The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. (author’s note) (Supernatural short stories. Holly Black and Melissa Marr fans will find this collection ripe for the tasting. In the midst of these goblins, fiery gods and demons, Taylor reminds readers what makes them human. As she discovers the cause, she also learns her connection to her mother’s tortuous past and the forest demons called the Druj. But can she resist the charm of handsome new student Jack Husk when she’s never been kissed? During the British Empire in India, Anamique, cursed into silence by the Ambassador to Hell, yearns for love-but at what cost? The delectable language of these stories cannot save the sluggish pacing of the final novella, in which Esme wakes to find that one of her dark eyes has turned blue. Embarrassed by her Old World parents, high-school junior Kizzy knows all the tricks the goblins use to steal girls’ souls. Still, enjoyable to read & the writing voice is beautiful.In this illustrated collection of two short stories and one novella, which borrow elements of folklore, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism, a life-altering kiss steers the lives of three teenage girls. Nothing is more important or valuable than beauty, in these tales. But then, these are tales about beautiful youngsters, for beautiful youngsters (and those who wish they were). This fits with the beauty of the prose and the general worship of all things beautiful, but it also means, as well-written as the tales are, they are ultimately incredibly shallow and quite hollow, as if one were reading a story set inside a universe created for advertising Coca Cola or fashionable clothing or perfumes or acne cream.

Love in this book is an expression of aesthetic beauty, rather than anything even remotely connected to affection and real emotions. Exquisite prose, archetypal characters, only slightly marred by the fact that everything is over-prettified to the point of near-Disneyfication: love, in these tales, is a blush-inducing magical thing between Adonises and Goddess-like maidens, with just the right shot of lust to be sensual, yet safely pre-watershed literary programming. Lips Touch: Three Time is a collection of beautifully written novellas / romantic fairy tales for (young) adults.

Lips touch three times