Making Faces

By: Amy Harmon

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

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

loved it

Another great book by this author. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the characters and the listening to the story unfold. Also, I enjoyed the narrator's performance.

a MUST read

I loved this book!! so much love and pain and...
I'm the absolute worse at writing reviews so I NEVER write them, but I had to say something.
please read you will laugh and cry and cheer for the characters. best read of 2017 this far

So much more than expected!!!

I can’t fully express how much I loved this book, how thoughtful, touching and funny it was. I picked it on a whim and will definitely read more from Amy Harmon. This book did make me cry, and I’m not much of a fan of heart wrenching books but this was well worth it.

Incredibly sweet and moving

Great story. Narration volume was a little too low or high at places, which made it hard to listen to in the car. But he did do well with distinguishing voices for characters.

What a book!!

What made the experience of listening to Making Faces the most enjoyable?

Wow. What an incredible book. I laughed, I cried, I felt everything the characters did. Even through moments I didn't agree with their thoughts I understood where they came from and they suited the characters perfectly.
This is a story with a marvelous message about looking beneath the surface of a person and second chances for other and yourself. It's about friendship, the importance of it in our lives and the devastation of loss when one is gone to soon. How someone so "plain" looking can change your outlook on life if you'll just give them an opportunity. Love can be found in the strangest of places if you'd only open your eyes to more than physical beauty.
Making Faces is a different type of read with it taking place over a lifetime in a non-linear matter. The reader gets to see into the past of the main characters discover how they became the people they are. To see what jaded them and how the smallest interaction or judgement can have the largest repercussions on another's life.


This is one of the most emotional rides I've ever had the pleasure of reading and is now on my favourites list. I recommend this book to anyone as it is more than just the sum of its parts. There are not enough words to convey how I feel right now. This story will be one that sticks with me, maybe even changes me.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bailey, he was accepting of the physical limitations of his illness but he more than made up for it with his larger than life personality.

What about Rob Shapiro’s performance did you like?

His narration was spot on, never too rushed or too slow. Rob Shapiro's voice catches in the right spots and is powerful when it needs to. I will listen to him read again.

Feel good story

I loved the narration of this book. The story was sweet but not boring. More of a YA story but I liked it anyway

Heartbreakingly beautiful

I’m sure I’ll have more eloquent words to describe this later when I’ve recovered. This was such a beautiful story filled with so much heartbreak and healing. The 3rd person writing threw me off in the beginning and I had a hard time really getting into it, but after several chapters, I couldn’t stop. This was my first book by AH, and I can’t wait to dive into another one.

sweet and sad

I loved it! I finished it very quickly. Amy Harmons books are really good.

A HEARTBREAKING & VERY EMOTIONAL LISTEN

If you're looking for a 'feel good' happy romance then look elsewhere because this book spans years in the H/H traumatic and eventful lives and it's raw, emotional, multi-layered and very sad. Fern's not pretty but her inner beauty shines throughout this thought provoking book - she's thoughtful, kind and caring and she's desperately in love with the handsome and multi-talented Ambrose who's going to face tragedy and torment.

It switches back and forth through the years and describes Fern as having UGS - Ugly Girl Syndrome but, over the years, she tries and succeeds in improving her appearance. Her friend Bailey is suffering from Muscular Dystrophy which is slowly degenerating and will result in his early death but he, and Fern, keep a positive attitude with their deep and meaningful friendship. So part of the book describes when, as children, they were told of Bailey's illness and the resulting effects it had on their lives. Ambrose has it all but wants to join-up so he, and his friends, eventually find themselves in the middle of all the action in Afghanistan which is where he sustained horrific injuries which doesn't make him beautiful anymore as well as mental heartache and torment over personal losses. 9/11 was also described and talked about. There are other characters mentioned, one of whom was another of Fern's friends who has an unplanned pregnancy and gets married to a very abusive guy which has devastating consequences. After Ambrose returns home scarred and a recluse Fern and Bailey try to heal his mentally scarred soul by showing that beauty is only skin deep and happiness comes from within then, after a while, they succeed and Ambrose and Fern's character development and relationship grows.

During the years, this listen deals with low self image, school bullying, a terrible disease and it's awful consequences, unrequited teenage/adult love, a diversity of dramas, 9/11, the death of friends and it's impact on a small community, murder and domestic abuse. However, there is an underlying message of hope over adversity with prophetic words, sayings, religious references and selfless actions which all help in the healing process.

Worth a credit? This was such a difficult book to rate and review because yes it was a well-written character driven journey with the underlying message of hope and the eventual healing power of love over terrible personal vulnerabilities but, for me, I want a listen that will leave me hopefully happy and smiling over a nice love story with a HEA ending. So, in this rare instance, I really can't answer the 'credit' question because it's all about what you personally want from your listen.

Wonderful

After reading several recent books of Amy’s, I wanted to go back and read some of her earlier books. This was written with so much heart and emotion. I just loved it. Characters are so real. Great ending.