Literary Friday ~ Lips Touch Three Times

Synopsis according to GoodReads:

“Three tales of supernatural love, each pivoting on a kiss that is no mere kiss, but an action with profound consequences for the kissers’ souls:

Goblin Fruit: In Victorian times, goblin men had only to offer young girls sumptuous fruits to tempt them to sell their souls. But what does it take to tempt today’s savvy girls?

Spicy Little Curses: A demon and the ambassador to Hell tussle over the soul of a beautiful English girl in India. Matters become complicated when she falls in love and decides to test her curse.

Hatchling: Six days before Esme’s fourteenth birthday, her left eye turns from brown to blue. She little suspects what the change heralds, but her small safe life begins to unravel at once. What does the beautiful, fanged man want with her, and how is her fate connected to a mysterious race of demons?“

Laini Taylor is a phenomenal writer. The way she describes things is lyrical, poetic, and sensual in every way. I wish I had read this when I was in high school, and as I could relate to Kizzy (in her first story). 

The stories within Lips Touch Three Times are fantastic examples of contemporary retellings of fairy tales and fairy tale tropes. They are morality lessons, couched in gorgeous narrative and relatable characters. Reading these is like having a vacation for my imagination. 

I recommend it for fans of fairy tale retellings and classic Grimm-style adventure stories. Also for fans of Laini Taylor, and girls who imagine their first kiss with a more practical danger-sense.