ARC Review: Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess

 

Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Series: xxx #x
Pages: 320 Pages (Paperback)
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult
Release Date: July 2, 2013
Summary:
Fantastically funny, fresh and utterly relatable, 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. Gemma Burgess has captured the confusion, hilarity and excitement of the post-graduate years against a backdrop of the pressures and chaos of New York City life, with heartfelt empathy, fast humor and sharp honesty.

A charming debut series about five twenty-something girls and the humor, heartbreak, and drama that bring them together

Rating:


Review: 

I am kinda conflicted as to what I should rate this. Because it not 4 stars for sure, but it was extremely entertaining. Too entertaining for 3 stars… then again I don't think it's quite 3.5 after long ups and downs….I settled for 3. It's a VERY good 3. And I think for lover of this genre, they will actually rate it much higher than I did. I had a few issues with the story line and some of the character building.
At first I was kinda wondering if that is going to be totally not my kind of book. I found the characters a bit annoying, because they were so cliche so ditzy. I crunched about most the first chapter actually. I was totally sure it will be the totally normal chick-lit and was dreading it. BUT thankfully I was wrong.
The entire book is written from Pia's POV and as I said the first chapter I just found her annoying. But she not only grew on me, I totally could identify with her. See I'm also a "halfling" except my mother hails from the Alps and my dad from the Mediterranean Add to that that I've lived in 9 different countries and I totally get her insecurities. I loved how much Pia as a character grew. Also I love the relation ship between the girls. Burgess got that one down to a tee. The little jealousies, the wondering how much ones belongs and in the end though despite all differences one sticks together. Girlfriends with all their ups and downs.
While I loved the romance between Pia and Aiden and the fact that it wasn't your straight forward kinda thing, I found Pia's issues with her ex a bit over the top.
Oh and I absolutely absolutely adored the food truck part of this. Well up to when it suddenly got all solved. I found the solutions while sure satisfying not only predictable but also utterly over the top.
The writing style is definitely one of Burgess strongest points, I enjoyed her witty and fun writing immensely and for that reason alone I am definitely going to read the next installment of this series.



ARC was provided by Publishers through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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