The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan

The basic premise of this one is a village of people surrounded by a large fence, where on the other side is the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Aptly named as it is home to the Unconcecrated, once people who have been infected, died and come back to talk the living inside the village.

Pressing at the gates, the Unconcecrated are kept at bay by the Guardians who patrol the fence lines and the Sisterhood, who rule the village and always know best.

Mary, like all others in the village, never questions the order of things until her mother falls to the Unconcecrated leaving her alone in the village with no option by to join the Sisterhood. Here she learns that not everything is as it seems in the village.

With a major breach in the fences, Mary's world is thrown into chaos and she much choose where her loyalties lie.

Jaki's review

The first half of this novel brings you into the world of the village and its regime and rules. While moving relatively slowly, it lacks any action or real intrigue to entice you to continue reading further into the book. Only my quirky personal flaw, of having to finish a book I start, made me continue through.

The second half of the book picks up as things start to happen after there is a huge breach in the fences and Mary's world is thrown into turmoil. The ending of the book is very predictable but still worth finishing. It does however, leave you with questions regarding the fates of the other characters in the book, and to me that is truly frustrating leaving their fates untold. The ending does leave it open to continue with the story and I would probably read a sequel to satiate my need of a well rounded completion.

Turning Tables - Heather & Rose MacDowell

This identical twin team have written a very compelling debut novel here based on their own experiences in the food industry.

You follow Erin just a few weeks after she has been let go from her well payed marketing job. She catches a break with a little help from a family friend land a coveted job as a server at one of New York's finest Upper East Side eateries, complete with it's own celebrity chef, outrageous owners and colourful array of waiting staff.

Landing such a position turns out to have been the easy part as Erin must learn how to master the art of serving. From the very basics of taking orders to being a shrink for customers and coercing people to order up to increase her tips.

All this as well as trying to juggle as personal life and sort out her feelings fro a handsome and down to earth friendly frequent customer.

Jaki's review

This novel hits waitressing on the head. The authors experience in the field clearly chows in the extremely accurate depictions of life in a restaurant. Whilst reading I was reminded of my own times as a server and all the trials and tribulations accompanied with it.

For those who haven't working in the industry before, you will be in for a shock as to what actually goes on in a restaurant just to get your good out. And you will begin to understand that there actually is an art to the profession and that not everyone is cut out for it.

Set with a great pace that follows the cadence of a real waitressing life, this book will leave you wanting to know what crazy and unreasonable tasks Erin is going to be faced with next, and whether or not she will survive through this 'phase' in her life.

NOTE: Strong language.

A review I'm not too proud of

This is my latest published review. I wrote it sometime ago and didn't realise how "blah it was.

Escape from Shadow Island: A Max Cassidy Adventure - by Paul Adam.