Making Faces by Amy Harmon

Author: Amy Harmon
Publication: October 20, 2013
By: Create Space
Genre: YA/NA Crossover
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LOVED.IT.SO.HARD.

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.
  

I needed a break from my "To Be Reviewed" pile and saw that a few of my bookish friends - ones who don't usually read the same kinds of books - had read this. So I bought it, opened it up and thought I would just "peek" at it. 

SWEET MINI CUPCAKES...there is no "peeking" at Ambrose Young and Fern Taylor. It's more like, "Hey kids, it's a Survivor dinner night. (If you hope to survive until breakfast you better fix yourself some dinner because Mom is reading.), and "Don't wait up for me honey because I can't put this book down." 

 No, Really.

 

It's difficult for me to put into words just how much I loved this story.

It's about a boy who has it all, beauty, brains and brawn.  

(And the most amazing hair! Not really. Okay, maybe a little.)

Who takes it for granted (not on purpose) and loses it all. Or so he thinks.

*squishy hugs Ambrose*

And then there is the girl. The one with the red hair, buck teeth and heart big enough to love the world around her into oblivion. Fern has been overlooked her whole life. But what Fern lacks in physical beauty, she more than makes up for in her ability to see people for who they really are.

And she has always seen Ambrose Young. Always.

Even when he looks kind of like this...

This story and these characters will break your heart in the best way possible. And it isn't just about love and romance, although there is plenty of that. *cue face fanning* 

It's also about friendship, forgiveness and faith and serves as a beautiful reminder of what really matters when we look at a person. 

I've seen quite a few reviews where people have liked everything about this book EXCEPT for the fact that it mentions God and quotes a few Scriptures. This is not an alter call book, and believe me, I have read my fair share of those and promptly thrown them against the wall. I don't like to be preached at either and if anything, this book encouraged and helped to remind me that while physical beauty is hard not to focus on, (refer to photo of amazing hair above) it's fleeting. The heart of a person is what really makes them beautiful.

This is a YA/NA crossover because the characters are teenagers when we meet them and follows them into their early twenties. Bailey is a slight potty mouth which only makes him that much more endearing and there is no sex in this book. HOWEVER, it should come with a warning..."Certain scenes may encourage seeking out spouse and/or significant other and kissing their face off." 

“There's a lot I don't understand... but not understanding is better than not believing”

"Scripture comforts me, and romance novels give me hope." 
"Oh yeah? Hope for what?" 
"Hope that I'll be doing more than quoting scripture with Ambrose Young in the very near future".

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1 E-book copy (Nook or Kindle) of MAKING FACES by Amy Harmon

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