This book, to put it simply, was amazing. I can't wait to read some of her other books.

I don't think this was the best title for this book at all. Lips Touch makes it sound like another one of a million young adult stories about high school relationships. (Not to mention the cover, which is off-putting in its own way, and doesn't do justice to the illustrations inside.) If you can look past the title, though, you'll find a set of three stories, drawing from folklore to create their own kind of magic. The stories are each unique in their own right, each well-written. I really enjoyed this and wished there were a few more stories.

"Believe it. Believe there is more to the world than what your own eyes have seen."

In Lips Touch are three short stories, Goblin Fruit, Spicy Little Curses Such as These, and Hatchling. They are all sort of a mix between Fairy Tales and Mythology.

I liked all three of them but I personally found that Goblin Fruit stood out the most, like who doesn't remember their first kiss, right? Plus the way that story was made reminded me a lot of fairy tales and I'm especially fond of these.

The writing was pretty but there's something about "flowery prose" that makes it harder for me to read. I mean, I love it when authors have a way of writing beautifully but "too flowery" is not for me.

Also what has been bothering me with the last two stories is that the author used quite a few words that are unknown (Indian/Hindu/Sanskrit??) to me and she doesn't make the effort of explaining what they mean.

That's one of the reason why I'm giving this 3 stars plus the writing style.

5/5 stars

Laini Taylor continues to amaze me with her beautiful writing. As I was reading this, I had this sudden urge to reread her Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy because her writing is that addictive.
If you've read anything by her, you already know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, then this collection of three short stories would be a great introduction.
I loved all three of the stories, though Hatchling (which is also the longest) is definitely my favourite. I also thought the illustrations were beautiful and were a great addition to the stories.

It's so rare to find a book as beautiful as this. Everything about it is gorgeous; the illustrations, the prose, the plot, the characters. Each story is so different from the other two and yet all three deserve 5 stars in their own ways.

The emotions were expressed perfectly, and Taylor is a master at writing. And it was all so dark and captivating that they didn't feel like short stories at all because the world-building was so deep and expertly crafted.

I can't even decide which of the stories is my favourite, because they're all my favourite in different ways, for different reasons. Goblin Fruit was stuffed with beautifully dreamy prose and the end came as a complete surprise to me, Spicy Little Curses was so well described that the scenery seemed like an extra character in a cast of already incredibly interesting and memorable creatures and the plot was so fascinating that I thought about it for days, and Hatchling was utterly enthralling for its epic story, slow plot reveal yet fast-pace action scenes and, best of all, the tantalising star-crossed lovers.

I'm not going to write a summary for this book since it was three different stories. I am going to tell you that if you don't run out and get this book right away you are missing out on something wonderful.
I don't usually like short stories. I have a hard time connecting with the characters. With Lips Touch I was sucked right in with the first story and I stayed that way until the very last page.

Every story in Lips Touch is beautifully unique and unlike anything I have ever read before. Laini Taylor has a way with words. She makes them sound lyical and fantastic. I was left wanting more! The world she created in the last story Hatchling is amazing. There is so much potential there to create endless novels in that world.
The characters were all very well written and I felt connected to their stories and hardships. Which in my opinion is something hard to capture in a short story. As an added bonus we get to see these characters and stories brought to life with the beautiful illustrations of Jim Di Bartolo. Everything about this book is beautiful!

Lips Touch is a finalist for the National Book Award and after reading it I am not surprised. This is going to be a book that people will talk about for a long time to come.

http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/

I'm sorry to say I didn't like this one nearly as well as the Dreamdark series. But, to be honest, I'm not and probably never will be a fan of short stories. And this was no exception.

I love Laini Taylor's writing. It's so imaginative, and you can really feel the depth and beauty of it. I even liked the ideas for these stories. I just felt like they were build-ups for real stories (novels) and left me feeling a little unsatisfied. The third story in particular felt like a lot of world building, especially for a short story.

This is not to say that I wouldn't recommend this book. If you like short stories, these are wonderful. It's like reading fairy tales like they're meant to be (not the Disney versions): dark, scary, not entirely happily-ever-after. I'm just not a short story person, no matter how much I love the writer.

Beautiful words, beautiful stories, beautiful characters... you know, this is just one damn beautiful book. I am in awe of it. Can you fall in love with a book? If so, I'm guilty. I don't mean to sound condescending to young adult readers (I am one) but this book simply does not deserve the readership that thought [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307515757s/41865.jpg|3212258] was the best book ever written.

Everything about the marketing and presentation of this book does not convey how truly wonderful it is. Firstly, though the cover illustration is a stunning work of art, I think it tends to immediately appeal to younger readers and rule out an older audience. It's pretty... but it looks like a children's book. Same with the title... it's cute, very cute and it's quite a subtle representation of what the book is about... but again, it sounds like a cutesy [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307515757s/41865.jpg|3212258]-style romance. Another thing it has in common with the saga is the genre it is categorised in: paranormal romance.

But to say that [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307515757s/41865.jpg|3212258] and [b:Lips Touch: Three Times|7638021|Lips Touch Three Times|Laini Taylor|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327932551s/7638021.jpg|6556598] are both paranormal romances is like saying tin and platinum are both metals. It's in an entirely different league. And I almost didn't read this because I saw reviews saying the first story was just like [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307515757s/41865.jpg|3212258]. No, no, no. The very main difference between the two is that [a:Laini Taylor|324620|Laini Taylor|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1224474224p2/324620.jpg] remembers the basic principle of quality writing.

Let's look at Bella Swan for a second... after four books what do we know about her?

1) She's that girl who's in love with a vampire
2) She's that girl who's in love with Edward Cullen
3) She's that girl... um, that's about it.

In one paragraph of that first story called 'Goblin Fruit', that according to some is "just like Twilight", this is Kizzy:

"Kizzy wanted to be a woman who would dive off the prow of a sailboat into the sea, who would fall back in a tangle of sheets, laughing, and who could dance a tango, lazily stroke a leopard with her bare foot, freeze an enemy's blood with her eyes, make promises she couldn't possibly keep, and then shift the world to keep them. She wanted to write memoirs and autograph them at a tiny bookshop in Rome, with a line of admirers snaking down a pink-lit alley. She wanted to make love on a balcony, ruin someone, trade in esoteric knowledge, watch strangers as coolly as a cat. She wanted to be inscrutable, have a drink named after her, a love song written for her, and a handsome adventurer's small airplane, champagne-christened Kizzy, which would vanish one day in a windstorm in Arabia so that she would have to mount a rescue operation involving camels, and wear an indigo veil against the stinging sand, just like the nomads. Kizzy wanted."

YES. In just one paragraph, [a:Laini Taylor|324620|Laini Taylor|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1224474224p2/324620.jpg] has created a far more complex character than [a:Stephenie Meyer|941441|Stephenie Meyer|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1269985304p2/941441.jpg] ever managed. And let me just say, this book is hard to quote from because the entire thing is a quotable masterpiece, you can find something beautiful in every single paragraph on every single page. I actually took longer than it would normally take me to finish a 250 page young adult novel, and not because it was hard work, but because I would read a few sentences, think "wow", and go back and read it again. And again. My only fault with it is that I finished the last story and wanted to cry because there wasn't any more.

Who is this [a:Laini Taylor|324620|Laini Taylor|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1224474224p2/324620.jpg] who seems to have appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden with her extraordinary writing and her pink hair? I don't know but I do know I'll be getting my hands on her future work if I have to sell my soul in exchange (yeah, that was a bit melodramatic but I haven't come out of fairyland yet). Read this, spread the word. 'tis fantastic!