Blog Tour: MAKING FACES by Amy Harmon
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.
Dawn C.’s Review 4.5 Stars
I have read many books, but none were more inspiring then Making Faces. It was so beautifully written. I fell in love with all the characters. Each having their own unique story. They have touched me and I know they will stay with me forever.
There were many wonderful messages throughout this book. Such as, courage, sacrifice, acceptance and redemption to name a few. Faith and believing when you have no proof. Learning that there are lessons in loss and the powers love. That there are silver linings!!! Sometimes blessings come from tragedies. Life is not easy and we make what we can out of it. To never experience pain, you can not appreciate happiness. Never judge a book by its cover. A face or body does not define the person or their heart! True love does not see a face. It feels the soul. True love doesn’t fade with time…
My favorite quote in the book:
“Love is not love, Which alters when alterations finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: Oh, no, it is an ever-fixed mark, that looks on tempest and is never shaken.” – Shakespeare.
God creates us all in the form we were meant to be. The book isn’t just comprised of just heavy messages it was fun and playful too. I found myself laughing out loud. There are many sweet scenes as well. It had broken my heart than mended it. By the end, I had tears streaming down my face. I’m glad I was able to experience it. I adore this book and recommend to all ages. If you have a daughter or niece ..have them read this book!
Abby’s Review 4 stars
This is a sweetly written book that can be easily read by all ages. Amy Harmon delivers a heartfelt story that touches the readers heart. It is a story about looking past outer beauty and looking for so much more.
Bailey and Fern are an odd pair. Bailey has Muscular Dystrophy and is crippled permanently. However, through all his weaknesses we are delivered a story of hope, strength and wisdom. For me, I think I enjoyed his quirkiness, and his character more than all of the characters.
Fern is a dorky teenager. As she gets older, she becomes more beautiful. For me I still saw her as very young though. It was a bit harder for me to see her as an adult. However she has a hidden strength that shines. She is the type of girl, that has a huge heart, yet she cant see her own beauty.
Ambrose and his friends are super close, they go to war and the unthinkable happens. Ambrose also is a very multifaceted character. I like that he was created as a good looking demigod, with a ton of depth.
This story has heartache and hope.
If God makes 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 the deaf man to make him more reliant?
Is the way I look 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?
That poem is just a showcase of some of the beauty that this story holds.
I do want to point out that this is in third person and the narrative style was not particularly my cup of tea. I also wish that I saw Fern a bit more like a grown up, for some reason the transition from her childhood to adulthood didn’t seem to flow 100% that great for me.
Despite those few things this is an enjoyable story filled with loss, love, beauty, ugliness and hope.
Copy provided for honest review.
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Excerpt
He didn’t know how to make her understand that she was so much more than just pretty. So he leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers. Very carefully. Not like the other night when he’d been scared and impulsive, and smacked her head against the wall in his attempt to kiss her. He kissed her now to tell her how he felt. He pulled away almost immediately, not giving himself a chance to linger and lose his head. He wanted to show her he valued her, not that he wanted to rip her clothes off. And he wasn’t sure when it came right down to it that she wanted to be kissed by an ugly SOB. She was the kind of girl that would kiss him because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. The thought filled him with despair.
She let out a frustrated sigh and sat up, running her hands through her hair. It flowed through her fingers and down her back, and he wished he could bury his own hands in it, bury his face in the heavy locks and breathe her in. But he’d obviously upset her.
“I’m sorry, Fern. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why?” she snapped, startling him enough that he winced. “Why are you sorry?”
“Because you’re upset.”
“I’m upset because you pulled away! You’re so careful. And it’s frustrating!”
Ambrose was taken back by her honesty, and he smiled, instantly flattered. But the smile faded as he tried to explain himself.
“You’re so small, Fern. Delicate. And all of this is new to you. I’m afraid I’m going to come on too strong. And if I break you or hurt you, I won’t survive that, Fern. I won’t survive it.” That thought was worse than walking away from her and he shuddered inwardly. He wouldn’t survive it. He had already hurt too many. Lost too many.
Fern knelt in front of him, and her chin wobbled and her eyes were wide with emotion. Her voice was adamant as she held his face between her hands, and when he tried to pull away so she wouldn’t feel his scars, she hung on, forcing his gaze.
“Ambrose Young! I have waited my whole life for you to want me. If you don’t hold me tight I won’t believe you mean it, and that’s worse than never being held at all. You better make me believe you mean it, Ambrose, or you will most definitely break me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Fern,” he whispered hoarsely.
“Then don’t,” she whispered back, trusting him. But there were lots of ways to cause pain. And Ambrose knew he was capable of hurting her in a thousand ways.
Ambrose stopped trying to pull his face away, surrendering to the way it felt to be touched. He hadn’t allowed anyone to touch him for a long time. Her hands were small, like the rest of her, but the emotions they stirred in him were enormous, gigantic, all-consuming. She made him shake, made him quake inside, vibrate like the tracks under an on-coming train.
Her hands left his face and traveled down the sides of his neck. One side smooth, the other riddled with divots and scars and rippled where the skin had been damaged. She didn’t pull away, but felt each mark, memorized each wound. And then she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his neck, just below his jaw. And then again on the other side, on the side that bore no scars, letting him know that the kiss wasn’t about sympathy but desire. It was a caress. And his control broke.
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Purchase links:
- Amazon: http://amzn.to/1a4dzDY
- Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00F0XL3B2
- Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/making-faces-amy-harmon/1117181228?ean=9781492976424
- Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/366894
About the Author
Amy Harmon 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. Amy Harmon has been a motivational speaker, a grade school teacher, a junior high teacher, a home school mom, and a member of the Grammy Award winning Saints Unified Voices Choir, directed by Gladys Knight. She released a Christian Blues CD in 2007 called “What I Know” – also available on Amazon and wherever digital music is sold. She has written five novels, Running Barefoot, Slow Dance in Purgatory, Prom Night in Purgatory, the New York Times Bestseller, A Different Blue and coming October 20, Making Faces.
