Latest Read: Brooklyn Girls

Here are the basics ...
Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess
Publication date: July 2, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Adult Fiction - Contemporary
Source: Netgalley (Thanks!)

Summary: Brooklyn Girls is about five twenty-something friends—Pia, Angie, Julia, Coco and Madeleine—sharing a brownstone in 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 starts 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.  (Adapted goodreads.com)

My thoughts…

The good: Brooklyn Girls may be slightly over-the-top at times but it has so much heart. It isn't often that I read books featuring female best friends and when I do it's usually a pair of girls, at most four (like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). But it's rare and often in the background while the romance takes the forefront. Not here though. This is the story of five twenty-something friends - Pia, the main character, Angie, Julie, Coco and Madeleine - living in Brooklyn and figuring out life as adults.

Pia's upbringing is completely different from my own. She and her parents moved from country to country so she's never felt truly at home anywhere. She's spent most of her education at various boarding schools (when she wasn't getting kicked out) and she's used to her parents fixing her mistakes. Living in Brooklyn with friends is her chance to do things right and make a life for herself but within the first few pages, her not-so-mature antics land her in a huge mess. She's jobless, has no work experience and if she doesn't find something soon, she's going to end up homeless as well. Then she comes up with the idea for a food truck called SkinnyWheels, dedicated to providing good but healthy food for people on-the-go.

Seriously, this author should consider selling all her food truck ideas to someone or making them happen because it's such a great idea! All the food Pia comes up with sounded delicious and if her truck was parked in front of my office, I'm pretty sure I'd be lining up. I loved hearing how she turned this simple idea into a full-blown business. Since I'm in NYC every day, seeing a food truck is a very common occurrence so I think I take it a little for granted. I really enjoyed getting a sneak peak of what it takes to run a food truck.

But as I said earlier, even with the food truck and ensuing craziness, the heart of this story is that these girls are trying to figure out their lives. What do they want vs. what they're supposed to do. What makes them happy, what kind of relationships are they getting themselves into. And what kind of friends are they going to be to each other. Questions that I think we all ask ourselves at one point (or still do). Putting a group of girls in one house isn't going to be easy and the author showcases that. There are fights, up and downs and secrets kept. But there's also dinners, helping each other get ready for dates and crying on each other's shoulders. These girls love each other through it all and it made me want call up my best friends to hang out.

(Some) reservations: Pia has a bad history with relationships and as a result, she has a MAJOR flight reflex. It was a bit.. melodramatic to say the least. Also, there's a subplot with how Pia manages to finance a food truck which led to a lot of craziness. I kept trying to picture that happening for real and it was hard. (Or maybe I'm just lucky that the likelihood of that happening in my own life is nonexistent.)

Do I recommend?: I do! This is going to be a series so I (think) each new book will focus on a different girl. I'm curious about all their stories and seeing more of their friendships. If you're in the mood for an entertaining book about growing up, friendships and food - pick this one up.

Happy reading!