Amy Harmon

Ambrose Young was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore. Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl. This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast, where we discover that there is a little beauty and a little beast in all of us.

Making Faces

chateau

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review. Also my tags may have spoilers in them so be forewarned before checking out full review.

Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️

Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻

Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️

Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒

Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂😂

Making Faces is a standalone romance, and I chose this from my TBR for Romanceopoly for 2024. I have had a goal to read more from this author. I really am curious to see where this author develops with her stories, but also heard that this book is one of her best works and after having read it, I definitely agree that its one of the best books I have read so far this year. This story had so many emotional layers to it, and it really tears you apart, but also delivers such poignant feels to take your breath away.

The ancient greeks believed that after death, all souls, whether good or bad, would descend to the underworld, the kingdom of Hades, deep in the earth, and dwell there for eternity."

Fern Taylor has been in love with Ambrose Young for years. Through a set of events, they started writing letters to each other. And their sweet young words connected with each other. But when Ambrose learns of a betrayal, its hard to trust Fern. But Fern has been falling hard for this boy since he showed compassion on her cousin. Ambrose is training to be a wrestler and even though there is a connected between himself and Fern, when there are attacks on the towers, he starts to shift into a direction of service to his country. But the end result is him coming home alone, scarred and damaged. And Fern has developed into a beauty, but Fern always saw Ambrose, and they find solace with each other...

There was so beauty in this story. It had an almost poetic lyrical feel to the story that just takes your breath away. We see a reversal of beauty and beast. We see flashbacks to their time of before and the way that they connect as children and teens. And then we get to the present, seeing them as adults, and fighting through the scars and healing of the trauma they must face. We see their friendships and how they connect on a deep level, and that level is through the written word. They also discover a bond that will carry them through grief and heartache and loss. Both characters were so loveable. And really the whole crew of friends were so endearing. It is hard reading their story knowing what is going to happen, but I also am glad that I was prepared for it as well. I especially loved the cousin Bailey. His story was so heartbreaking but also teaches some beautiful lessons in embracing the moment of life.

This story had me crying buckets of tears! My goodness, I have read this author before, but I have never read a book from her that was so tearful and deep in emotion. Even though the romance is beautiful, this story has so much depth that encompasses so much more than just the romantic relationship. There is great growth in our characters. I was so curious to see where this author would take this book, and with each chapter, I was getting more and more addicted to it. These characters come alive so easily. Seeing their struggles and battles they face, but also their strength and healing they find in the adversity was beautiful. This author captivated me completely with this one here!

What powerful narration. It was duo narration and really captured the emotion and journey so well. These characters come alive and I think a part of the experience with this book is all thanks to the great talent of the narration here.

Making Faces was a brilliant story that really captivates you instantly. Its a story of slow burn love, sparks of love through letters, emotion portrayed in a poignant manner that strikes deep and real. BEAUTY WRIT ON EVERY PAGE!

We all fit together to create this experience we call life. None of us can see the part we play or the way it all turns out. Maybe the miracles we see are just the tip of the iceburg. And maybe we just don’t recognize the blessings that come as a result of terrible things.

We can’t always control what happens to us. Whether it’s a crippled body or a scarred face. Whether it’s the loss of people we love and don’t want to live without”

Lover of Romance 

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review. Also my tags may have spoilers in them so be forewarned before checking out full review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨✨✨


First Impressions
Making Faces is a standalone romance, and I chose this from my TBR for Romanceopoly for 2024. I have had a goal to read more from this author. I really am curious to see where this author develops with her stories, but also heard that this book is one of her best works and after having read it, I definitely agree that its one of the best books I have read so far this year. This story had so many emotional layers to it, and it really tears you apart, but also delivers such poignant feels to take your breath away.

First Line
The ancient greeks believed that after death, all souls, whether good or bad, would descend to the underworld, the kingdom of Hades, deep in the earth, and dwell there for eternity."

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Ambrose Young
Athlete in Wrestling
Popular in High School
War Veteran
Disability

The Heroine: Fern Taylor
Shy
Plain Jane
Butterly Beauty

Summary
Fern Taylor has been in love with Ambrose Young for years. Through a set of events, they started writing letters to each other. And their sweet young words connected with each other. But when Ambrose learns of a betrayal, its hard to trust Fern. But Fern has been falling hard for this boy since he showed compassion on her cousin. Ambrose is training to be a wrestler and even though there is a connected between himself and Fern, when there are attacks on the towers, he starts to shift into a direction of service to his country. But the end result is him coming home alone, scarred and damaged. And Fern has developed into a beauty, but Fern always saw Ambrose, and they find solace with each other...

