LIPS TOUCH: THREE TIMES
by,
Laini Taylor
Published:
October 1st 2009 by Arthur A. Levine Books
Hardcover, 272 pages
Placement in Pile:
Hmmm, tough, but I'm going to go with Reaching New Heights (see review for details)
Summary:
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?
Review:
This is a difficult one for me to place, but I ended up erring on the side of higher for one reason: the writing was absolutely gorgeous. Lush, beautiful, stirring, you name it. The content... not so much. I really hate it when authors have teenage characters smoke, and the girl in Goblin Fruit does, so that was a big put-off for me. But I guess since the point of the story is basically letting Goblins steal your soul for their nectar (and in this case, a kiss); what's a little smoking?
The ideas were all incredibly original, the writing was gorgeous, the illustrations stunning (and sometimes grotesque), and the content quite mature, unless your teenager is obsessed with death, Hell, demons and the like. Also, as a disclaimer, I was really, violently ill with gastroenteritis when I read this, so maybe I just wasn't in a good place to be reading about things like that. Maybe if I'd been totally healthy, the content wouldn't have bothered me at all. But reading about scabby, rotting dead creatures eating cats as a tithe to cross a bridge and stuff like that was a little difficult with my queasy stomach. Especially since she is so good at description--including the gross ones. Also, all three endings just kind of leave you guessing what happens.
Overall, this is worth the read as long as you know what you're getting.
Rating: at least PG13, if not R for content, language, mature themes, etc.
5 comments:
Found your blog via The Saturday Network!
This book sounds different but very interesting. I'll have to check it out! Thanks for the review! :)
Thank you for participating in The Saturday Network! And great review. I reviewed this one myself a while back, and I definitely remember the vivid writing and unique ideas - though some left shivers down my back. What I really loved were the GORGEOUS illustrations! :)
Hey thanks for commenting on my blog after finding it on the saturday network.
I really like the cover for this book. I hadn't heard of it before. I agree about the smoking. I don't see why authors have the teenagers do some of the things they do. I'll have to keep in mind what you said when I decide if it will get added to my wish list.
great great review. very nice web-site/blog. I wrote about it at my blog: http://nottooseriousihope@blogspot.com! Happy Saturday!
Found your blog via The Saturday Network!
Hope your health is back to your normal. I can feel for you.
I will be back to ck out your blog later. So far I like.. I don't really have a blog. I am new at this and trying to learn, but this old dog can't get a handle..LOL
misdskallie2000 at yahoo dot com
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