I wanted to enjoy this a lot but the story kind of felt flat. It was a good example of how parenting shapes your kids. I would recommend it but I just wish there was more story to it. I would give it a four out of five stars

Started out promising but kinda fizzled for me. I wasn't a huge fan of the main characters and had a hard time finishing this book.

This book wasn't for me unfortunately! I found it to be rather boring & really difficult to get into!!! A no from me!!!

What would a mother do to protect her son?

While a one-liner description might have some appeal as a plot, unfortunately this book drastically missed its mark. Without going into detail, the mother is an uneducated, oblivious, and naive woman who only wants to think the best of everyone (even when they blatantly channel the devil) and thinks that talking will instil better morals in the other person; her son is the worse menace to society; and her neighbor/coworker is misguided in her intentions. The execution of the plot was less than stellar, and 128 uses of the word “good” to describe how the mother wanted her son to be and behave had me questioning why the author doesn’t own a thesaurus. This book is nowhere near this author’s first attempt at writing, and I seriously have to question what her other books are like. This was a definite fail and waste of time to read.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller about a single mother and her son. My first Emily Shiner book I didn't know what to expect and there were definitely some things I wouldn't have expected from the blurb, but I did find some of it quite predictable from the story by the time I reached it in the book. A surprising take on the nature vs. nurture argument with a son born to a terrible father he's never met, and a mother who's raised him to be good and kind. I have to admit, neither mother Anne Marie (our MC) nor her son Dave were particularly likeable characters but that was definitely intentional. Anne Marie was certainly trying, and I thought the struggle of a single mother with a son like that was shown really well. She's a good person but definitely makes some questionable decisions and is blinded by her love for her son and knowledge that he can be such a good kid if he wants to be.
I shan't say anything else as I don't want to give anything away but I'm very interested to read some more of Emily's books in the future!

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

This book sounded really promising, and started out that way. But in the end I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. Anne Marie is the waitress - she's also the single mom of a teen-aged son who's out of control, and all too often reminds her of his father, who's in prison. Dave seems to be on the same path as his father if Anne Marie can't get him to change his ways. And it becomes clear that she really has no influence over him. He's not just a teen boy out of control, he's pretty much a psychopath, and there's precious little she can do to influence him. All she can do it protect him. Problem is, the last thing society needs is a psychopath with a helicopter mom. I'm not one who usually needs to like all the characters in a book to enjoy the read, but it was really hard to be on anyone's side here. On the one hand it was well written, it was just a very frustrating read because of the characters and their actions. It was easy to feel empathy for Anne Marie and her financial struggle to provide for herself and her son. But then she'd do something that just canceled that empathy right out. And when the book was done, all I could think was "Okay, but...".
But having said all that - the writing was good, and with more likable (or more relatable) characters I'd have enjoyed it more. So I'm definitely open to reading more by Emily Shiner, even though this wasn't my personal cup of tea.
Thanks to Netgalley and Inkubator for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

This was an excellent book and had me reading more and more I could not put id down! honestly never read a book so fast. I will be reading more by this author.

A story about the lengths a mother will go to protect her son. To protect him no matter what he’s done………even If it’s murder.

A fast paced read that will keep you guessing.

How far does a mother go to protect a child, especially one that is a psycopath - this forms the crux of the story.
Thanks to Netgalley and Inkubator books for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Waitress by Emily Shiner is a thriller about Anne Marie and her son Dave. Anne Marie is a single mom who works as a waitress and Dave is her 16 year old son.

Dave is out of control with bad behaviors. He skips school, sells drugs, is disrespectful and acts foolishly and impulsively. Throughout the whole book Anne Marie tries to get him to change his ways to ‘be good’. The phrase ‘be good’ is mentioned over and over. It got a little repetitive to me. I wish the author would have used phrases such as making poor choices, or taking responsibility for his actions instead of classifying Dave as good or bad.

Anne Marie is constantly talking about how she will do anything to protect her son. When Dave does something horrendous, she covers up for him as she feels she is ‘protecting him’. Dave really needed to own his actions and take responsibility for his poor choices.

Over and over Anne Marie covers for him to the point of me wanting to yell at Anne Marie to get her son some help because she can’t fix his behavior.

The twists in this book are pretty predictable. I was hoping for more surprising twists.

This is the first novel I have read by Emily Shiner and although I didn’t love this one, I am intrigued by some of her other books.

Thank you to Netgally and Inkubator for this book in return for my honest assessment.

This was pretty good. I gave it 5 stars cause it kept me captivated. I knew the mother was the one who wrote the last letter. I thought of doing that earlier in the book. She crazy to go along with all that tho!

Definitely a bit predictable but I definitely enjoyed it. I’ve read quite a few ‘how far would you go for your child’ type thrillers and this was an easy, quick read with some nice twists along the way.

“The Waitress” by Emily Shiner in a good psychological thriller and my first read of a book by this author. Anne Marie is a single mother struggling to make ends meet while grappling with the challenges of raising a rebellious teenage son, Dave. Anne Marie faces daily challenges with both her waitressing job and her never ending battle with her troubled son.

The novel deals with family life, sacrifice, and the lengths a mother will go to protect her child. Anne Marie is desperate but she is determined in her efforts to balance between love and tough love in her efforts to protect Dave.

I thought the author dealt with issues well in the writing and it was easy to empathize with Anne Marie’s dilemma. The story was well paced with decent characters and enough twists and turns to keep it interesting.

I did feel it was a little predictable at times but still enjoyable although the characters lacked a little depth. Well worth a read for a story of maternal devotion and the complexities of family dynamics. 3.5 stars rounded up.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Inkubator books for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️

Both the characters of Anne-Marie and Dave made me so angry! However that is the sign of them being written well!
The story got a little lacklustre in the middle but the epilogue made up for it - I was hoping for that all along!

Anne Marie a waitress like the title has a son named Dave who she loves but when Dave starts on the dark side and changes and then she finds out what he has done she goes out of her way to protect him. I had problems with this story even though it was just a story for when my son got in trouble I left him in jail and he did his time and he has not been back since. For some, I am sure this will be a good story.

I really enjoy Emily Shiner’s books and writing style. Anne Marie is a waitress living in a small town with her son Dave, who she would do anything for. What she begins to discover however is that Dave has a dark side to him. Can she save her precious son from himself and his actions?

I have mixed feelings about The Waitress. It's a good storyline and plot, but the characters were not particularly likable - this lends to the plot, and is really highlighted in the dysfunction of the family, but it hits as strange/off somehow. Still worth a read, for sure, but I didn't connect with the main character at all.

I am a huge Emily Shiner fan, but this one fell slightly flat for me. This was a very quick and easy read that I flew through in no time.I would have liked Dave’s perspective. I think that would have made it more interesting. The writing was solid, but the plot was, at times, predictable. There weren’t many twists and turns, but the storyline developed well. There was a huge twist at the end that I did not predict that saved the book for me. Overall, this was a quick, entertaining read that will hold your interest.

Thank you NetGalley and Inkubator Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

First, I love this book cover! I don't even know why but I just absolutely love it. The story was equally as great, highly recommend if you're looking for a quick, fun thriller!