Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

One day three years ago, I was scrolling through my Goodreads homepage (it all comes back to Goodreads, doesn't it?), I saw a glowing review for a brand new book called “Making Faces” by Amy Harmon. I looked over the blurb, thought it sounded interesting even though it wasn't not what I usually read. I decided to try it. Thank God I did, and I truly mean that, because that book was such a masterpiece, I was floored. So I reviewed it, and I think I did a good job because I got a lot of responses – something I was not used to. So I thought, can she do it again? I read “A Different Blue”, and yes, oh yes she could. I read everything she had written up to that point. The following year, she published “Infinity + One” and figuratively killed me. She is able to take this gift from God, this gift, and spin it into as close to perfection in writing as many will ever see. Then came “The Law of Moses” (that is a tear tearjerker – they all pull tears, but if that one doesn't do it to you probably aren't alive) and “The Song of David”. All amazing. And then I read that she's coming out with a fantasy novel. A fantasy novel? Like Game of Thrones and Imagine Dragons (wait, that's a band I like) and Rings and Gollems and Hobbits? But I don't like fantasy. I never, ever read fantasy. I don't go to fantasy movies. Yes, I took my son to all 3 LOTR/Hobbit movies and I got the best sleep of my life. But because Amy Harmon wrote it I would read it. Probably a simple fairy tale for children, and I actually waited 2 weeks to read it. Big mistake. Because even if Amy Harmon wrote a simple fairy tale for children, it would probably be an instant classic. But this is not for children. Yes, in a way it reminds one of a fairy tale, but one for grown ups, along the lines of “Once Upon a Time”, but far more sophisticated. I can't tell you about the plot. Anything I say would ruin it. If this is the only review you read before picking up this book, stop here. Go into it with a completely open mind, and just let this incredible world open up for you. Amy Harmon's words create worlds, and when I reached the end of it, I was so sad. Because I loved this placce and I loved these characters, and if this were Oz, I wouldn't want to go home. I wanted to return, and about three quarters through the book, I did go back to the beginning. Because I'm gobbling up the book and suddenly Tiras, the male lead says to Lark, the female lead “Where I am going, you cannot come.” Now I'm Jewish, but I know the Christian bible rather well, and I know exactly when Jesus says that and what it means. And I just stopped and I thought: am I reading a parable? Is there another level to this book that I've missed? I thought of the prologue to the Gospel of John, about the Word, and the Word being with God and the Word being God. Lark, the narrator, is always saying that words come from the Creator and they possess immense power. So I went back and I re-read it. And sure enough the words that come from the Creator are powerful, so powerful that they literally give life. So was this a parable about the life of Jesus? Perhaps a bit. There certainly a character plays the role of a messiah. Definitely a parable about the gifts of God and the good we can do with them – as well as the bad. I don't know if I'll ever read another fantasy book – unless Ms. Harmon writes it, of course. I think I would always compare everything I read with this book. But I am so thankful that she wrote this book. I'm thankful that God gave us words, and that Amy knows exactly what to do with them. Read this, and you too can soar like an eagle. Hollywood, where are you? Stop wasting time on Nicholas Sparks when you have a library rich in everything a great movie needs. We love our Amy Harmons books, but we really need our Amy Harmon movies!