What I Loved
There was so beauty in this story. It had an almost poetic lyrical feel to the story that just takes your breath away. We see a reversal of beauty and beast. We see flashbacks to their time of before and the way that they connect as children and teens. And then we get to the present, seeing them as adults, and fighting through the scars and healing of the trauma they must face. We see their friendships and how they connect on a deep level, and that level is through the written word. They also discover a bond that will carry them through grief and heartache and loss. Both characters were so loveable. And really the whole crew of friends were so endearing. It is hard reading their story knowing what is going to happen, but I also am glad that I was prepared for it as well. I especially loved the cousin Bailey. His story was so heartbreaking but also teaches some beautiful lessons in embracing the moment of life.

This story had me crying buckets of tears! My goodness, I have read this author before, but I have never read a book from her that was so tearful and deep in emotion. Even though the romance is beautiful, this story has so much depth that encompasses so much more than just the romantic relationship. There is great growth in our characters. I was so curious to see where this author would take this book, and with each chapter, I was getting more and more addicted to it. These characters come alive so easily. Seeing their struggles and battles they face, but also their strength and healing they find in the adversity was beautiful. This author captivated me completely with this one here!

What I Struggled With
Nothing, it was perfect!

Narration
What powerful narration. It was duo narration and really captured the emotion and journey so well. These characters come alive and I think a part of the experience with this book is all thanks to the great talent of the narration here.

Overall View
Making Faces was a brilliant story that really captivates you instantly. Its a story of slow burn love, sparks of love through letters, emotion portrayed in a poignant manner that strikes deep and real. BEAUTY WRIT ON EVERY PAGE!

Favorite Quote(s)
We all fit together to create this experience we call life. None of us can see the part we play or the way it all turns out. Maybe the miracles we see are just the tip of the iceburg. And maybe we just don’t recognize the blessings that come as a result of terrible things.

We can’t always control what happens to us. Whether it’s a crippled body or a scarred face. Whether it’s the loss of people we love and don’t want to live without”

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult, New Adult
Character Types: Athlete, Shy Heroine, Playboy Hero, Military/Veteran Hero
Themes: Pining Heroine, Disability, Love Letters
Tropes: Unrequited Love, Fairy Tale Retelling-Beauty and Beast

Book Perspective
Multi POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
A Blend

If you like these authors, I recommend This Book
Mia Sheridan
Catherine Cowles
KA Tucker

Song This Book Inspires
Joy of My Life by Chris Stapleton

Steam/Spice Explanations

Warmin' by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.


Narrators:
Bob Shapiro

celene

wow i did not expect to cry a couple of times,,, i was a mess,,, love the tender moments the MCs had and other tender moments between the secondary characters. 

this book made me reflect on life like wow,,, it made me feel lighter inside,,, i mean- :(((

reading the character development of the H was a delight and the h is so caring and understanding and aaah i love her

I LOVE BAILEY OHMYGAS :(((

Jasmine

5 Stars
WOWW! Took my breath away, broke my heart into a thousand pieces, and slowly mended it. I knew this would be an emotionally heavy book, and that's also probably why I put it off for so many years, but I was really missing out by letting it collect dust these past 5 years on an unforgettable story. I also didn't anticipate that it would have me sobbing early in the morning but it managed to do that too. A powerful story is full of wonderful characters and a beautiful message at its core about where the real beauty lies and the worth of a person who people may dismiss because they are perceived a certain way by society. My heart physically aches when I think of everything that happened because of the sheer range of emotions I experienced throughout reading it. I know I won't be forgetting how this story or its characters who broke and touched my heart in equal measure. Especially Bailey because he had the most beautiful heart and outlook on the world despite never having it easy in life everyone could learn to be a little more like him. He was the true hero of anyone and the natural light he radiated shined so bright everywhere he went that it had a profound effect he had on those lives he was closest to. Ambrose and Fern are also a couple that was easy to root for and even though they had a somewhat unique timeline their lives continued to intertwine in so many unexpecting ways, and when the time was right found their missing half and strength they both desperately needed.

Sade A

Ambrose Young was beautiful. He was tall and muscular, with hair that touched his shoulders and eyes that burned right through you. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore.Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl. This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast, where we discover that there is a little beauty and a little beast in all of us.

Sofia Arcângelo 

I felt so heartbroken at the end of this book, but at the same time felt that the story is a celebration of life. It's so worth reading! Prepare to cry, a lot! And to smile too, to feel ache and love, to feel hope and to stop taking things for granted.

