Everyone dreams of getting the kiss of a lifetime… but what if that kiss carried some unexpected consequences? A girl who’s always been in the shadows finds herself pursued by the unbelievably attractive new boy at school, who may or may not be the death of her. Another girl grows up mute because of a curse placed on her by a vindictive spirit, and later must decide whether to utter her first words to the boy she loves and risk killing everyone who hears her if the curse is real. And a third girl discovers that the real reason for her transient life with her mother has to do with belonging — literally belonging — to anther world entirely, full of dreaded creatures who can transform into animals, and whose queen keeps little girls as personal pets until they grow to child-bearing age.
From a writer of unparalleled imagination and emotional insight, three stories about the deliciousness of wanting and waiting for that moment when lips touch.
I only heard of Laini Taylor this year, and the first book I read was Daughter of Smoke and Bones - which I loved. When I saw Lips Touch in the bookstore I thought I’d give it a try. I’m so happy I did!
Written in usual Laini style, Lips Touch Three Times is an anthology of three short stories, all dealing with that scary yet wonderful thing - the first kiss. Each story is completely different from the next. Each story takes you to a different part of the world, to a different time and to a different myth.
The first story is about Kizzy, a girl whose loneliness seeps through the pages and makes you feel sadness for her, a girl whose longing attracts the worse kind of fae. While this one was my least favourite - I didn’t like the abrupt ending - Laini’s descriptive writing allows the reader to feel all that Kizzy feels and, in a way, understand why she does the things she does.
The second takes the reader to India and the underworld and introduces an Englishwoman, Estelle, who is working with a demon - bartering for the souls of children. This short story has complex, three dimensional characters and was intriguing from the beginning - when Estelle delivers a curse on a baby - to the end - when that baby, now a young girl, wonders if she should push the limits of the curse. In my opinion, the ending was wonderfully thought out and executed.
The final story - and my personal favourite - introduces you to the dark world of the Druj, where human feelings are longed for, but never understood. This is the longest story in the collection; it is also the darkest. Mab, a prisoner of the Druj from childhood, manages to escape with her daughter and has been hiding from the Druj since. When a Druj she trusted enters her life again and tries to take her daughter away, the reason isn’t what Mab - or the reader - expects.
Lips Touch Three Times is just a sampling of Laini’s beautiful writing and promises to leave the reader wanting more.
Oooo I like the sound of this book. Awesome review! I think I may need to pick this up!
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