Title: FacelessAuthor: Jeff Monday
First Published: March 20, 2021
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 176
Genre: Coming of Age, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, LGBTQ, Mental Health Fiction, Romance
Format: Ebook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Rating:
Synopsis:
Would you like to know?
Would you like to know the answer to any question?
Anything. Ask away. One question, though. So what would your question be?But be warned...the price for such knowledge is steep. The answer to any question you have.
And all it will cost you is your face.
Your mouth. Your nose. Your ears and your eyes.
You will still live. But I will take your face.
So what is important enough to you that you would give up so much? What question is worth the price?
Anto did not have an easy life. He was ignored and beaten as a child. When he turns sixteen, he runs away from home and wanders the countryside, almost dying along the way. But eventually, he finds a new life with glimmers of hope and love. But to hold on to that love, Anto will have to confront his worst nightmare.
Faceless is a dark fantasy by Jeff Monday that asks a simple question: Would you sacrifice everything for the answer to a single question?
Get the Book: AmazonReview
Faceless is a dark romantic fantasy novella with some light horror elements. It’s a coming of age story about a boy named Anto who escapes his abusive family and tries to survive on his own. During his travels he’s haunted numerous times by the faceless, cursed beings without any facial features that endlessly wander in the dark. The faceless are frankly horrifying.
This book is unequivocally a story about trauma, the faceless a clear physical representation of how trauma can lead to a loss in identity and difficulty expressing emotion. While the story could at times be blunt with the messaging, it explores these topics with tenderness. I fell in love with the characters in this story and wanted to protect all of them at all costs.
There is a decent amount of worldbuilding despite the slim page count and I loved the world within the story. I was a little disappointed that some of the worldbuilding falls off in the middle chapters of the book, and it does more summarizing of events than showing. I understand why some of these parts were skipped because they aren’t really necessary for the main story, and I just felt that they either should have been fully developed or not included at all.
Faceless is rough around the edges, but it’s a beautiful story with a lot of heart. It’s soft and gay and magical despite the darker subject matter. A lot of love went into the writing of this book and it shows. It’s a humble little book that deserves the praise that it gets.
Quote
“The inability to express himself was driving him mad. He couldn’t scream. He couldn’t cry. Couldn’t laugh or smile or arch an eyebrow. Everything he felt, every fear and worry, was caged inside him with no way out.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Jeff Monday
Originally hailing from the snowy hills of Wisconsin, Jeff wandered the country in search of tall tales, fish stories and old wive’s tales. Armed with a notebook and a B.S. in Journalism, he’s climbed mountains, jumped out of airplanes and plunged into oceans, all for a good story.
He currently lives in Portland, Oregon surrounded by drag queens, burlesque dancers and various miscreants. He’s on the web; look him up. He’s also at the local pub; buy him a drink–he’s thirsty.
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