I was so excited to read this book as I have enjoyed other books by Emily Shiner. However, this on fell a little flat for me. It was so repetitive. Anne Marie drove me bananas. The twist was good but the writing just felt full of fluff and it kind of ruined the build up.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

As always, Emilys books are awesome. This one did not disappoint. She always has twists and turns in her books and I thought i knew what was going on nope there was another twist. Definitely a 5star rating.

Great Story thanks for another book!

What would a mother do for their child and the answer is everything.
Anne a Marie is working a dead end job as a waitress and struggling to raise her son Dave.
Dave is constantly in trouble, but one night he does something terrible and someone saw him do it and now that someone is blackmailing him.
I loved the front cover it’s what I loved before I even saw who wrote it. This was a very quick read and I loved it from the beginning right to the end.
It was very easy to work out who the blackmailer was but I didn’t see the end coming though.
Thank you Inkubator books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion

Honestly at 50% through this book I just cannot read anymore. The story is so awful and the mom, Anne Marie, is just so stupid that it makes me want to scream. I don't feel like this story is going anywhere at all and I don't really care.to find out.

Just how far will a Mother go to protect her child is the question that has you stuck on the edge of your seat from start to finish
A thrilling read I didn't want to put down

Thanks to NetgGalley for the advanced copy of The Waitress in return for a honest review.

I really enjoyed The Waitress by Emily Shiner. At first, I felt a little bad for the mother, but as time went on, I felt nothing for her. She let all of this happen. She kept lying to herself. I felt nothing for her son at all other than hatred and that is a very harsh word. I wished she'd just let him reap the consequences of his actions. I get she wants to protect him, but she is making a monster. As I read every chapter I was kept on my toes. What was her son going to do now? What will she do about it? Will she finally grow a spine? When reaching the ending I scoffed. Of course, she'd go that route. Why wouldn't she? After reading I felt Of Mice and Men vibes. I personally liked the story even with all the horrible choices these people made.

Thank you Inkubator and NetGalley for allowing me to read The Waitress.

This was a very fast book to read for me, easy to read. From the first chapters I hated both characters lol, one for being a doormat and the other for being a spoiled brat 🤣. Some situations irritated me a lot and I felt like slapping some sense into both. The author knows how to play it so we feel those emotions. While I did guess some twists, it was still a great read !

Thanks to Netgalley and Inkubator Books for access to this arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Waitress by Emily Shiner, one of the best non-Frieda McFadden thrillers I’ve read this year.

What would a mother do for their child? We find out the lengths one would go in this edge of your seat, can’t put it down because you need to know what happens next page turner.

Shiner’s booklist is about to be ravaged in a matter of days!!

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, Action, intrigue, mystery, murder, revenge, a bit of a who done it, great plot twist, and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle!! I definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Thank you to Inkubator books & NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was my third Emily Shiner book, and I really enjoy her style of writing. This was a fast paced mystery & thriller, intertwined with the relationship between mother and son.

Anne Marie is a single mom doing her best, to raise her 16 year old son Dave. She works around the clock at the local diner, and spends the rest of her free time trying to get Dave to stop making so many bad choices. Smoking, skipping school, and intimidating teachers are just some of the issues that get him kicked out of school.

Everyone is so quick to tell Anne Marie what a bad kid Dave is, but all she can see when she looks at him is her little boy. But one night he comes home late and the next morning he is acting like a brand new son. Cooking and cleaning, and helping around the house, Anne Marie is so happy her son has finally come around to being the responsible and kind boy she always knew he could be if he tried. That is until she figures out what he did that is making him act like this. And once she finds out she will have to decide how far she will go to protect this new version of her son?

This was a super quick read, could easily be finished in one sitting. It wasn’t super detailed or intricate, but sometimes these surface level stories are what I’m looking for in a quick read. But the ending did feel a bit rushed, and it could have been drawn out more. Overall, I would recommend, but it wasn’t one of my favorites by Emily.

Reads like it was written by a freshman in high school, who has little experience with human interaction. Every piece of dialogue could have been written by a robot. Lines like "He told me yesterday that he was shocked how many people applied for the job just because they wanted to work at the same place where a person died," feel almost inhuman, how out-of-touch they are with reality. The writing is simplistic in every negative sense of the word. There is no nuance, no showing-instead-of-telling. It is truly unreadable.

Big fan of thrillers so I thought I’d like this one a little more but it does start out as a slow burn story at first. Once you get into it the pace changes and it’s great. I liked that the story had a switching timeline, going from the present day to the past with the characters flashbacks. It was mysterious and dark, overall great!