My Thoughts: Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess

Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess is the first novel in her brand new series about five twenty-something friends—Pia, Angie, Julia, Coco and Madeleine—sharing a brownstone in hip, downtown Brooklyn, and discovering the ups and downs and ins and outs of their “semi-adult” lives. The first story belongs to sophisticated, spoiled, and stylish Pia, who finds herself completely unemployed, unemployable, and broke. So what is a recent grad with an art history degree and an unfortunate history of Facebook topless photos to do? Start a food truck business of course! Pia takes on the surprisingly cutthroat Brooklyn world of hybrid lettuce growers, artisanal yogurt makers and homemade butter producers to start SkinnyWheels—all while dealing with hipster bees, one-night-stands, heartbreak, parental fury, wild parties, revenge, jail, loan sharks, playboys, karaoke, true love, and one adorable pink food truck. And that's without counting her roommates' problems, too.

**Review copy received from publisher**

For some unexplained reason I have been on a New Adult kick these last few weeks. So when Brooklyn Girls made its way to me I was excited to read it. I hadn't heard of the novel or it's author Gemma Burgess prior to reading the synopsis, but I was willing to give it a go. The story sounded light and fun and perfect for a summer read. I seem to love most novels that take place in New York. Luckily Brooklyn Girls was exactly what I was looking for and it didn't disappoint.

Brooklyn Girls the first novel in a series of five (I think) begins with Pia getting fired from a job she had for only a week which results in her being cut off financially from her parents and given an ultimatum to either grow up and be self sustaining or to move to Zurich live with them and take the job they provide her. For Pia living with her parents and having to leave New York is the worst possible thing that could ever happen to her. She's determined to find a job and stay in Brooklyn. This leads to a number of interesting jobs for Pia and ultimately to her purchasing a food truck and starting her own business.

Pia is a pretty hilarious character who does not really think before she does things. She's very self involved and doesn't really see the big picture. You would think a character like that would drive some people insane, but with Pia it's actually a little funny because you can see where it's going to get her. You can't help but root for her though. I really liked the relationship she has with her roommates. They all seemed to really care for one another (even when they hated each other) and that was nice.

Brooklyn Girls is a little over the top and little extreme sometimes. It seems like Pia and her four roommates are constantly getting drunk and partying, which sometimes included harsh drugs. I was annoyed by how unconcerned Pia was when she decided to do cocaine one night while she was out, it seemed like because she was out and already drunk, doing the coke was a natural progression, this made me roll my eyes. Drugs are something I have no tolerance for and this particular instance almost caused me to put the book down for good.

Overall despite the novel's Girls (the HBO series) feel, I really enjoyed the story and I enjoyed Gemma Burgess' characters. I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series.