Lips Touch Three Times

by Laini Taylor

[inlibrisveritas]

Yet again I am amazed at Laini Taylor’s work and thirsting for more! When I saw this at the library I was super excited and grabbed it immediately, since I had just finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone I just had to read this one. Yet again I knew next to nothing about the novel, but I had some actual clue as to what to expect this time around. I was surprised to see three short stories and even more so to see illustrations. But not just any boring ol’ pictures, these illustrations are gorgeous! Jim Di Bartolo’s work is amazing and he manages to capture all of the fantastic elements of the stories. I know the title and the cover seem like it would open up into a romantic storyline but it’s really much more than just romance.

As I said before it’s split into three short stories and each has it’s own illustrations at the beginning and one at the end. Goblin Fruit is the first and the shortest, it’s reads more like a modern day fairy tale equipped with a moral than an actual story. It centers around a girl named Kizzy and her ever wanting spirit. It’s the perfect blend of modern and old world fantasy, and I found myself understand her plight. The story is not my favorite of the three but it’s certainly a great taste of what’s to come in the next two. Spicy Curses Like These is the second story and this one ups it a notch or two. This one felt more like the familiar Taylor style that was seen in Daughter, I think this has to do with the added depth to this story. This one deals with a few different characters and each has their own feel and flair to them. The ambassador, Estelle, is a mysterious and rather grumpy woman with an interesting job opposite a equally grumpy demon who likes curses. This story really had me vying for the young girl and her love interest even though the story was rather short, there wasn’t much time to get to know them but thanks to Taylor’s fantastic story-telling skills you can connect with them. And lastly, the story Hatchling which is my overall favorite of the three stories. This one is the longest and thus has the most depth. The idea of the Druj is just fantastic and I was pretty much in love with them and how deceitful they are. I loved the fact that it delved into each of the main character’s lives and how they came to be in the situation they were in, I love how it all connected and the lore involved.This was a story that I would have loved to see a more full length version of somewhere, but Taylor does a wonderful job of getting all the information in without anything become forced or over crowded.

Overall this is a fantastic mini-collection of stories an”to die for” illustrations. This is definitely a book worth checking out, especially if you’ve read Daughter of Smoke and Bone and enjoyed it. It would most certainly be a good book to read while you are waiting for Daughter’s sequel to come out.