Making Faces by Amy Harmon

In a small town five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. The boy who returns is broken. But one girl remembers what he was like before, and still loves him despite what meets the eye. 

I'm gonna start this review off with an embarrassing confession... I read the first 10% of this book at home, then the next 89% of it at work, and then the last 1% of it in the car on the way home from work... I had like three pages left and I just had to know what happened so as soon at I hit the red light near the EarthFare I knew it was my chance to read the last three pages... Bad move on my part. As I read the last few sentences I started balling my eyes out and completely forgetting I was at a stop, until the guy behind me honked his horn at me bringing me back to life.

Making Faces was just that amazing. It makes you want to read between red lights and at any chance you can get. Making Faces surrounds three main characters. Fern is the girl who is forever overlooked. She's the bookwork, small, sweet, with red hair. Bailey, Ferns cousin and best friend, is the sweet caring boy who is suffering from muscle dystrophy. And Ambrose Young, school's star athlete and overall talented guy. Fern has admired Ambrose from afar for as long as she can remember, and he only notices her after an odd event plays out. But even after that things seem to go back to the way they were. That is until 9/11 happens and it hit Ambrose in a way he didn't see coming. Even though he is so gifted he still feels like he needs to do more. He decides to sign up for the military and to serve in Iraq and talks his four friends into coming with him.

That's where the story will takes off, because Ambrose is the only one who returns, but even he doesn't come back in one piece. Ambrose and Fern's relationship is the definition of hope. Their relationship is sweet, playful, and deep. Harmon again writes such strong leading characters and gives them so much depth. Fern, though shy is far from weak. Ambrose who to the eye is strong is so weak. Them being opposites gave this book such balance. I liked that Fern shows him that there is more to life and a person than what meets the eye. That you can either run and hide or face things head on. That it's okay to let people in. That looks might be the thing that originally draws you to a person, but it's not the thing that keeps you there. Their relationship shows you that being together is a give and take situation but you both have to be willing to do both. You have to know when to push and when to ease up. Their relationship is such gold.

 "You are still beautiful," Fern says softly "I think that statement is more a reflection of your beauty than mine."

Even with these two character being as amazing as they are there is no doubt who stole the show... Bailey. His and Fern's friendship is probably, if not, my favorite friendship I've ever read. There aren't even words to describe how amazing it is. Everything that comes out of his mouth is written with such a force. He is unlike any character I've ever had the pleasure of reading. He alone would be a reason I would recommend this book. The characters in Making Faces are flawless.

The plot of this book is so different. At first with how everything was laid out I didn't think I would like it. The timeline bounces around from the past the the present, and I didn't think thing would come together... But when they do, and everything is reveal, it is mind blowing. Everything from the flashbacks, the old stories, the current events, the the title of the chapters are so well thought out. When I started too figure everything out I was taken back by how incredible this truly was. Even when there were a few moments towards the end when I knew what was going to happen next, and things were playing of cliche, the ending itself made up for anything that could have happened. The last few paragraphs made up for anything that would ever be lacking.

I think writing reviews on books you love is so much hard than doing to for ones you hate. You can never seem to perfectly put into words how it made you feel. Making Faces is heartbreaking and heartwarming. Making Faces will probably be one of my top reads this year. This book broke my heart in the best way possible.
It's a book with so many layers, and so many lovely messages. This is a book that is tattooed on me and will forever leave a lasting impression.

"True beauty, the kind that doesn't fade or wash off, takes time. It takes incredible endurance. It is the slow drip that creates the stalactite, the shaking of the Earth that creates mountains, the constant pounding of the waves that breaks up the rocks and smooths the rough edges. And from the violence, the furor, the raging of the winds, the roaring of the waters, something better emerges, something that would have otherwise never existed. And so we endure. We have faith that there is purpose. We hope for things we can't see. We believe there are lessons in loss, power in love, and that we have within us the potential for a beauty so magnificent, our bodies can't contain it."

10/10 Stars
-Angela 

The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon

Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him Baby Moses when they shared his story on the ten o’clock news. Moses is strange, exotic, beautiful, and broken.

I'm gonna start off this review by saying straight up this will be one of the hardest reviews I've ever had to write before. The Law of Moses left me feeling every emotion humanly possible. I guess I'll just start at the beginning...

First off the prologue is probably one of the best ones I've ever read. It's only a couple of pages long, but after reading it I already had to set the book down because I knew it would be an emotional read. Even with the warning crystal clear at the start I wasn't prepared for how deep this book would hit. I didn't stay away long before crashing right back into it. Amy's writing is the thing that kept drawing me back. Her writing is like no others. She writes so that the reader isn't just reading they are actually able to see everything. It makes you have to stop and close your eyes just to take it all in before you can move on to the next page. It's remarkable. Her words had me drowning and I was in no rush to get air.

"If I tell you right up front, right in the beginning that I lost him, it will be easier for you to bear. You will know it's coming, and it will hurt. It will still make your chest ache and you stomach flip with dread. But you'll know and you´ll be able to prepare . And that's my gift to you . I wasn't given that same courtesy. I wasn't prepared."

If that doesn't both pull you in and give you goosebumps I don't know what will.

As far as the characters went, they were just as stunning. Georgia is a strong willed and strong written character. I loved her love for live. I loved that she was 100%  Moses' opposite. She's the soft to his rough. I loved her boldness and the way she always kept pushing forward. Moses was my favorite character. He might actually be one of my favorite written males. Why is that? Because he is what made me so emotional. One moment I loved him, the next I wanted to punch him, and then the next he would have me in tears. This book had me crying and sometimes there was no reason other than the writing style. Moses is the definition of character development. I loved that Georgia is just a small town girl and that Moses is a mess with so much artistic talent is unreal. Georgia comes from a loving family with so much heart, and Moses was the crack baby left in a basket at a local laundry mat. Everything about how the characters clashed was flawlessly written.

The other highlight of this book was the love story. It wasn't the typical tale, and it wasn't the untypical, it was something all its own. I loved watching it grow. I loved it's highs and it's low. My favorite part of not just the story but the romance was the way Moses' art came into play. I love how it was the pretty little bow that tied everything together.

“My mom always said negative attention is better than no attention at all. She was usually talking about foster kids who acted out. But apparently it also applied to seventeen-year-old girls who were in love with boys who didn’t love them back.”

As far as the plot goes I sadly can't go too deep into it. I will say that the book is split into two halves. The first half is a lot of background and build, while the second is all the heart hitting emotional reveals. I preferred the second half to the first but with saying that I loved the first so much. The plot line surrounds the fact that Moses is able to see the dead and then paint their messages. I thought this would come off as cheesy, but it never once felt that way. Something that really brought this story to such a high level was the switch of Povs and how it was never constant. It didn't alternate between Georgia and Moses every other chapter, it only changed when needed. This might make it sound like a cluster but it was so important to how the story played out. 

That's all I can say about this book. I can't go into an events or even sub-characters. This is a book you need to go into blind. The Law of Moses wasn't at all what I thought it would be. I agree with most when they say they don't know what genre this book would fall into. Paranormal? Contemporary? Romance? I don't know and I don't really care. It's unique theme and it's thought provoking writing won me over. The writing is captivating, the story is heart breaking, and has a love story of all its own. This was the first Amy Harmon book I've ever read, but it wont be the last. This book struck a emotional cord that I can't even explain.

10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

(The Law of Moses BookDepo)