teen. In fact, it is anything but. Instead, it fills a niche for Gen Y, those who are struggling to establish themselves in the workplace and continue to drift through life thanks to a miserable economy and high amounts of personal debt. It draws on the fascination with celebrity gossip and turns a scathing eye on those who are willing to do anything to be the first to break a story about the celebrity du jour, while presenting a fascinating look at the fine line between partying and addiction.

Kate is the girl who does not want to grow up. Still passing herself off as a twenty-something grad student, she show more has no real job and no real desire to do anything but enjoy the next night out with her friends. Her opinion on alcohol is scarily realistic, and her ability to ignore her conscience is all-too-accurate. Yet, for someone who does some pretty horrific deeds all in the name of landing her dream job, she is exceedingly vulnerable while simultaneously providing much-needed comic relief for a story that could become too intense without it.

Catherine McKenzie does an excellent job balancing the seriousness of her messages – the seriousness and struggles of addiction, the damaging fascination with celebrity watching – with the heartwarming character development elements of the story. Kate’s and Amber’s struggles are not meant to be fun, and yet SPIN is not meant to be a tragedy. There is a breeziness to Ms. McKenzie’s writing that lessens the more depressing elements and provides some much-needed hope to the entire story.

Spin flirts dangerously close to being overly trite and saccharin-sweet. What prevents it from crossing that line is Kate’s growing awareness that she just might have an alcohol problem after all. Her increasing self-awareness and battle with her inner demons adds a level of gravitas that does not exist in YA, as her demons are decidedly adult. In a society which glorifies alcohol, partying, and celebrity watching, Spin forces the reader to pause and reconsider these popular pastimes and the damage they are causing. It is a powerful message wrapped up in an easy-to-swallow, enjoyable package.

Acknowledgements: Thank you to NetGalley and Mary Sasso of William Morrow and Company for my review copy! show less

Kate shows up drunk to an interview for a dream job at an entertainment magazine, but gets another chance when they offer to send her to rehab if she'll write about a celebrity patient there. This undercover assignment gets complicated when she finds herself becoming friends with the celeb, and realizes that she may not be pretending to be an alcoholic but actually is one. It's a different sort of plot than the usual chick lit, and felt authentic. The author is from Montreal, but the atmosphere didn't seem especially Canadian (whatever that means).

Reading about alcoholism and addiction can be depressing. It destroys people and lives. And for some reason, we as a society have a prurient interest in people, specifically celebrities, who cannot fight their personal demons without a bottle, a pill, a pipe, or a needle to help them. In Spin, McKenzie has tapped into both the heavy, serious topic of addiction and society's unhealthy obsession with celebrity but she's managed to do so in a lighter fashion that makes for a fun and entertaining read.

Kate Sandford is on the verge of turning thirty. She's barely making ends meet writing occasional articles about bands locally but when she lands an interview with The Line, her favorite national music magazine, she knows she's finally about show more to break into the big time. Unfortunately she goes out to celebrate her birthday the night before and turns up at the interview some combination of still drunk and hungover all at once. Not surprisingly, she does not get the job. Several weeks later, when she has determined that she must buckle down and be an adult, change the direction of her life and get a consistent job, even if it isn't one she'd like, she gets an unexpected call back from The Line. Having pegged her as having a drinking problem but being a good writer nevertheless, they want her to go undercover and enter a rehab program to collect info on a troubled star currently in treatment, Amber Sheppard, also known to the media as The Girl Next Door. The assignment is not with The Line, however. It is for its sister magazine, a successful gossip rag. If Kate can deliver the story, she'll be reconsidered for the job at The Line.

Determined not to blow her second chance, Kate agrees even as she worries how she's going to pull off pretending to be an alcoholic, without ever considering that she might in fact actually have a problem with alcohol. Rehab carries with it some big surprises for Kate as she struggles to understand the grip that alcohol has on her and the effect it has had on her life, her relationships, and her family. As she works through all of this (and the denial so common to addicts), she gets close to Amber. At first, she does it because she has to in order to write the story. But then she finds herself really liking Amber personally. How can she still write a story about her new friend's addiction battles and the private and personal things she's discovered about this young woman? With her dream job and a lot of money riding on the story, how can she not?

