Review: The Intern by Gabrielle Tozer

The Intern by Gabrielle Tozer
Publisher: Harper Collins AU
Publication Date: February 1st 2014
My rating: DNF 

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.

The Intern was a book which I found myself eager to read after reading the blurb (it reminded me a lot of The Devil wears Prada, a book I enjoyed and loved the setting of) and seeing it pop up a lot of Aussie YA reader’s blogs. I was also in the mood for something light and fun and the fun aspect was totally there, I liked how Josie and the other two interns had to compete at the well known Sash magazine, especially as there was a cash prize up for grabs too. I was all behind Josie from the beginning to be successful, especially as her mum had to work so hard in order to provide for her and her sister. Also Josie was more down to earth that some of the staff at Sash, also in comparison to intern Ava, Josie was genuinely talented in her writing ability and also genuinely a nice person. Of course the comparisons to The Devil Wears Prada can be made, as Josie was a nobody before coming to Sash, she had no real sense of style in comparison to the other girls and of course she had a bitchy boss to deal with who had deadlines that needed to be met straight away and of course Josie was pushed to carry out tedious tasks initially. Like the Devil Wears Prada I was looking forward to Josie getting her moment to shine and show that she was a talented individual. So I’m glad when that moment came, because after with the hard slogging and running back and forth to Sash magazine, Josie deserved it.

However one of the reasons I had to DNF this book in the end was because Josie’s character was too young for my liking. Before going into The Intern I didn’t know that our MC would be 17 years old, yes I’ve read so many books with 17 year old MC’s in the past and not had a issue with them before, but being in Josie’s head just became really difficult at times, it’s not that she’s a whiny individual, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care about the things she was thinking about. Yes I was super curious to find out who would win the grand prize, and whether the massive doozy Josie found herself in would be revealed and whether she and James would finally get together. But that lack of connection with Josie and just the youngness of her character really made it difficult for me to continue with this story, which is a real shame, as I really had high hopes for this book.