BOOKS | Review: Lips Touch by Laini Taylor

Name: Lips Touch

Author: Laini Taylor

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Date published: October 2014

Genre: Fiction, anthology, short stories, young adult, fantasy, paranormal, fairy tales, romance

Pages: 288

Rating: 4/5

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? 

- From Goodreads.

Goblin Fruit

This was a very dark and seductive story, it was very sinister but strangely delightful in a wicked way to read about how the goblins could latch onto what the soul desired and tempt you until you willingly did what they wanted, even though it would doom you.

Laini Taylor has a very poetic and descriptive style of writing that works perfectly with this kind of story, something like a dark fairy tale or twisted cautionary tale.

Spicy Little Curses Such as These 

This was quite a different story from the first one, although it had the similar feel of being something like a darker fairy tale. It felt very romantic while also having a tragic, bittersweet element to it.

Hatchling

This third story was quite a mysterious, suspenseful and intense story. There were quite a few different parts to the story and it was a little difficult to follow at first but by the end it all fitted together like a completed puzzle. Laini Taylor did not hold back on the darkness of this tale either and it was certainly not a lighthearted story, but it was definitely written well and had an interesting ending.

Overall Thoughts

It was a very well done collection of stories that fit together well and really showed Laini Taylor's skills for writing and her ability to write sinister, fairy tale-style stories in her own way, making them fascinating even when they became quite horrifying.

UNBOXING | Illumicrate Collections: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Ever since I read and loved Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer, I have wanted to read her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, and Illumicrate's tenth anniversary edition seemed the perfect way to start collecting the series and reading! It was a wonderful box to open up and I was delighted by every item.

Foiled print, artwork by Merwild.

Angel and devil book ends, designed by Noverantale.

A door between worlds book tin, artwork by Rosie Thorns.

Fluttering dreams mug, artwork by Rosie Thorns.

Soul thurible, designed by Illumicrate.

Wishbone enamel pin, designed by Stacey McEvoy-Caunt.

Smoke and bone book sleeve, artwork by Monolime, quote design by Chatty Nora.

Exclusive tenth anniversary signed hardback edition of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, with illustration on the cover by Peter Strain, and artwork on the reverse of the dust jacket by Jim Di Bartolo.

I was really happy with the quality and inventiveness of each item in this box, Illumicrate always impresses me with their special edition boxes, as every time they have quite creative and beautiful items. The book in this box was especially beautiful and I am very glad to have it on my shelf. 

Did you get this box? What did you think? Let me know in the comments! If you would like to find out more about Illumicrate, you can find their website here.

Review: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Name: Strange the Dreamer
Author: Laini Taylor
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Date Published: 2017
Rating: 5/5

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

Welcome to Weep.

- From Goodreads.

I had such high expectations for this book because it looked beautiful and it sounded incredible and I couldn't stop myself from having high expectations, and the brilliant thing is it met and exceeded all of them. Every moment was amazing and I adored it all.
The language was exquisite, the descriptions of feelings, people, the landscape, the witty, intriguing dialogue between the characters, all of it was captivating.
As was the imagination that could be found in the book, the whole idea of the world and its history. It was everything that I love about fantasy, it looked at the potential of the genre and flew away with it. Reading this book was like having the most magical, well-plotted, intense dream.
I would apologise for the fact that this review is really just me praising this book, but I'm not really sorry because I have absolutely fallen in love with the whole thing.
Lazlo and Sarai were the most wonderful, compelling, kindhearted characters and I really, really need to know what happens to them next. The ending ruined me. I need the sequel.