Date Read: January 22 - 25 2014
Date Released: February 1st 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
Source: Review copy via publisher
Genre: Australian contemporary
My rating: 
Synopsis:
"Josie Browning dreams of having it all.
A stellar academic record, an amazing career in journalism - and for her current crush to realise she actually exists. The only problem? Josie can’t get through twenty-four hours without embarrassing her sister Kat or her best friend Angel, let alone herself.
Josie’s luck changes though when she lands an internship at the glossy fashion magazine Sash. A coveted columnist job is up for grabs, but Josie’s got some tough competition in the form of two other interns. Battle lines are drawn and Josie quickly learns that the magazine industry is far from easy, especially under the reign of powerful editor, Rae Swanson.
From the lows of coffee-fetching and working 10-hour days, to the highs of mingling with celebrities, scoring endless free beauty products (plus falling for her cousin’s seriously gorgeous flatmate James) this is one year Josie will never forget.
Totally fresh and funny, this debut novel from industry insider Gabrielle Tozer reveals just what is behind the seeming glamour and sparkle of the magazine industry."
A stellar academic record, an amazing career in journalism - and for her current crush to realise she actually exists. The only problem? Josie can’t get through twenty-four hours without embarrassing her sister Kat or her best friend Angel, let alone herself.
Josie’s luck changes though when she lands an internship at the glossy fashion magazine Sash. A coveted columnist job is up for grabs, but Josie’s got some tough competition in the form of two other interns. Battle lines are drawn and Josie quickly learns that the magazine industry is far from easy, especially under the reign of powerful editor, Rae Swanson.
From the lows of coffee-fetching and working 10-hour days, to the highs of mingling with celebrities, scoring endless free beauty products (plus falling for her cousin’s seriously gorgeous flatmate James) this is one year Josie will never forget.
Totally fresh and funny, this debut novel from industry insider Gabrielle Tozer reveals just what is behind the seeming glamour and sparkle of the magazine industry."
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University student Josie Browning dreams of being a newspaper journalist but instead gets landed working at high profile fashion magazine Sash. The poor girl is an absolute walking disaster – I’m actually not sure it’s possible for someone in real life to be this clumsy? I couldn’t relate to all her embarrassing situations as a result of this, I mean I consider myself a klutz but Josie was a different story. That didn’t stop my face from heating up in humiliation on behalf of Josie while reading. I think, in part, some of her clumsiness could be attributed to her unease and lack of self-confidence at the beginning of the book. She makes SO many mistakes throughout, but my high school maths teacher once said “I make mistakes every day, but I never make the same mistake twice”. I loved that about Josie – despite all the shit she managed to get herself into, she would always pick herself up and get on with life and make the most out of things.
I loved the insight into life working at a fashion magazine. I know Tozer’s worked at a few magazines herself so I could tell a lot of this stuff was legit. A lot of it seemed ridiculous to be honest – making interns do menial tasks, fetch coffee and be the errand girl (I guess someone’s got to do it, but really does it have to be the person in university who’s meant to be getting real hands on experience that’s meant to contribute to their degree?). As someone who’s done 3 internships, I’ve been told if I wasn’t given real work after a certain point I should speak up so Josie’s situation really made me flinch. But this is a different type of industry, one that admittedly has some shallow people but also required Josie to prove her worth. It was interesting to see the range of tasks she was faced with and how she tackled them.
There’s a pretty juicy scandal in the midst of this and I cringed at how the poor target got dragged through the mud throughout it all. This was my favourite part of the book – the way it was handled, the aftermath and what Josie and others took from this horrid situation. There was no sugar-coating the ordeal, only to get through it, learn and move on. And don’t make the same mistake twice.
Let’s not forget the really sweet romance in this. There’s an absolutely swoon-worthy boy and a bunch of really icky ones. Shant talk much more about this because you should read and find out.
My biggest issue with The Intern was the writing style. I felt that it was a bit over the top and because of that, it made the situations seem unrealistic so I couldn’t relate to some of the things that went on (aforementioned clumsiness). Don’t get me wrong, Tozer’s style is engaging and it’s definitely got the essence of someone who writes articles to draw the audience in but at times I would just pause in my scepticism.
Overall, I felt that Josie really matured by the end of the book and I can’t wait to see where Faking It takes her. This was a light read that’s very fun, swoony and I loved the fashion aspect.
Awwww but I think the unrealistic-ness is part of what makes it so amazing!! Like obviously nobody's that clumsy or awkward, but I love all the exaggerations :D And Devil Wears Prada = perf.
ReplyDeleteHa I guess I'm just not a huge fan of that kind of style. I like down to earth and relatable/realistic ;p
DeleteI know what you mean about the over the top--but in a way, that was what made The Intern so quirky (for me.) But still, I don't think I could read that sort of writing style very often otherwise it would bother me. Occasionally though it's fun to read. :) Faking It was also really enjoyable--I hope you can get around to that one soon!
ReplyDeleteYay I'm glad to hear Faking It is good!
DeleteThe Intern seems like the type of read that is fun to indulge in every so often! I LOVED The Devil Wears Prada, so the fact that you pulled a comparison to that makes me want to get my hands on this one at some point.
ReplyDeleteOoh you should! I'll send you a copy (;
DeleteI thought it was more Ugly Betty than Devil Meets Prada, and had expected it to be so much more cutthroat too. I really enjoyed it. It was fun and super laid back, the romance didn't do it for me really though, but thrilled that it worked for you. Lovely review Jaz, looking forward to seeing what you think of Faking It <3
ReplyDeleteOoooh I totally forgot about Ugly Betty. That was such a hilarious show. Let's see if the romance is better in Faking It then eh Kelly? Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI think I had similar feelings to the book like you did. It was really unrealistic to me (which is okay since it's a work of fiction) but because I work in the media industry and studied similar things, it really annoyed me how very unrealistic some of the internship aspects were - like a professor finding an internship for every single student? Seriously?
ReplyDeleteJosie also annoyed me too, but I like that she matured by the end! I've been putting off reading Faking It...not sure if I'll get around to it any time soon tbh. Lovely review Jaz! xx
Yes! I thought so Joy, thanks for clarifying that point. I was thinking professors in uni really don't give a damn in the sense that they expect YOU to take the initiative to find experience even if it is part of your degree. You're an adult so they're not meant to spoon feed you. I'm hearing that Faking It is really enjoyable so I'm looking forward to it.
DeleteAlthough this book sounds a bit young, I like the sound of the character development that Josie goes through, and glad she improves at the end. I would pick this up because I would be interested in the fashion industry internship and everything. Wonderful review Jaz!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely check it out if you like fashion because it's so fun! I think character growth is one of the most important aspects of a book so it makes it more enjoyable.
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