Making Faces by Amy Harmon

Making Faces by Amy Harmon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 Stars

If you have ever seen a BookTube video around romance than you know Amy Harmon will most likely be mentioned. She has been an author that I have been dying to give a try and I finally took the plunge! Unfortunately, I was kind of let down!

Do not get me wrong! There were some things I loved about Making Faces and some things I just did not love at all. First off, I have never heard anyone mention that this is Christian romance. I actually love Christian romance, but I was just surprised as I was reading along as I have never heard this mentioned in all of the reviews and recommendations I have seen. I have also never really heard anyone mention this being a Beauty and the Beast retelling (I did not really get that from reading it, but still feel it is worth mentioning).

This also deals with some heavy topics such as the military, death and loss, injuries, 9/11, Muscular Dystrophy, and domestic violence. All of these were actually done amazingly and the main reason I kept reading.

I fell in love the with beginning as we begin to see the friendship between Fern and Bailey. This covers 9/11 and I really connected with these parts and even teared up a little as I was just starting college when 9/11 happened. This also moves to several students going off to War and the aftermath of War. This was also very sad moments within the story in which I enjoyed.

Ambrose really is not even a part of their friendship as the story jumps from young children, to high school, to after high school. I was looking forward to a romance as I have heard Amy Harmon is the queen of slow burn. Slow burn is totally different compared to non-existent. I feel the romance was non-existent and not the focal point of the story until after half way through. Yes, they communicated but it was just not something that made me want to hold on for a developing romance.

Bailey made the story for me as we learn about him and his challenges with Muscular Dystrophy. He was witty and a well-loved character. The most exciting parts within the story involved Bailey being involved.

I did not enjoy the message around the “Beauty and the Beast” trope. Fern overhears her mother say she is not a beautiful (pretty) child at a young age. When this first happened I thought it was going to bring a powerful message around the power of words and how they can stay with someone. Well, they stay with Fern. Every other chapters is around Fern not being pretty enough. It was way overdone. Ambrose does not seem to notice her as she is “not pretty.” The romance only starts when Ambrose is “no longer pretty himself.” I actually was getting annoyed with this trope as the story went on and on.

Overall, there were things I loved and things I did not. I felt the story was slow at times and was dragging on. Some things worked and others did not.


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