Kate is a funny, naive, struggling main character. In short, she's very human and her struggles to know herself and to learn honesty, not only with others in her life (how ironic given the enormous lie she is perpetuating simply by being in rehab for a story) but with herself as well, are authentic and real. While she may have many issues to address, they don't come off as navel-gazing and self-help inspired but are leavened with humor and comedic moments that lighten the tone of the entire book. Certainly fighting an addiction is dark and terrible stuff that can make for a hard and depressing read but that darkness is the polar opposite of what readers will find here. Adding a potential love interest for Kate and the ubiquitous toxic celebrity relationship with the "It" boy for "It" girl Amber lightens the mood still further and allows for some appealing plot twists.

While Kate is the main character, most of the secondary characters are entertaining as well and fleshed out enough to make it clear how they fit into's Kate's life. My biggest quibble with the novel is with how easy overcoming her urge to drink seems to be for Kate in the end, especially given her interior thoughts at the beginning of rehab. The ending of the story is never in doubt here and there are some plot threads given a bit of short shift but over all, the novel is a fun, appealing one that makes for a fast, light-feeling read even as it delivers some hard truths. show less

A very witty, entertaining & surprisingly insightful read. I picked this up while travelling & it sat on my bookshelf waiting for me to disconnect myself from my Kindle to read it. I'm glad I finally did! Oddly, I've seen mostly recommendations for YA titles relating to this book (maybe it's the cover? idk.) & I have to say it is definitely NOT a YA book. When your protagonist is 30, has had 27 sexual partners & is spending a good amount of the book sitting in rehab contemplating her relationship with alcohol & the people in her life, even if she is emotionally immature & stunted... well, it's a whole other category.

Kate's voice is clear throughout. She is bright, witty & a straight up trainwreck. I've not read a character so show more engagingly un-self-aware in a while & she didn't disappoint. I found her wholly believable & I never tired of her self-delusions as she worked her way along the path of her journey. I cheered, hoped & worried for her the whole way through. I was even feeling anxious when it was clear that she couldn't act in her own best interest & there wasn't anything I could do but bear witness to it & pray she got her crap together.

I have to admit that I did find the use of designations over names for other characters in the book (TGND, YJB, E., The Banker, The Director, etc.) initially took me out of the story that Kate was narrating & I could not connect to those characters. Then I realised that it was integral to the way the story had to be told through Kate & I breezed through.

I won't give up important plot details but I will say that this is a great weekend, airport or beach read. It's thought provoking enough to keep you engaged without wearing you down with angst & gives just enough opportunities to laugh while giving a satisfying, more cliche than not conclusion I'd have been more impressed if we didn't get the running after the guy to tell him how you feel moment @ the end but considering that Kate made the reference to the BBC adaptation of Austen's Persuasion (my very favorite Austen adaptation!) earlier, I can live with it. I'd have been more impressed if Kate was going for a little more "Me Time" & complete in herself than obsessing over Henry.. I have the author's other book "Arranged" waiting on my bookshelf & I'm sure I'll be moving it up on my "To Read" list. show less

Spin by Catherine McKenzie is a fresh and fun, yet serious debut novel from this author! For me it was a perfect escape to another world with characters I loved and a storyline that grabbed me from the beginning to the end.

The main character of Spin is Kate Sanford and she's a Bridget Jones type of character. I liked her right off. She's one of those characters that I formed a bond with from the beginning of the book. She's funny, a little crazy, vulnerable and just may have a serious problem with alcohol which just makes her all the more real. She's far from perfect and I think that's the trait that pulls people in - she's human.

The book starts out with Kate getting the interview of her lifetime to work at her favorite music magazine. show more She's beside herself in her excitement so when she gets a call from a friend to go out and celebrate for her birthday coming up, she agrees. What can a couple of drinks hurt? Then she'll come home, get a good rest and be in prime form for her interview. NOT! What starts as a few drinks quickly turns into too many drinks to count and Kate is hammered. She wakes up late the next morning, is late to her interview and even that isn't so bad if she'd just been sober for said interview. Needless to say Kate doesn't even get through the interview, doesn't get the job and goes home defeated and miserable.

Days later Kate gets a call from Bob, another boss at The Line, who works on the gossip side of things. While he didn't think Kate was right for the job she applied for, he does think she's right for going to rehab as a patient to spy on It Girl, Amber Sheppard for them. In return for a good story, she just might be reconsidered for that job of a lifetime she wants. Well, what is a girl to do? Kate is more than positive she doesn't need rehab - she doesn't have a drinking problem - but for this job she'll do pretty much anything so she agrees to go.

Kate heads into rehab and slowly finds herself becoming involved with the program and the people. As time goes by and she thinks about her past she starts to wonder if maybe she does have a bit of a problem with alcohol. Certainly her life has been badly affected by it at times. Not only that but Kate is finding that the people there are real people with real problems and even finds herself becoming close with some of them. One of those someones being Amber - It Girl Amber - the famed celebrity.

