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Review: Painted Faces by L.H. Cosway
Come forth with an open mind, for an unconventional tale of love..
I’ll be honest I was kind of hesitant BUT intrigued after reading the blurb of this book. The prologue disturbed me a great deal that it had me clasping my mouth and made me unsure if I can continue. Some of the scenes reminded me of Jamie Bell’s obsession to his mother in the movie Hallam Foe. But that’s where the similarities end. This is an unusual tale of love wherein I found myself accepting, loving, crying, laughing, and rooting for the characters.
Freda/Fred, our heroine has a habit of blurting every inappropriate thing in her mind. I love her internal musings when she thinks she again spoke her mouth too soon without thinking. Being a little plump made her insecure of herself but she covers it with her snarky but funny comebacks.
Nicholas/Vivica Blue, our hot STRAIGHT drag queen.
What I loved about Nicholas was that he’s not ashamed of who he is and what he does. He has this passion and he made sure that he achieves it. His mother died when he was still a child and he only had exactly three memories of her. This caused him to retort by dressing up as a woman. He was also abused by a friend of his father, which made it hard for him to outgrow his obsession with the dresses and make-up.
“He turned being a boy into something that I couldn't stand, so that being a woman was my only escape.”
Even after Fred learned everything about Nicholas her love and respect for him did not waver instead it grew. But having no one to show him how to love and be loved Nicholas pushed her away.
It doesn't matter what he's wearing. I like the him that's underneath the clothes and the painted face. I'd like him no matter what he wore."
“Sometimes we're cruellest to the ones we care about the most."
Since the beginning was in Nicholas’ POV it was fitting that the Epilogue ended with his thoughts too.
“He thinks of the little boy in the dress; the boy he used to be, a lost little boy. Now he can be a man in a dress, but he isn't lost. He has his golden eyed girl to lead his fractured soul through a world that once seemed dark and empty. In the present there's nothing but bright, wonderful sun light.”
“Her acceptance and love is something he didn't even realise he'd been searching for, but now that he has it he knows that he'd die if it got taken away from him. Every time he loses himself in her body, a little bit of the pain gets erased. She washes it away.”
What I loved most in this book is that it has a unique story that did not fail in execution. Because let’s be honest a lot of books these days have almost the same concept and what’s worst is the writing is plain meh which makes it more frustrating. But this book, aside from its original story, was amazing! It has the right amount of humor, drama and angst.
I LOVED IT. ****5 STARS****
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