Brooklyn Girls: Coco by Gemma Burgess
Publisher: Quercus (5th Nov 2015)
Blurb:
Coco has always been the 'good one'. But when she catches her boyfriend cheating on her, she decides it's time to break bad. Coco swiftly goes from spending all her time baking and reading to working in (and dancing on) a bar, and falling in and out of love.
Meanwhile Coco's best friends are suddenly plunged into break-ups, break-downs, big breaks, and before long the group is on the verge of quitting New York City altogether.
Is Coco strong enough to keep them all together - and find herself at the same time?
A few years ago, when Gemma Burgess announced on Twitter that she will be writing a brand new series that centres on a group of friends living and making it big in New York, I was incredibly thrilled. The first book focused on Pia and in the second, the star was Angie. In the latest book, Coco takes centre stage!
In Brooklyn Girls: Coco, which is published as The Wild One in the US, the follows up after the events in BG: Angie and this time, it is the narrative of the dear, sweet and timid Coco. From the previous books, we see Coco as the baby of the group in Rookhaven and I liked her a lot before reading BG: Coco so I was expecting her happy ever after in this book. In BG: Coco, Coco is bored of her quiet, mundane life and she’s not enjoying her life as a preschool assistant and being the pushover that she is. It’s time for little Coco to get a bit wild and we all know life is one hell of a ride.
Angie might be my favourite character among the five of them, but that was before I read Coco’s story. Sorry, Angelique, but Coco and I have more in common, girl. In many ways, I feel like I could connect with Coco because she’s a wonderfully sweet and likeable character who shares the same passions as I do. We both love books and there’s no stopping us from baking up a storm in the kitchen because we love sweet treats! Out of all the girls, I liked Coco the most. A character that is vulnerable at most times, struggling to find herself in such a vibrant and busy city, I even felt protective over Coco.
Right from the start, I knew that Brooklyn Girls: Coco would be an absolute treat because I’ve always been a huge fanboy of Gemma Burgess’s books. The first ones I read were her standalone and A Girl Like You was fucking genius. Then came the Brooklyn Girls series and Pia and Angie’s story got me emotionally attached to the characters, to Brooklyn and more importantly, to the stories that Gemma Burgess writes on how young adults find their feet in the big world. For me, the Brooklyn Girls books speak volumes to me because it relates so well to what I am currently facing as a young adult who is about to dip my feet into the murky waters of adulthood and I found that Coco and I are truly soulmates. What Coco sought in life was something that makes her happy and I, for one, aim to find happiness too. My favourite quote from the book is just incredibly uplifting.
“Just think about what you truly love. What makes you smile. And after that… everything will be easy.”
Growing up isn’t easy but Gemma Burgess such as hell makes it hilarious, sassy and fun, yet inspiring. I really hope this isn’t the last book of the series because I would be gutted and hide in my room and bawl my eyes and stuff myself with food and die. No one writes smart, sassy and flawed characters that you would want to root for like Gemma Burgess. The romance is cute and tender and I adored Joe, what with his sexy Irish charms and ineffable charisma and confidence.
Brooklyn Girls: Coco is out now. It’s published in the US as The Wild One. I’d like to thank Quercus UK for sending me a copy for review.
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