This book was so beautiful and coming from me, that is a huge compliment.

"Ambrose Young was beautiful. He was tall and muscular, with hair that touched his shoulders and eyes that burned right through you. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore."

First off, I love the way Amy Harmon writes. It's sort of direct & straight to the point,but not in a way that limits the reader. She writes amazing prose, and almost every sentence she writes is warm and heart tugging. 

"You act like beauty is the only thing that makes us worthy of love, I've loved you since you quoted Hamlet like you understood him, since you said you loved Ferris wheels more than roller coasters because life shouldn't be lived at full speed, but in anticipation and appreciation…"

The story simply isnt about love or romance. It's so full of substance. It's about high school, past mistakes, friendship, war, forgiveness, and guilt.The subplots are very twisting and branches oof everywhere, but in a beautiful kind of way.

The characters are so so amazing. They affect each other in ways you just don't see anymore. The story is simple yet profoundly moving and inspiring. Everyone has to read this. I have no words enough to describe how good that book was.

Annabella

Although predictable this book hurt. a lot.

Samantha 

I've had this book on my kindle for months, why the hell did I wait so long to read it?!?!? 

It was amazing! One of the best I've read this year. It drew me in and I felt like a part of the story.
It was so incredibly sad...I even told my little sister that she's going to read this in a couple of years. 

Simply amazing.

Danibel Peralta

Magnificent, beautiful and very well executed!! :-)

Kath Lau

I highly recommend this book! Full review soon...

characters: 10/10
plot: 10/10
heartbreak: 10/10
the timeline: ?:!?.82 what? i was legit so confused bc i couldn't keep up with the timeline so yea

Kinsey

5 VICTORY IS IN THE BATTLE STARS!



"Love is not love which alters when alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove. Oh, no, it is an ever-fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken." ~Shakespeare


  If God made all our faces, did he laugh when he made me?
Does he make the legs that cannot walk and eyes that cannot see?
Does he curl the hair upon my head 'til it rebels in wild defiance?
Does he close the ears of a deaf man to make him more reliant?

Is the way I look a coincidence or just a twist of fate?
If he made me this way, is it okay, to blame him for the things I hate?
For the flaws that seem to worsen every time I see a mirror,
For the ugliness I see in me, for the loathing and the fear.

Does he sculpt us for his pleasure, for a reason I can't see?
If God makes all our faces, did he laugh when he made me?

Making Faces by Amy Harmon was one of those books that I couldn't put down. It literally took over my life for the 2 days that it took me to consume it. I became so caught up in it that I refused to eat because I just had to finish it. It was  beautiful, heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, tragic, scarred, romantic, funny, wise, and most importantly...inspiring! 

Fern Taylor--



  "She was the kind of girl who didn't care about pulling up to a party in a mini-van rigged for a wheelchair. The kind of girl who had been giddy to just be asked to play a stupid game. The kind of girl who had come back to say goodbye to him, a boy who had treated her like dirt. And he wished, more desperately than he had ever wished for anything before, that he could change it".


Fern Taylor was an awe-inspiring heroine. She was sweet, caring, motherly, a reader, giving, forgiving, understanding, and pretty much dang perfect! Her love for her friends and family was touching and I quickly found myself on team Fern Taylor. Unfortunately for her, she's been largely ignored for most of her life. For even though her soul may shine bright her outward appearance is quite homely. I loved watching Fern grow up and come into herself, she wasn't afraid to put herself out there even knowing she could be rejected and hurt. You see, Fern Taylor is madly in love with Ambrose Young, the boy she's loved since she was just 10 years old and he helped her bury a spider. It's an unrequited love for Ambrose hardly knows she exists and instead believes himself to be in love with her friend Rita. 


  
    "Could you belong to someone who didn't want you?" Fern decided it was possible because her heart was his, and whether or not he wanted it didn't seem to make much difference. 
  


Ambrose Young--


Ambrose Young is the complete opposite of Fern socially. He is beautiful, popular, athletic, pretty much a hero in their town Hannah Lake. Feeling the pressure to continue to be perfect he decides he wants to be a hero in another way. Ambrose was deeply impacted by the events of 9/11 and wants to serve his country by becoming a soldier. Not only that, but he wants his 4 friends to come with him and persuades them to enlist as well. Finding the reality of being a war hero much more than he bargained for Ambrose returns home to Hannah Lake. By himself. Ambrose is the only one of his 4 friends that made it home. The only one who survived, and at great consequence for his face is forever deformed, his beauty gone after a roadside bomb destroyed it. The once worshiped hero now hides his face in the shadows..broken...lonely..and ashamed. 


