Brand New Gal • The Wild One

The Wild One by Gemma Burgess
Series: Brooklyn Girls #3
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: November 10, 2015
Source/Format: NetGalley || e-galley
[I received this book from the publisher. This in no way affects my review.]

Sweet, innocent 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 nights in (and dancing on) a bar, falling in and out of love (and lust), stealing education - and along the way discovers that she is stronger than she ever knew… In a time when her best friends are suddenly plunged into break ups, break-downs, big breaks, and on the verging of quitting New York City altogether, it's up to Coco to keep them together and find herself along the way.

There's nothing like being outside of New York City, especially in a place that doesn't have any of its constant motion and throbbing energy, to make me long to read about this home city of my heart. So, it was with eager anticipation that I cracked open The Wild One on a long weekend away.

I've really enjoyed the Brooklyn Girls series, and this newest addition is no exception. Gemma Burgess has a knack for capturing the lives of twenty-something year old gals trying to find their way - in life, in love, in New York City. There are things that certainly appear very ideal, almost too good to be true, making the reader feel as if they are watching one of those predictable romantic comedies. Yet, with each girl that Burgess has penned a story for, there is something undeniably relatable to her, and that keeps me coming back time and again to this series.

Coco, the youngest girl in Rookhaven, has always traveled the path of least resistance, especially after her mother's death. Her life choices have been dictated by her father and sister's opinions, fueled further by the fact that she isn't quite sure of who she is or what she wants. When she discovers her boyfriend is a cheater, it becomes the catalyst for her journey towards discovering who she is and what she wants from life. Burgess captured the inner turmoil of one girl trying to figure herself out so, so well. Coco's internal conflict mirrors the major points of my own experience during the self-exploratory period of my early 20s. For every triumph, there is a failure; for every mistake, there's something going right. It is a rough period, with lots of ups and downs, and I think that the intensity and craziness of that time is depicted well.

That being said, I didn't quite fall in love with The Wild One the way I did with its predecessors. Most of the story takes place in Coco's mind as she weighs her options, makes plans, gives herself pep talks, tries to unravel her issues... You get the gist. While that didn't necessarily turn me off to reading it, it also gave the book a different overall feel. I still enjoyed it though! It's a fast read, perfect for those in search of some entertainment for a couple of hours.