Book Review | Spin by Colleen Nelson

Title: Spin 
Author: Colleen Nelson • Author's Site 
Publication Date: August 10th 2019 by Dundurn
Format: Netgalley ARC
Target Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary  

Goodreads • Waterstones • Blackwells

 

Fifteen-year-old Delilah “Dizzy” Doucette lives with her dad and brother above their vintage record store, The Vinyl Trap. She’s learning how to spin records from her brother’s best friend, and she’s getting pretty good. But behind her bohemian life, Dizzy and her family have a secret: her mom is the megafamous singer Georgia Waters. When this secret is revealed to the world, Dizzy’s life spins out of control. She must decide what is most important to her — the family she has or the family she wants.

 

Rating

My Thoughts

"Slipping from my fingers, you leave / we'll meet again, I have to believe."

 

I'm slowly making my way through all of my Netgalley ARC's from last year and this one was up next on my list. I'm not sure why I requested this one, maybe I was just in the mood for some contemporary with music as a big part of the storyline. If that's what I wanted then I definitely got it.

Spin is mainly Dizzy's story. She's a fifteen year old who dreams of becoming a DJ star but has always felt a hole in her life due the fact that her mother abandoned the family when Dizzy was very young. Now, her mother is a worldwide singing superstar and her latest tour has brought her to the city Dizzy lives in and she's determined to get some answers whatever it takes. 

 

There were a lot of components that I really liked about this book. Firstly, we do actually get three POV's; Dizzy, her older brother Lou and their dad Ray, which I wasn't expecting. It worked really well as we got to see how Georgia's departure affected the whole family and how they're dealing with their own problems. It meant the story had a few layers to it but they came together to make a whole picture. I think all three perspectives were all really strong as well. There wasn't a time where I just wanted to get back to another POV because I was interested in each of the characters individually. 

 

Another element I really liked was the relationship between Dizzy and her best friend Maya. It really spoke through the pages how much Maya cared for Dizzy and the lengths she would go through to help her friend. She was a really selfless and kind character and she's someone I wished appeared more in the book. I also really liked Ray's group of friends, they were like a group of fun uncles that gather at the family's record store to jam out all the time. 

 

Music obviously plays a big part in this story. Dizzy's mum Georgia is a singer, her day Ray always has his saxaphone ready to play a tune and Dizzy is beginning to find her rhythm with spinning records. The way music flows through this family is pretty special and it really spoke of how much they live and breathe music and use it to tell stories and create messages. I enjoyed seeing how music had a different meaning for each of them whether it's an escape, a way of life or a way of expressing themself.  

 

Dizzy was an interesting character too. It's her story and she was an incredibly determined and passionate individual that really wanted to find her roots and discover who she really is. She refused to give up on what she wanted and could be a little sneaky in getting it too. I think her age definitely showed through at times though. She could be very rash and naive with her actions, she often didn't think through what she was doing or the consequences for her dad and brother. Whilst these scenes did frustrate me, I think it also made her pretty realistic. As a teenager your emotions are definitely overwhelming and can lead to some pretty bad decisions at times!        

 

"She had that spark that made her special. Maybe it was guts, or just being ballsy, but failure was not an option for Dizzy."  

 

I think teenagers will really connect with the characters in this book, it's got a lot of heart and emotion at it's core with really strong writing. It's fun to see three characters at different stages of life and their family bond. It has really strong themes of family, frienship and of course, music, that will speak to a lot of people.