Amber's not such a bad person. Kate actually likes her. Now what is a girl to do? Kate is torn. She doesn't want to hurt Amber but she really wants this job, not to mention if she doesn't go through with writing her article she's going to be sued for a sum that she just can't afford. Kate's not sure she's willing to give up the new friendships she's developed just to write this article. There has to be a way around this - but what could it be?

While this novel is funny and amusing, it has it's serious side with the issue of drug addiction. Kate takes a good long look at herself and finds a lot of pieces missing - pieces she has missed having around her like her family. She's realized that just maybe rehab wasn't such a bad idea in so many ways - it gives hope that a new life is out there if you just look for it. Spin is about Kate finding herself again and you will find yourself rooting for her all the way and turning the pages as fast as you can to see what comes next! show less

Kate has an interview and a shot at her dream job - writing for a music magazine. The night before the interview she heads out for one celebratory drink, which somehow turns into more than one...... She makes it to the interview the next day, but five minutes in, has to run to the bathroom to throw up. Needless to say she doesn't get the job. Their sister magazine - a gossip rag- calls later with an offer. Her writing samples were good - would she consider going undercover at a rehab to get the dirt on the latest 'it' girl , Amber? If all goes well, they'll give her the job at the music magazine. She jumps at the chance.

McKenzie has created a flawed but lovable character in Kate. She has goals, but keeps sabotaging herself. But at show more rehab, she is forced to confront some of those flaws and decide where she wants to go in life. Can she betray the burgeoning friendship she has with Amber and spill her secrets for public consumption? The supporting characters were well drawn as well. Amber is particularly well portrayed and is a poignant commentary of celebrity in our society. Although substance abuse is a focal part of the story, McKenzie strikes a fine balance between serious and humourous. Much of the dialogue and situations were laugh out loud funny, but the foundation of recovery is handled with respect as well.

Spin was one of those books that read like potato chips. Yep, it was an addicting read for me - just one more chapter until I turned the last page and realized I'd finished it already.

This is a debut novel for Canadian Catherine McKenzie. Definitely recommended. I'll be waiting for the second book by this fresh, witty new voice! show less

The Good Stuff

Author is Canadian (and the book isn't depressing or about the prairies -- you have to understand my issue here, we are forced to read depressing Cdn literature -- often about the prairies - from Grade 4 all the way through College in Ontario - it colours you )
Dialogue between characters is nice and crisp, fresh and often funny as hell
Smart and funny
Fast paced tightly written story, doesn't drag
Fabulous character development, Kate feels like a real person, warts and all
Really could see this as a movie
Good secondary characters that compliment the heroine, yet don't overshadow her
Nice moral questions done in a non preachy or schmaltzy way - makes you think what you might do in the same situation.
I really liked how show more the characters lives didn't become perfect after they had left rehab, they were still struggling, but there was a sense of hope for change - very realistic
Will be picking up Arranged, by McKenzie as well since I was so impressed with her writing style
Could not put the book down, felt like I was part of the story
Author is Canadian - come on American pals, you know how excited we get when something Canadian is good

The Not So Good Stuff

Found Kate's sister seriously irritating and just plain unpleasant - if she were my twin sister I would have drank too

Favorite Quotes/Passages

"The way I see it, Kid, anything that comes from the ground is OK," my father said. "It's the manufactured shit, pardon my French, that gets people in trouble. If you can consume it in its natural state, and never tell your mother I said this, I don't see why you can't experiment a little."

I stared at him from the middle of my beanbag chair. "What are you talking about Dad?"

"I'm talking about pot, hash, and 'shrooms. If you stick to those, you should be OK. Not that I'm telling you to take them. But if you do decide to do drugs, those are the drugs you should use."

"If you're reading this message, you're smarter than I thought! No need for explanations,lass. The intrigue was worth it.

I laugh out loud. People surprise you every goddamn day, even in rehab."

"I wonder if anyone else is awake. Or are visions of sugarplums, or sugarplum brandy, dancing through their heads."

Who Should/Shouldn't Read

This one is perfect for everyone, both male and female -- people have mentioned it on chick lit lists, but I feel that does it a disservice, men will enjoy the story as well
Even good for older YA readers (obviously there is some sex, drugs, etc -- but nothing explicit -- and hey the message of drugs and alcohol can be very bad is a good one)
This would be a wonderful story for lying on a beach or curled up on a couch

4.75 Dewey's

William Morrow sent this to me for review in exchange for an honest review show less