This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review. Also my tags may have spoilers in them so be forewarned before checking out full review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨✨✨

First Impressions
Making Faces is a standalone romance, and I chose this from my TBR for Romanceopoly for 2024. I have had a goal to read more from this author. I really am curious to see where this author develops with her stories, but also heard that this book is one of her best works and after having read it, I definitely agree that its one of the best books I have read so far this year. This story had so many emotional layers to it, and it really tears you apart, but also delivers such poignant feels to take your breath away.

First Line
The ancient greeks believed that after death, all souls, whether good or bad, would descend to the underworld, the kingdom of Hades, deep in the earth, and dwell there for eternity."

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Ambrose Young
Athlete in Wrestling
Popular in High School
War Veteran
Disability

The Heroine: Fern Taylor
Shy
Plain Jane
Butterly Beauty

Summary
Fern Taylor has been in love with Ambrose Young for years. Through a set of events, they started writing letters to each other. And their sweet young words connected with each other. But when Ambrose learns of a betrayal, its hard to trust Fern. But Fern has been falling hard for this boy since he showed compassion on her cousin. Ambrose is training to be a wrestler and even though there is a connected between himself and Fern, when there are attacks on the towers, he starts to shift into a direction of service to his country. But the end result is him coming home alone, scarred and damaged. And Fern has developed into a beauty, but Fern always saw Ambrose, and they find solace with each other...

What I Loved
There was so beauty in this story. It had an almost poetic lyrical feel to the story that just takes your breath away. We see a reversal of beauty and beast. We see flashbacks to their time of before and the way that they connect as children and teens. And then we get to the present, seeing them as adults, and fighting through the scars and healing of the trauma they must face. We see their friendships and how they connect on a deep level, and that level is through the written word. They also discover a bond that will carry them through grief and heartache and loss. Both characters were so loveable. And really the whole crew of friends were so endearing. It is hard reading their story knowing what is going to happen, but I also am glad that I was prepared for it as well. I especially loved the cousin Bailey. His story was so heartbreaking but also teaches some beautiful lessons in embracing the moment of life.

This story had me crying buckets of tears! My goodness, I have read this author before, but I have never read a book from her that was so tearful and deep in emotion. Even though the romance is beautiful, this story has so much depth that encompasses so much more than just the romantic relationship. There is great growth in our characters. I was so curious to see where this author would take this book, and with each chapter, I was getting more and more addicted to it. These characters come alive so easily. Seeing their struggles and battles they face, but also their strength and healing they find in the adversity was beautiful. This author captivated me completely with this one here!

What I Struggled With
Nothing, it was perfect!

Narration
What powerful narration. It was duo narration and really captured the emotion and journey so well. These characters come alive and I think a part of the experience with this book is all thanks to the great talent of the narration here.

Overall View
Making Faces was a brilliant story that really captivates you instantly. Its a story of slow burn love, sparks of love through letters, emotion portrayed in a poignant manner that strikes deep and real. BEAUTY WRIT ON EVERY PAGE!

Favorite Quote(s)
We all fit together to create this experience we call life. None of us can see the part we play or the way it all turns out. Maybe the miracles we see are just the tip of the iceburg. And maybe we just don’t recognize the blessings that come as a result of terrible things.

We can’t always control what happens to us. Whether it’s a crippled body or a scarred face. Whether it’s the loss of people we love and don’t want to live without”

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult, New Adult
Character Types: Athlete, Shy Heroine, Playboy Hero, Military/Veteran Hero
Themes: Pining Heroine, Disability, Love Letters
Tropes: Unrequited Love, Fairy Tale Retelling-Beauty and Beast

Book Perspective
Multi POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
A Blend

If you like these authors, I recommend This Book
Mia Sheridan
Catherine Cowles
KA Tucker

Song This Book Inspires
Joy of My Life by Chris Stapleton

Steam/Spice Explanations

Warmin' by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.

Narrators:
Bob Shapiro ( )

Fern – the ‘homely’ girl at school, who spends her time with her best friend/wheelchair-bound cousin – is in love with the handsome wrestling star, Ambrose, but of course he barely knows she exists and instead is dating Fern’s friend, Rita. Then they all graduate and Ambrose and his buddies go off to fight in the war in Iraq, but they’re all in a roadside bombing and only Ambrose comes home alive, and significantly disfigured. He now falls for Fern, but she still has to convince him to date her because he’s hung up on how ‘ugly’ he is now.

Ugh. Honestly, I’m a little angry with myself even for finishing this one. It’s so sappy and uninteresting, and there is absolutely no chemistry between the leads. At all. But there’s plenty of Big Man Needs to Feel Macho and It’s Up to the Little Lady to Provide Damosel-in-Distress-ness so He Can Feel Needed and Big and Macho. Ick. And an even bigger ick: lots of barely veiled God Works in Mysterious Ways malarky. Just…ew. Oh, and the only reason I read the book was because it showed up on a Beauty and the Beast retellings list, but beyond the idea that the dude gets some shrapnel scars, I don’t see it. Gah. ( )

Simply written yet drew out emotions in me that had me crying several times durin my read and I am not usually a crier. ( )

Hilariously overwrought, stupidly compelling. Uses the phrase "mournful Hercules" and variants about three hundred times. The lack of a First Time dripping with absurd pathos was a crime, despite the fact that, had it been there, I would have made fun of it. ( )

review to come
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