I had high hopes for this book.

Only for them to be crushed, I didn’t like any of the characters, they actually annoyed me. 

To be honest I found myself hurrying through the book and still couldn’t get through it fast enough.

I struggled to get through this book. The way the adults acted was a bit too much for me. My four children are all adults so it could be that I just could not relate.

Holly Banks moves into the elite neighborhood of Primm Village with her husband and daughter.  Everything there is expected to be perfect which results in family drama and neighborhood drama.  I found myself thinking of "Desperate Housewives" which I loved when it was on TV.  This seemed to be more of a G rated neighborhood. Thanks to Net Galley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to read this book and ultimately sadly disappointed! Was hoping for Stepford Wives but this just doesn’t quite get there. Unfortunately, I found the main character to be slightly “annoying” which often times makes it hard to appreciate the book. The premise behind the book of the perfect town of Primm is solid, the plot, just not as intriguing as I had anticipated. I appreciate the opportunity for an advance copy and wish future success to the author.

Title and cover drew me in. A light read. But I couldn’t connect with the characters. Maybe because I’m not a mom?

Rating- 3.5 stars
.
If you liked Desperate Housewives, you are more likely to pick this book up. No there aren't a lot of wives, just one, Holly Banks. She shifts to this new area called Primm Village, where everything is prim and proper with her husband and her daughter Ella. 
She has a lot of difficulty settling in this new elite neighbourhood, where she is expected to be perfect in every sense. Lots of family drama, lots of social drama, as the title suggests lots of angst, and well our main character Holly surviving amidst it all. 

It is one book that a lot of people didn't rave about because they couldn't connect with the characters and it was very typical and predictable. But I kind of like stories like this and since these don't have that large an audience, I find these kind of plots with difficulty. So for me, and my liking this book was a really great one. Talked about family struggles, and how relationships can be tiresome, how motherhood can be tiresome, how gender roles can be daunting, etc.

I would like to thank the author and the publisher for making it available as a reviewer's copy and my review is completely honest.

This book was cute in concept but was so over the top and weird it missed its mark with me. It is great for a light read to make you laugh. However, The dialogue was meant to be witty and humorous but I found it to be childish and unrealistic. The characters was one-dimensional and simple. It felt like I was reading a g-rated version of desperate housewives. The dialogue seemed like it was from a children’s show.

I enjoyed this and the main characters life is very relatable and I thought it was really funny like I haven’t laughed out loud at a book in years so I plan on reading more by this author. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a Arc of this book

While this one had promise, I think it's time for me to take a break from the mommy fiction. I am unable to relate and this makes it hard for me to get into the books.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait for the next one. It’s true, I am a sucker for a series but this one was so awesome! I finished this book from cover to cover in an afternoon. It was just that good.

I love how real the writing felt. I know I constantly feel like things are happening to me and I am just “unlucky.” But my bad luck has nothing on Mrs. Holly Banks! The characters in this book are just so well written and I connected so organically with them. 

The story line was also just wonderful. It had such a good pace and was just over all well written. This book had me physically laughing out loud to the point of tears in my eyes. This was just a fantastic book that will completely tickle your funny bone. 

Thank you kindly to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for allowing me to review this title.

I received a free E-Arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are completely my own. First, I will start this review by saying this book was awesome and I can;t wait for the next book in this series.
This book is about a mom named Holly Banks, who has recently moved into an affluent community, the Village of Primm with her husband and little girl. While trying to make a great first impression, Holly is late dropping her daughter off for her first day of school and ends up hitting a school bus, sitting in the front office wearing pajamas, and getting into a cookie spitting fight with the PTA president. Needless to say, Holly has really made a name for herself as the newest member of the community. As Holly spends more time around the other "perfect mothers," Holly begins to realize they might just be crazier than she is, which leads her to ask the question "Is there any such thing as a perfect family?"
I read this book in one sitting because this book was sooo good. I enjoyed the different characters especially Holly's encounters with the PTA president were gold! The story line had a great pace as well as a good use of language. The dialogue was witty and cleaver as well as I found myself in several parts laughing out loud at these women and their craziness. I thought the plot line with her husband was a little weird, but as the story details were given, it became clearer. I did not like Holly's mom and thought she was an unnecessary character, at times, but I did enjoy the self reflection Holly was able to do because of her mother's visit. Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever wanted to live in the Suburbs or liked the TV series "Desperate Housewives." I will be looking forward to reading more book by this author!

God I wanted to love this book....

I love snark and Holly is full of it. I love mocking Stepford Wives.. I love remembering what it was like when my child was just starting school and having to navigate those PTA Moms as a working mom and the crap that went with it.

I was expecting a Laurie Gelman type book but it was just....... too much. The book was trying too hard and it broke my heart...

BOOK REVIEW⠀
BOOK: Holly Banks Full of Angst
AUTHOR: Julie Valerie
@julievalerieauthor

Zainey Peeps - let’s stop for a minute. You know I don’t lie to you or play up reviews. So I am gonna give you some real talk about this book. When I first started it, I struggled. I was so frustrated about one of the characters I wanted to throw my kindle across the room. I almost didn’t finish this book. BUT…. I am glad I did. There is a mystery element to it and the angst really does pay off in the end! If you pick this up, stick with it, believe me. Other than that, the story is funny and heart warming.
 
Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Holly Banks could not have made a worse first impression on the seemingly perfect moms in her new affluent community, the Village of Primm. Turns out wearing pink piggy pajama bottoms while dropping off her kindergartener late to the first day of school wasn’t her best look.

Not to mention Holly’s worried her husband may be having an affair, she can’t get her daughter to stop sucking her thumb, her hard-won film degree is collecting dust, and to top it all off, the power-hungry PTA president clearly has it in for her…

To make matters even worse, Holly’s natural eye for drama lands her smack-dab in the middle of a neighborhood mystery—right as her own crazy mother shows up in Primm “to help.” Through it all, Holly begins to realize her neighbors may be just as flawed as—and even wackier than—she is, leaving her to wonder: Is there such a thing as a perfect mom?


I received this book for review purposes from NetGalley. ⠀

Holly Banks Full of Angst is the debut novel by author Julie Valerie.  In it, we are introduced to the Village of Primm! Primm is a place where families are happy, houses are Pinterest perfect, and a Peacock named Plume is the village mascot.  Sound like an idyllic place to live?  Holly Banks sure doesn’t think so.  After moving from the comforts of their old life, Holly, her husband Jack, Labrador Struggle, and their kinder aged Daughter Ella left everything dear to them behind to begin this new chapter.  This was the most eventful week of Holly’s life. 

That’s right. The entire book spans one week's time and covers a lot of ground.  It started off a little slow, and I felt overloaded with information.  At times I wondered how and if the author would tie everything together.  Recently, Julie announced that a second book in the Village of Primm series will be released in November 2020.  

Since this is the introduction, I can see that she used this to set the stage for future novels.  I would also like to see more character depth in the sequel.  This story had a good premise, but it was slightly off the mark.  The relationship that Holly had with the PTA president was overplayed.  The character was over the top and from her first sentence annoying as all get out.  It was VERY hard to continue reading her brash and often rude tirades.  The dialog was fun,  but I couldn’t connect to the story like I wanted to.  There were parts that seemed to drag on for too long (Holly waiting to speak to the Principal in her pajamas) and took away from my fully enjoying the story.


Holly Banks Full of Angst was a quick read and a good effort by a debut novelist! 

Thank you, Julie Valerie, Lake Union Publishing, and Netgalley, for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"Holly Banks Full of Angst" is a sort of fish-out-of-water Stepford wife story told through the eyes of a regular barely-functioning mom. 

I'm sorry to say that I could not get through this book and I abandoned it with only 30% read. I thought it would be a light cute story similar to "Class Mom", but it was more "Stepford Wife" and "I don't know how she does it", which give me major anxiety. Reading Holly be pushed around by her secretive husband and the bully PTA President made me so stressed out. This book gave me so much anxiety that I couldn't continue. Also, the storyline and characters become so absurd that I don't know where the author is going with this. Holly accidentally hits a school bus and then is detained in the principal's office for three hours waiting for the police to arrive? Holly stuffs her mouth full of cookies and chases the PTA president through the halls spitting cookie at her? Sorry, this is not for me. Some readers enjoyed the humor and satire but I couldn't. 

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I had trouble connecting with the format of this book. I was excited to read it based on the blurb, but the flip between screen print and novel really made it difficult to get into.

Holly Banks has just moved to the Village of Primm, a charming suburb full of topiaries, homemade cherry pie, and pinterest-ready porches. But Holly's life is hectic and messy, the opposite of Primm-perfect. She worries -- about her husband, about her mom, about her film career, and so much more. Can Holly find a way to become more Primm or will everything fall apart?

Rating:  ★★★☆☆ - liked it
Genre:  women's lit, fiction
Pros:  funny, satirical, Mary-Margaret St. James, Psychic Betty
Cons:  slightly stressful, Jack

Prepare yourself for a book where everyone is at least a little bit crazy! Holly Banks Full of Angst is a funny, satirical look at suburban life.

I rated this three stars because it was good, but it was also a little stressful. It's well written and made me laugh a lot, but from time to time while reading I found myself picking up on Holly's stress and feeling stressed myself. Holly Banks was indeed full of angst, but I would have appreciated a break or two from the angst-y nature of her brain.

The caricature-characters that fill the pages of this book will have you laughing out loud and rolling your eyes. If you grew up in one of those neighborhoods where everyone knew everyone and everyone's business, you will definitely recognize several characters from your own life.

I recommend this book to fans of women's lit, satire, or psych majors who need to study some genuine loonies.

Ha!  This book is cute, cute, cute!  Mary Margaret and all her antics kept me laughing.  I embarrassed myself at my son's orthodontist appointment!  Holly and family move into the Village of Prim and everything is too perfect. Can Holly keep up with the PTA, Mary Margaret and all the other moms in the Village of perfect?

Holly Banks is a new mom to the neighborhood in the Village of Primm. Cue jokes...it is quite prim and proper. Trying to make a good impression on her daughters new school, she gets roped into the PTA (Run, Holly, Run!) and volunteering for virtually everything.  

On her quest for perfection, poor Holly is shamed by the PTA president time and time again. 

This was a good escape with humor and a reminder that we moms are all works in progress.

The author did a great job of capturing the insecurities that many of us women face with Holly.  Her struggles were realistic and many of us have had the same insecure feelings around other women.