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.

A few more published reviews

Because you are with me - Anna McPartlin

and

The Book of Tomorrow - Cecelia Ahern

The Humbling - Philip Roth

Latest published review:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/features/books/reviews-general-fiction/3233416/The-Humbling

The Giver - Lois Lowry

Books on the Nightstand have recommended this book to their listeners, so as a dedicated listener I had to read it.

The Giver follows the story of Jonas; a twelve year-old boy who lives in a seemingly utopian community. People in this community are very happy, their lifes are content and do not want for anything. However they do not have a choice in anything. Husband and wife are matched, parents apply for children and receive exactly one boy and one girl, and children mature into the next stages of their lifes at an annual ceremony until the age of twelve. At the twelve ceremony, children are given their position in life based on what the "Elders" have decided you should be. Jonas is given the position of "The Receiver" where he begins to learn and understand how controlled his community his.

Nadine's review.
I read this in an afternoon. It's only 180 pages and it's language is simple and easy to follow. The story is incredibly intriguing and so sad. You will not want to put this down until you have finished reading it. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys stories of a dystopic nature.

Jaki's review

This book was utter tripe. That is the only way I can describe it. The first third to half of the book is so boring and utilitarian that I had to force myself to continue, and that was only done because so many people said this was an amazing book and I thought it must get better. For a while it did, the middle of the story was interesting with the transfer of memories and Jonas experiencing all sorts of new things. Then you get towards the end of the book, which not only seems extremely rushed, but feels like the author had no idea what to do and so just slapped something together on the spot.

I would definitely not recommend this book to anyway and actually persuade people to take it off their reading lists if it is there. Don't waste your time. While it is a short book and doesn't take long to read, seriously you will have many other better books on your list that you will actually like a whole lot better.

Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall - L.J.Smith

The fifth book in the Vampire Diaries series, but the first in The Return chapter of the story. Written almost two decades after the original books, the story picks up just after the last finishes, with Elena having just been brought back to life.

However Elena is not entirely human. She cannot speak, cannot remember, glows radiant white, and defies the laws of gravity. Not only does Elena and her friends have to deal with all those issues, but also the fact that her blood is now irresistible to vampires. And having two of them in love with her is bound to cause problems. Stefan who truly loves her and his brother Damon who wants her to be his princess of Darkness.

Although there is something new in Fell's Church, something more sinister than the vampires, that not only want Elena's blood, but want her dead. It will stop at nothing to get what it wants, and play with the residents of the town to make sure that it gets it, no matter the cost to everyone else.

Jaki's review

While I loved the first four books in the series, this one let me down a little. The writing is the same and the characters stay true to their original selves, but the story seems to fall apart. The underlying main story makes sense and is a good idea, but at times the way it is explained left me confused as to what exactly was going on, where the characters were and what motivation could have possibly lead a character to do something so out of character.

I thought and hoped that if I kept on reading it would all come together like a good TV crime show where everything is wrapped up in the end, but was left feeling a little cheated when I finished. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy the book as I love the characters and the world they live in, but I don't like feeling completely confused and lost reading a book and then still feeling that way when I finish it.

The open ending gives me a little hope though. Perhaps the next book The Return: Shadow Souls will restore my faith in the series and go back to having the same 'feel' as of the original four books. I've got it on pre-order so here's hoping.