Review: ‘The Intern’ by Gabrielle Tozer

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.

The Intern was an enjoyable book by an Aussie writer who you can tell has worked in the fashion magazine industry before — she had all those little details right. Or at least she was able to fake it. I can’t exactly claim to be an expert, as I don’t actually read them. I think it was my lack of interest in fashion and gossip magazines that meant I found the story a little hard to get into at first…

But then Josie won me over, with her wonderful, quirky personality. She was nerdy, naive and clumsy — but not in a Bella Swan, not-really-clumsy-except-very-rarely kind of way. Josie was really clumsy (as someone with poor vision I can relate to that), and it often got her in trouble. She also had exactly no verbal filter, meaning that the first time she meets a cute boy she tells him all sorts of embarrassing stories, including about how that one time she pooed her pants…

Yeah, I cringed a little too.

Still, I loved her passion for writing and her desire to be a journalist. During the course of the story, she learns that she can actually find stories and write about things she cares about, even if she’s working for a “light” magazine like Sash. I really liked that about her — that she made the best of a less-than-ideal situation. (I guess by then she’d had a lot of practice!)

I loved some of the other characters, including her fellow intern, Steph; sister, Kat; and of course the cute boy in question, James (he was genuinely a nice guy, which is so great to see!). I was less sold on Josie’s best friend, Angel — she seemed to be rather selfish, to be honest, and I don’t think she was in the story enough to redeem herself or really win me over. Still, since one of the elements of the story was Josie and Angel (who were high school best friends) struggling to maintain their friendship after graduation, it did fit.

There aren’t any really “bad” characters in The Intern, except for a few bit characters who just pass through. Everyone who is looked at in any depth at all is revealed to just be a regular person, with good and bad aspects, including the stereotypical “cold boss”, Rae, and the “mean girl” intern, Ava. I kind of liked that, actually; it gave the book more of a happy vibe, when it could’ve been really catty and enraging.

I felt really awful for Josie’s mother, who is struggling after the recent failure of her marriage to the girls’ father. I hope that in the sequel we get to see her thrive. (If she reunites with her ex I will throw things through the wall.)

The Intern is a fun read that touches on some serious subjects but still manages to retain its lighter tone. Given Josie’s age you could consider it new adult, but it doesn’t have any of the traditional new adult subject matter (raunchy sex or drug use) and would be suitable for younger teens.