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theauthoress 's review for:
Lips Touch: Three Times
by Laini Taylor
Short fiction is rarely as exciting for me as novels are, and I haven't read many short story selections, so it took me a while to really dig into this book.
But I'm so glad I did, because all of Laini Taylor's magic (literal and figurative) that she pours into her novels she also brings generously to her short fiction.
This book of beautiful fairy tales consists of three stories, each one building up in length and complexity:
1. Goblin Fruit
2. Spicy Little Curses Such As These
3. Hatchling
"Goblin Fruit" was more like a sketch or a snapshot of a story, but even then it managed to surprise me with how things turned out. Heavy with Laini Taylor's trademark lyricism, the story is written with so much atmosphere and vividness that it actually comes alive on the page. Everything is easy to imagine, and the sense of magic, world-building, and characterization adds to it. The narrator's voice, powerful and vibrant, creates a fairy tale tone that perfectly fits the genre, and gives this simple but artfully told tale its distinctive touch, sucking the reader right into Kizzy the main character's (internal and external) world.
If "Goblin Fruit" was more like an appetizer (to use a food metaphor), "Spicy Little Curses Such As These" is where the author brings on the main course, diving into full-fledged story-telling mode, layering plot on top of characters on top of a fresh, intriguing premise that draws on the culture and world of the British Raj. Here, each of the main characters has a backstory as they stumble into the plot. The romance is traditional, but the way it's formed around the idea of the curse—and how it complicates the story as events unfold—renders this story an exciting read, even, I imagine, for readers who have already read similar fairy tales.
The last one, "Hatchling", felt more like a novella to me, and no wonder it's the one I enjoyed most. The story begins in the characters' present, but moves back and forth, utilizing a ton of flashbacks and switching of POV characters, sweeping across time and people, weaving a complete story with intricate world-building that makes you feel like you've spent a lot of time with these characters in their own world—which is that novel-esque feeling I usually seek, and this story supplied it in plenty, in addition to the pretty prose, of course, that Laini Taylor's fans can never get enough of. The breath-taking atmosphere, description, characterization, and plot development in "Hatchling" makes it my favorite one in this beloved collection.
Every story ends with a neat, fairy-tale-like conclusion, even if sometimes (I'm not going to spoil a particular story by naming it) the ending does come as a surprise. Readers of fairy tales and whimsical stories are going to love this collection, as are Laini Taylor's fans. I also highly recommend it for readers who love lyrical prose in general. This is a wonderful book of short stories for someone who is wanting to branch out from novel-reading and is looking for something new and different - a breath (or book!) of fresh air!
Not to mention, each story includes illustrations at the beginning by Jim Di Bartolo (who also happens to be the author's husband—how cool is a creative partnership like that?!). The illustrations have given these fairy tales another touch of realism and have vibrantly brought out the atmosphere. The first time I went through each illustration before reading the story, the visual story-telling didn't make much sense to me, but it was a really interesting feeling, in the middle of the story, to mentally re-interpret the images and understand how they fit together in portraying the events.
Final rating: This is a 5-star book, folks. Go read it!
But I'm so glad I did, because all of Laini Taylor's magic (literal and figurative) that she pours into her novels she also brings generously to her short fiction.
This book of beautiful fairy tales consists of three stories, each one building up in length and complexity:
1. Goblin Fruit
2. Spicy Little Curses Such As These
3. Hatchling
"Goblin Fruit" was more like a sketch or a snapshot of a story, but even then it managed to surprise me with how things turned out. Heavy with Laini Taylor's trademark lyricism, the story is written with so much atmosphere and vividness that it actually comes alive on the page. Everything is easy to imagine, and the sense of magic, world-building, and characterization adds to it. The narrator's voice, powerful and vibrant, creates a fairy tale tone that perfectly fits the genre, and gives this simple but artfully told tale its distinctive touch, sucking the reader right into Kizzy the main character's (internal and external) world.
If "Goblin Fruit" was more like an appetizer (to use a food metaphor), "Spicy Little Curses Such As These" is where the author brings on the main course, diving into full-fledged story-telling mode, layering plot on top of characters on top of a fresh, intriguing premise that draws on the culture and world of the British Raj. Here, each of the main characters has a backstory as they stumble into the plot. The romance is traditional, but the way it's formed around the idea of the curse—and how it complicates the story as events unfold—renders this story an exciting read, even, I imagine, for readers who have already read similar fairy tales.
The last one, "Hatchling", felt more like a novella to me, and no wonder it's the one I enjoyed most. The story begins in the characters' present, but moves back and forth, utilizing a ton of flashbacks and switching of POV characters, sweeping across time and people, weaving a complete story with intricate world-building that makes you feel like you've spent a lot of time with these characters in their own world—which is that novel-esque feeling I usually seek, and this story supplied it in plenty, in addition to the pretty prose, of course, that Laini Taylor's fans can never get enough of. The breath-taking atmosphere, description, characterization, and plot development in "Hatchling" makes it my favorite one in this beloved collection.
Every story ends with a neat, fairy-tale-like conclusion, even if sometimes (I'm not going to spoil a particular story by naming it) the ending does come as a surprise. Readers of fairy tales and whimsical stories are going to love this collection, as are Laini Taylor's fans. I also highly recommend it for readers who love lyrical prose in general. This is a wonderful book of short stories for someone who is wanting to branch out from novel-reading and is looking for something new and different - a breath (or book!) of fresh air!
Not to mention, each story includes illustrations at the beginning by Jim Di Bartolo (who also happens to be the author's husband—how cool is a creative partnership like that?!). The illustrations have given these fairy tales another touch of realism and have vibrantly brought out the atmosphere. The first time I went through each illustration before reading the story, the visual story-telling didn't make much sense to me, but it was a really interesting feeling, in the middle of the story, to mentally re-interpret the images and understand how they fit together in portraying the events.
Final rating: This is a 5-star book, folks. Go read it!