Review: Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess

 If you're looking for a fun book about best friends and trying to survive life after college in a big city, then you're in for a treat! And it's set in New York! What's not to love? Brooklyn girls is about a young woman, Pia, who moves into a house with four friends and begins her adult life.  Along the way, there are boys, job-hunting, parties, pranks, and just about everything that goes along with being in your early twenties in a big city.  I immediately loved the five girls who share the house.  Their bonds with each other are something I treasure with my own set of girls.  They're different in so many ways and each one of them brings something to the table.  I know this book is the beginning of a series and I am so excited to keep reading them and follow these women as they grow into their adult lives.  Reading this book was like listening to a good friend.  I felt like I knew Pia and I connected to her and all of her struggles.  It shows how well Gemma Burgess knows what it's like to be young and finding your own way. I caught myself thinking plenty of times that these girls could easily fit into my own social group.  The things that they say and do reminded me a lot of how my friends and I are. The funny anecdotes and situations were very relatable and I felt like I could have lived them and have already lived some of them.  
 The characters are written really well, too.  Burgess writes amazing characters. They're so likable and interesting.  I fell in love with all of them, independently and as a whole.  I can't wait for the series to continue so that I can get to know all of them even more.  Loved it!

Review by @marymunar 

5/5 Stars

Add Brooklyn Girls on Goodreads.  

Author: Gemma Burgess - follow her on Twitter.
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: July 2, 2013
Series: Yes
Genre: New Adult

The YAbooktwins take Manhattan! And Boston. And Nantucket! Giveaway!!

Okay, those were a lot of exclamation marks. But who cares? It's our blog and we are SO excited. Our trip was inspired by a YA book and then one day a picture of Nantucket showed up on bing.com and I immediately took it as a sign (I look at bing.com every day to see what types of photos are posted. It's actually really sad because my internet access is limited at work. It's kind of a highlight of my morning). Anyway, we thought about all the places we could go to and every time a place came up in a book we just started to imagine what it would be like to see it in real life.

Get to know Jenn and Mary, the YAbooktwins

Ten things about Jenn by Mary

Jenn was the first female altar server in our parish church.  She called our favorite priest herself to beg for permission.  She also sang in the choir.

She reads books to her husband because she knows he'll love it but would never read them himself.  Sometimes, she makes him wait before reading the sequels. "If we have to wait, he has to wait."

Jenn loves all things Disney, Hello Kitty, and pink (though her favorite color is baby blue).

Her maltipoo, Bella (who do you think she's named after? Hint: the love of her life is pale, cold, and drinks animal blood), was so excited to see me, she pee'd on me. Twice.

When Jenn finds something extremely funny, her laugh seems to get stuck in her throat and comes out like a whistle.  Those of us who are used to this (because we're so funny ;)), call it tea-kettling.

When we go out of town, Jenn is usually the first one to wake up, at around 5am; But she knows not to pull the curtains open and risk the wrath of her grumpy girlfriends recovering from a good night.  She's so considerate.

When I was sick, Jenn was at work so she made her husband bring me soup and he reported back to her how awful i looked.

At Chipotle, where Jenn is a frequent customer, she only ever gets rice with steak (no sauce) and squeezes about 10 lemon wedges in there.  She also hates spicy food, an unfortunate characteristic given her Mexican background.  Her favorite food is actually sushi.  She has too many Asian friends.

Jenn was so impatient for her bff, a hairstylist, to give her a trim, she chopped it off herself in a fit of rage.  Said bff was left to repair the damage.

Jenn married her best friend.  They've been together for a hundred years.  And if you ask her if the kind of love people write about is real, she'll say "yes" and use her relationship with her husband as an example.

Ten things about Mary by Jenn

Mary is super family oriented, she has three brothers who she is very close to. Whenever they’re in a room together it’s hard to tell who is talking because they are all so loud and laugh the same. (Her brothers like to read books too, as a family, they can all agree to add Ender’s Game as one of their top faves)

Our group of friends get together a lot, we’re a lot like family and we have these crazy potlucks. Mary makes the best spaghetti (her mother’s recipe) and most delicious crème brûlée. Mary knows crème brûlée is not my favorite, so one day she made chocolate soufflé specifically for me and now I request it all the time! It’s SO good.

Mary has the memory of an elephant; she remembers everything about movies, books, music, (cough) stuff I’ve said.

I am a picky eater, and where I lack in trying new things, Mary is the opposite. She will and has tried a lot of sushi. Her favorites are handrolls. There isn’t much Mary doesn’t like, the only thing that I could get her to admit is that she isn’t fond of Maraschino cherries. She likes olives, mushrooms, etc., stuff people generally are picky about.

Our circle of friends are all really talented and creative. Mary, who is really humble and shy is really good at creating things has made us all bracelets, cute earrings and works on her own halloween accessories. This past halloween, she was a Circus Ringmaster (she is OBSESSED with Britney Spears) and made her own halloween mask, which she glued to her face.

Not only is Mary creative with making things, she also is an excellent makeup artist. She does special events, proms and weddings. She also did my wedding in 2010 and was responsible for making me presentable for my special day. I was so lucky! Also, our friends go to Vegas, a lot, she’s usually on makeup duty and our other bff is on hair duty, pretty convenient for the rest of us.

Mary has a lot of best friends but it’s obvious that her main squeeze is her Yorkie, Unagi. He keeps her company on many late nights when she’s reading. His favorite book is Starcrossed by Josie Angelini.

You know, when you read books and there’s a girl who is confident, pretty and funny? Well, that’s Mary, just super klutzy to this list and that’s her. She can wear really high heels, but has stumbled and fallen so many times while wearing flats, wedges and chucks.

When she was in high school, she learned to love British Literature (Austen's Persuasion is her favorite) but could be found reading YA. Her friend let her borrow The Secret Circle...and almost ten years later, it became a short lived TV show. Sadly to say, she was heartbroken when I told her that it was cancelled.

Mary’s has a secret wish, only her bffs know about it, and every Christmas she asks for it, “Immortality.” She is the youngest of our group so we kid about who old she’s getting. What she would love nothing more is to be young forever. So if you um, know any vampires, warlocks or secret potions. You can just e-mail her at maryreadsfiction@gmail.com :)

Jenn is reading How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles
Mary is reading Dreamless by Josephine Angelini


Tell us about your booktwin and what you're reading!

Greek Week Review - Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Kate Winters has won immortality. But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, she'll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.
Henry's first wife, Persephone. (Summary found on Amazon)