Review: Lips Touch: Three Times

Lips Touch: Three Times
By Laini Taylor, illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo
Published 2009 by Arthur A. Levine Books

Wow. What gorgeous prose. This was another one in preparation for ALA, but I'd heard a lot about it so I was pretty excited to read this one. I was not disappointed. Taylor has a beautiful way with words. For me, the first two stories worked better than the last, and the first made the deepest impression on me. But they are all incredibly well-done. Taylor knows how to pack a punch with her words. The characters she creates are well-drawn and interesting and the supernatural elements of the stories are believable and unique. Actually, the more I think about it, the more difficult it is to pick a favorite of the stories. They are all executed very well. Kizzy's infatuation with the new boy is totally understandable. The bargaining for souls in the second story and the twist with the curse is absolutely wonderful. And Mab's pain and confusion for Esme is the story of a mother in the third story. The illustrations, by Taylor's husband, are nice to look at and illustrate the stories well, but for me, there aren't enough of them to really add much. I would have preferred them scattered throughout each story as opposed to bookending them. But still, the prose here is so nice that I forgive this flaw.