Making Faces

By: Amy Harmon

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

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 13. 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.

©2013 Amy Harmon (P)2014 Tantor

Agonizingly Beautiful

I lost sleep on this book. I had a very hard time putting it down. I raced against myself because as much as I wanted to see what happened next I never wanted it to end.
This love story went through so many stages I felt rung out way before I got to the end. I laughed, cried, cheered and found myself smiling wide. If you even think about reading this book in secret just make sure you are all by yourself because Amy will pull the emotion from you.
I longed and loved with Fern, hurt with Ambrose, laughed with Bailey, wished with Elliott and cheered on the sidelines for them. I can't wait to visit another one of Amy Harmon's worlds.

Couldn't stop listening!

I love Amy Harmon. I get lost in the story and couldn't stop listening. Great book with great life lessons.

Heart wrenching

Best listen in ages! Well performed and wonderful storyline. Beautiful characters. I will be looking into more books by this author.

Amy Harmon at Her Best

When is Amy Harmon not at her best?! Do you want a book that makes you feel a full range of emotions? Then this will fill the bill. Amy Harmon is an expert at character development along with showing us the growth of relationships. We understand why people feel the way they do and experience those feelings with them. This book follows three main characters and several others through adolescence and young adulthood. Fern, the female lead goes from ugly duckling to beautiful swan. Ambrose, her childhood friend and heart’s desire, goes from beautiful swan to ugly duckling. And Bailey, their friend who is funny, intelligent, handsome and who has Muscular Dystrophy. The story is really about how they view themselves and each other, love, loss, responsibly to each other and to their community. I promise you will cry...several times, but you will also experience a sweet and happy ending like only Amy Harmon can write. #Relationships #HappyEnding #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

An Amazing Read

This was the most intense, sensitive and astounding reads. It will change your heart forever!!!

You got to read this book! 5 star all around!

One of the best books I have ever listened to on Audible!!! It’s richness and depth are like no other. I have read several of this authors books and I have very much enjoyed them, but this book is by far one of the best of the hundreds and hundreds of books I have read in my life. The story has you laughing, crying and takes you places within yourself that you never realized before it’s reading. I love the two main characters but the others play such an important part. I would love to see this be made into a movie. I think it would be a huge success. What is the meaning of a true hero? You will have to read it to find out.

A definite 5 star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is one of the most moving, caring, emotional novels I have ever read. After starting the book it was all I could think about, until I finished it. Once completed I couldn't write this review right away. I was much too emotional. I needed to ponder and think, reflecting on my own life experiences. My school friends that are now gone, way too early for multitudes of reasons and diseases, my first kiss, my first flirt, crush and love. After much melancholy thoughts and feelings, and yes tears... I was able to write this book review. A definite 5 star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Maybe I need to now reconsider what I choose to read, as this book stopped me cold and made me rethink a lot that happened in my life.Take your time and savor every sentence. The story is overflowing with emotion. This is a tremendous treasure of a book and I'm sure it's staying on my "read-again" list for a long time. I highly recommend this book for a man or woman with a warning, be prepared to remember, reflect, feel and cry.

wonderfully written

Wonderfully narrated as well. When someone narrates a book and is over the top changing voices and octaves, it takes away from the literature.

A truly wonderful listen.......Don't Miss this one

There were not many reviews of this book but since I like stories that are about overcoming the worst things life throws at you I gave it a try. I am so thankful that I did. It is extremely well written and you become completely involved with the characters. This is a wonderful story with so much emotion on so many levels. Because it goes back and forth in time you really learn a lot about all of the characters. Ambrose Young who looks like a cover model is the guy all the girls want. Fern Taylor, the pastor's daughter has fiery red hair, thick glasses , and braces. She knows that he would never want her. That does not stop her from dreaming of what she wishes it could be like to be the object of his attention. Fern has some strong self image issues due mostly to something she overheard as a child. Ambrose and his four best friends from the wrestling team all join the Army and try to make a difference in the world after 9/11 destroys their image of safety and security. Ambrose pretty much pushes his friends into joining up but it does not take much persuasion. Only Ambrose comes home and the pain of the loss of his best friends is strong. He is horribly scarred and no longer had the cover model face. Cousins Bailey and Fern are all that unconditional love represents with the way they take care of each other. They are best friends as well. Bailey has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is wheelchair bound. Fern has taken care of him for years. She helps him do the things he can't do on his own. Bailey has a remarkable outlook on life though he knows that his will be a short one. He may actually be my favorite character in the whole book. He helps Fern cope with what she deems as her shortcomings. They are wonderful people and you want so much for Bailey and Fern to have happy endings. I will not give any spoilers here but fair warning, when you get to Chapter 28, you will not have dry eyes by the end of it. It broke my heart. It was so well done on audible. Rob Shapiro did a tremendous job on this. The females were very well done and not annoying as is sometimes the case. I will listen to this many times and always have my tissues ready at Chapter 28. Take a chance on this book. You will not be sorry.

favorite book by my favorite author

I love the complexity of this book. There are steamy and not sleazy romantic bits... spiritual bits.... funny bits... heartbreaking bits.... The narrator did a great job capturing the emotion in some tricky parts too.

Well done!!