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.

Do you ever read a book and wish you hadn't wasted your time on it? That was me with Holly Banks Full of Angst. I think this book was supposed to be funny, but it just came off as extremely ridiculous. I often found myself going back and rereading pages because I had no idea what anyone was talking about and was sure that I missed something, but that was never the case. These characters were all over the place and spoke in circles. Also, not a single character was likeable. I didn't find Holly Banks charming, I found her annoying. She was supposed to be the "good guy" but was really just as bad as Mary-Margaret.

"She suspected Primm operated a few decibels above the norm. Like an amplified electric guitar played with distortion. You liked it because power chords heightened the experience, making you feel like life was being lived with higher intensity."

Holly Banks is a quirky gal just trying to survive motherhood amidst a move to the suburbs, her daughter starting Kindergarten, family drama, and an incredibly obstinate and obnoxious PTA president. As a former film graduate, she lives in her head and has a preoccupation with incorporating storylines into her everyday life, which isn't particularly helpful to her situations but is entertaining to see unfold.

"Holly made her way toward the door. If the Village of Primm was Oz, then Holly wanted anarchy. She wanted to be Dorothy so she could snatch the Tin Man's ax and hack a few bricks loose from the yellow brick road, then hurl them at the Pink Witch."

Holly's relatable in the way that moms just want to do their best and it's natural to want to fit in, especially when it can look like others are doing life so much better or easier than you are. Of course, Holly tends to fabricate things when under duress, which is exacerbated by her adversary.

"You drove like Princess Peach in Mario Kart high on golden mushroom speed. This isn't a video game, you know. You shouldn't live your life in an altered reality. It's not healthy."

Some of the emails and voicemails are a bit long-winded and a few of the rants are extensive, but this was an incredibly enjoyable read overall. I was fortunate enough to receive a complimentary copy of this book, so while it was already on my radar, that did push it up on my to-read list. I'm glad because this was a playfully enchanting book. I really appreciated Julie Valerie's narrative and look forward to seeing if Holly Banks has any more scripts in her future.

Holly moves to the Village of Primm for her husband’s new job. She is immediately sucked into the PTA and having the perfect house. Her daughter begins kindergarten and Holly struggles to get her to the bus every day. She hits a school bus on the first day of school. Can Holly do anything right?

Initially I was not interested in this book but once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. I loved this book. I laughed out loud many times. I am not a PTA mom but with kids in school I get a taste of the things in this book. Holly is trying to do her best and the head of the PTA keeps pulling her in against her will. The timeline of the book is one week and the amount that Holly deals with is amazing. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a very lighthearted, quick read.

I’m all for witty, snarky writing but this one was wayyyyyy over the top. To the point that it was hard to read and left me feeling angsty. The characters are unlikable and not very endearing. If this was not an advanced reader, I would probably have DNFed it. Unfortunately, not my cup of tea and left me feeling yucky about the experience. Thank you to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

Yep- Holly has a lot on her plate and she's stressed out. The last thing she needs is the condescending and icky behavior of the other moms at her kids' school. This is mean girls grown up and while you might recognize some of the characters as people in your own life, this goes over the top too often to make it entirely relatable. I'll admit to laughing out loud more than once but also at growing weary as the novel moved along. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Holly's daughter Ella is starting kindergarden.holly and her family have just recently moved to a new community. I liked the whimsical feel . I also liked Holly's trials and triumphs.

For some reason, the writing in this novel did not keep my attention. Seemed funny but I wasn’t drawn to the story.

Hilarious Super Mom Satire. This is one of those books that non-perfect parents will LOVE, showing just how ridiculous the Super Moms of the world are and that no one is truly perfect. Truly the only reason I dinged this a star was because I personally just could not get into it due to being a childfree male that generally prefers to avoid kids... and this is all about a mother's struggles with her daughter's first week of Kindergarten. Great tale, well written, and I absolutely look forward to seeing more from this debut author in the future. Recommended.

Holly Banks isn’t a perfect mom. But she surely isn’t a bad one. Even though she brings her daughter late to the first day of kindergarden.
And hits the bus while being there.
In Pyjamas.

