Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Review: "Making Faces" by Amy Harmon


The fact that I read this book is another example of how Turkish TV has taken over my life 😂. I listen to a podcast called Dizzy for Dizi, which covers Sen Çal Kapımı, a currently airing dizi that I'm OBSESSED with. One of the hosts recently talked about her love for Amy Harmon novels, specifically Making Faces. And so I had to check it out!

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.


Making Faces is the story of three friends growing up in '90s-early '00 Pennsylvania. Fern and Bailey are cousins and best friends. Bailey has a degenerative disease that will eventually kill him, and Fern sees herself as his caregiver. Ambrose is the local hero, due to his wrestling prowess. Fern has loved him since they were 10, and Bailey is his biggest fan.

The events of September 11, 2001, drastically change the trajectory of their lives...and I can't really say more because to do so would rob you of the experience of discovering it for yourself! 

Making Faces wrecked me in all the best ways. I absolutely sobbed at multiple points throughout the novel, and I loved the writing. The only thing I didn't love was that the ending felt a little rushed. I will definitely be checking out other Harmon novels in the future! 4-1/2 stars.

Content note: Making Faces contains some mild curse words and some sensuality, and it deals with spousal abuse. There are no on page love scenes.

Buy the book (Amazon ad).



Amy Harmon
is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times Bestselling author. Amy knew at an early age that writing was something she wanted to do, and she divided her time between writing songs and stories as she grew. Having grown up in the middle of wheat fields without a television, with only her books and her siblings to entertain her, she developed a strong sense of what made a good story. Her books are now being published in eighteen languages, truly a dream come true for a little country girl from Levan, Utah.

Amy Harmon has written fifteen novels including the USA Today Bestsellers, Making Faces and Running Barefoot, as well as The Law of Moses, Infinity + One and the New York Times Bestseller, A Different Blue. Her fantasy novel, The Bird and the Sword, was a Goodreads Book of the Year finalist. Her newest release, What the Wind Knows, is an Amazon charts bestseller. For updates on upcoming book releases, author posts and more, join Amy at www.authoramyharmon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I borrowed this book and chose to review it. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."


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