For one of my December reads, I selected Julie Valerie’s bestselling debut novel, Holly Banks Full of Angst.
Since reading the book and posting reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, I’ve gone back to Amazon and read some of the other posted reviews.
It seems readers either love or hate this book. A few of us were somewhere in the middle.
Let me preface by saying Julie Valerie is a talented writer, but perhaps she tried a little too hard to be funny. Sometimes it hard to remember she is being facetious.
After moving cross country for her husband's job, Holly Banks tries to fit into the stereotypical perfect Village of Primm with disastrous results. She struggles with the reality of sending her little girl to all day Kindergarten and becomes locked in a power struggle with Primm’s power hungry PTA president, Mary-Margaret. She agonizes over replicating the Pinterest perfect front porch decorations she fell in love with not realizing the previous owner would take everything with her. Holly’s exploits are at times comical and touching, but often a bit too gimmicky.
That's why I issued 3 stars on my Goodreads and Amazon reviews.
Julie Valerie throws in a mystery - the beloved topiary garden of Primm is infected with bugs that are destroying the main attraction, a peacock named Plume that’s really a peahen who just looks like a peacock. I appreciated Holly’s frustration as she attempts to explain that if Plume is female, she would be a peahen and her feathers would be browner instead of vibrant turquoise, blue and gold. People look at her as if she has three heads.
If that’s not drama enough, Holly’s husband is in danger of losing his job if he can’t prove a prominent figure in Primm has been committing insurance fraud and her free spirited compulsive gambling mom shows up unannounced.
I would have liked to see Holly’s character dealing more with these events than chasing Mary-Margaret around while spitting cookies at her.
We moved 15 times during my marriage crisscrossing the country changing jobs, neighborhoods and schools with reckless abandon. I've known Hollys and Mary-Margarets and I’ve lived in Primm and Southern Lakes communities.
I enjoyed the story and the message about finding perfection in imperfection. I've been the new mom on the block who doesn't conform to the rigorous 8 pm bedtime for her kids and sometimes has to make a run for the bus stop.
But, I've also been the room parent, PTA officer and volunteer. Sometimes these moms take a lot of abuse in books, movies and television shows. When your kids come home smiling because they went to an awesome assembly or they had a fun class party, it’s because of these women and men (yes, one of the most involved PTA parents I ever worked with was an Air Force Reserve Pilot named Brian).
When these volunteers persuade you to volunteer and you see first hand how appreciative the students and faculty are when an event runs smoothly you’ll understand that it's all good. That's the lesson Holly finally learns.
We do for our families and our communities and while we're at it it doesn't hurt to do something for ourselves. This book is satirical fiction, so if you are looking for a short break from reality it fits the bill nicely. This is Book One in a series.
The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks (Village of Primm Book 2) will be released November 3, 2020, but is available for preorder on Amazon.com.
To find out more about Julie Valerie, you can follow her Amazon author page or subscribe to her newsletter at julievalerie.com. She is on Twitter and Pinterest at Julie_Valerie, on Facebook and Instagram at JulieValerieAuthor, and on Goodreads at JulieValerie.