This was a fun, light read. But it wasn’t a story for me. I was absolutely stressed out when I read what happened in Hollys life.
Like absolutely. Stressed. Out.
And I didn’t really warm up with the whole style of the book.
The writing was fine, but sometimes I thought it was a little bit slow.

All in all it’s an okay book.

I don't know how I feel about this novel. Seriously. When I thought I was reading one thing, it turned out to be something else entirely. If anything I don't think this book really showcased whatever 'angst' Holly was feeling but more of all the issues that she was facing: Packing up and moving to a new town, being a part of the PTA team at her daughter's new school, dealing with the possibility of her husband cheating with his new boss and a whole bunch of unnecessary drama filled nonsense that happened in the course of 1 week. Yes I said that right. 1 week. Too much was happening all at the same time during the course of the storyline that it just made it so unbelievable. Perhaps if it was more space out, the turnout rate would have been better but I just didn't find myself loving this book. At all- which was disappointing to say the least because I really thought this was going to be a knockout.

Holly Banks is the newest mom in the Village of Primm, and she's feeling the pressure. With over the top... well, everything - this book didn't quite resonate with me. Primm itself feels like an excessive stereotype of Pleasantville, or Stepford, and having hailed from a so-called-Stepford-suburb myself, the trope tired me out pretty quickly.

Holly herself feels ... less angsty, and more angry. She's got issues, yes. And sometimes the surface level issues (like wearing the wrong color to the PTA meeting) can feel like mountains when you're struggling with things, but I wanted more from Holly. For someone with such a strong internal monologue, I felt like she should've stood up for herself more! Made more waves! It was hard to distinguish the core of Holly's true feelings - while she seemed to WANT all of these things, her actions didn't quite match up. The premise itself seemed like a little bit of a stretch, too. But maybe it's just because I'm not in the place in life Holly is... I'm sure many newish moms who want the best out of life fall into the pitfalls of the shiny lavish 'burbs and all the majesty they seem to promise could relate! All in all, the petty-Peyton-Place setting & narrative arc missed the mark for me, a little too in-your-face for my person preferences!

I had a hard time with this book. Basicly, I didn't finish it..after about 40% I gave up and just sort of skimmed the rest. I really was looking forward to reading and was disappointed when I couldn't get into it. Nothing wrong with the writing or characters, I guess it just not my type of book. Because of this I am giving it a 4 star because the book is ok it's me that is the problem.

I’m so excited to share this book with you!! Holly Banks Full of Angst is just the funniest book ever!! You need to go get it right now, if you haven’t read it yet. It is officially is out today!! 💜 .

Holly and her family have just moved to the Village of Primm. Little does she realize just how much the “keeping up with the joneses” this neighborhood will make her. Is there a perfect Mom? .

Right from the beginning you can see how Holly always falls right in to the drama. She is one of those characters that will make you laugh out loud but feel for her because she really does just want everything to be perfect! You will enjoy this one! .

Thanks you to @julievalerieauthor and @lakeunionauthors for this advanced copy! Congrats lady!! You did great!!

Holly Banks is ready to start her life in her new house in her new town Primm. Determined to fit in and be the best mom she can be, things quickly take an unpleasant turn when Holly realizes that she's not ready for her daughter Ella to start Kindergarten. Getting her up and out the door for the bus proves to be easier said than done, not only that, she's being hounded by the PTA president to volunteer every single second. Throw in her mom who constantly needs to be bailed out and her husband who might lose his job, Holly's not so sure this new life is working out.

I really really wanted to love this book the plot is everything that I can relate to, not being ready for your kids to start school, struggling to keep it together when all the other moms seem perfect, dealing with baggage from your parents, trying so hard not to traumatize your kids but realizing you're doing exactly that. I struggled to love it because it takes place over one week, and in that one week, three months worth of catastrophes happen. If I had been Holly I would have run away. Holly was very relatable as a character, all of her struggles as a mom are things that most if not all moms have been through, especially the realization that eventually we all turn into our moms no matter how hard we try not to. It was funny with some sweet moments in the chaos.

What can I add to +1000 ratings? Nothing of value except to say that is OK, not great. A good choice for readers seeking a light read and mild expectations.

I really appreciate the review copy!!

An excellent novel, full of believable characters and an entertaining plot. Highly recommended. Plan on reading more books by this author.