  
    "I'm not ashamed to be seen with you. I'm ashamed to be seen." ~Ambrose
  


Another character that deserves a whole other review written about him is the absolutely perfect in every way Bailey. I LOVED BAILEY, he was by far my favorite character of Making Faces. He is Fern's cousin, and he has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disorder that involves muscle weakness, which quickly gets worse over time. Bailey is the sort of hero that I root for. The type of guy who never knows if he'll live another day but wants to live his life to the fullest regardless. I loved watching the love that Fern and Bailey shared for one another. It was simply perfection and I cried through probably 99 percent of their scenes together. 


  
    "It's hard to come to terms with the fact that you aren't ever going to be loved the way you want to be loved." ~Bailey
  




This book is much deeper than a story of love, although I fell in love with any scene that Fern and Ambrose had together. Their scenes caused me to have some very serious fan girl moments. Fern gave him the peace he was longing for ever since coming home from war a broken man. She touched a part of him that he thought died at war. Beautiful.The only thing I'll complain about is the fact that (view spoiler)[ we never get a sex scene between Ambrose and Fern. All that build-up I just felt like there should have been at least one. This is a NA romance after all, and I just felt let down that Amy Harmon didn't give us at least one passionate love scene. (hide spoiler)].




  
    "But maybe you see beauty in me because you are beautiful, not because I am." ~Ambrose
  


Making Faces was a book that started off as just another book and morphed into something so much more than I could ever write about. It's such a beautifully told story that when it was over I felt that I had lost a friend. That I would never again get to experience the magic that was this book. I'm still missing it right now as I'm writing this. The most beautiful thing about this story was it's message. Not all books have a message that we can walk away with. Sure, we all love reading about the bad boy billionaires, but Making Faces will give every single one of us a different perspective of life when finished with it. The message is undeniably clear: beauty comes from the inside and your beauty and goodness on the inside is what makes one truly beautiful. 


  
    "But I'm still afraid. Because I can't make you love me back.” ~Fern
  




PROPS TO AMY HARMON FOR WRITING SUCH A BEAUTIFUL STORY. I WAS TRULY HONORED TO READ SUCH AN INSPIRING STORY ABOUT THE TRUE NATURE OF BEAUTY.

P.S. Read or Don't Read? Read. 


  
    I wrote your name across my heart, so we could be together , so I could hold you close to me, and keep you there forever.

Lynn Braden

Fern has spent most of her life in love with Ambrose Young, the wrestling superstar of their high school, but she is cursed with teeth that required braces, the need for thick glasses, and red hair that is always out of control. When he begins dating her friend, Rita, Fern helps her by writing love letters to him that Rita could never have written herself, but when Ambrose and Rita are about to break up, she tells him that Fern wrote the letters, leaving him angry and embarrassed. Fern tries to make amends, but she is too shy and can't quite make her feelings clear to him. It is assumed that Ambrose will take a scholarship offered him by Penn State University after graduation, but 9/11 changes things for him, so he convinces his friends to join him in the military, a decision that changes all of their lives forever.

Making Faces is described as being a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but it is so much more than that as evidenced by the character of Bailey, Fern's wise cousin, who is suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and adds depth beyond a mere fairy tale. This book is a gut wrenching love story that tugs at the heartstrings without compromise. The characters are well developed, making it impossible not to care about them and empathize with them. Overall, this is a well written contemporary fairy tale utilizing modern sensibilities. Warning: Have lots of tissues handy.

Southern Today Gone Tomorrow

Making Faces, by Amy Harmon, is one of the best non-fantasy books I have read in a while. I love this story.

This is about Fern, Bailey, and Ambros and the changes they go through and how they stick to their morals throughout. Ambros is the state star wrestler while Fern and Bailey, are cousins and best friends who struggle through life together. Told through a combination of flashbacks and present day, I couldn’t put this book down!

How did I find this, you ask? I was actually looking for another book to add to my Beauty and the Beast collection, and this came up. Maybe you can make a guess as to what happens?

Highly recommend, go give it a shot. Some religion, some love, and some loss.

https://southerntodaygonetomorrow.wor...

Kayla | @thereaderkayla

This book summed up in one word: raw.

Such raw emotion from these characters! Amy creates magic with her stories.

She is a new favorite author.

Making Faces

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