If you liked Disney, but feel a little old for it these days (except when you don't—don't worry, your secret's safe with us), then get excited. Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor—the author of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series—is like Disney fairy tales all grown up. We're talking soul-sucking first kisses, accidentally killing more than sixty people on your birthday, and discovering you've been playing hostess to a demon queen for your entire life. Yikes.

Perhaps even cooler, though, is that this book is actually three short stories, each about a teenage girl on the cusp of coming into her own. So as much as they're full of intrigue and dark magic, there's also a whole lot of untapped desire in these pages. And it gets messy fast.

Published in 2009, the stories of burgeoning desire, risk-taking, and plain old adolescent angst that comprise Lips Touch: Three Times are accompanied by vivid illustrations done by Taylor's husband, Jim Di Bartolo. Rendered in shades of black, white, and red, the moody drawings capture the dark and luscious world of these three stories. But just because there are pictures, don't get confused: This is decidedly not a children's book.

Are you intrigued? Ready to suspend reality and dive into three twisted magical worlds? Yeah, we thought so. Now pick up Lips Touch: Three Times and start reading.

Ever spent time with a Druj? How about hopped down to Hell for a little visit? Is smooching goblins your thing?

Okay, so we're guessing (let's just go ahead and make that hoping) the answer to each of those questions is no. We're also guessing you might not even know what the heck a Druj is. But now try to answer these questions:

• Ever felt like your family was super weird and mortifying to be seen with in public?
• Ever longed for the attention of a more popular kid?
• Ever found yourself following rules only to realize you've never tested their legitimacy for yourself?
• Ever woken up one morning and realized you're not quite the same person you used to be?

If you didn't say yes to at least one of those questions, um, you might want to check your pulse. You know, to make sure you're really alive. Because those things—family weirdness and social longing and all that jazz—are classic coming of age problems. No one escapes these suckers. And underneath the fantastical elements of Lips Touch: Three Times, this is the stuff our three leading ladies are really struggling with.

So fasten your seatbelts, Shmoopers, because it's going to be a bumpy ride. It's just how it goes with growing up, no matter how much magic surrounds you.