Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
A kiss is just a kiss… or not. In Lips Touch: Three Times, a kiss is never just a kiss—it always signifies a serious life event. Let's take a walk through the three stories and see how a kiss changed each main character's life, shall we?
In "Goblin Fruit," Kizzy leans in to kiss Jack Husk despite all the warnings about goblins that she's grown up with throughout her life and been hearing in the cemetery:
She didn't reach for the knife. Heavily and hypnotically, with her soul flattening itself back like the ears of a hissing cat, Kizzy leaned in and drank of Jack Husk's full, moist mouth, and his red, red lips were hungry against hers, drinking her in return. (1.3.74)
In kissing Jack, Kizzy basically gives up her whole soul. Talk about serious consequences—at least she does it pretty knowingly.
Anamique in "Spicy Little Curses Such As These" faces similarly dire consequences after James kisses her for the first time. In showing her that he's still afraid of the curse (by shutting her up with a kiss instead of letting her speak), James makes Anamique feel like no one understands her:
That kiss, harsh with haste and teeth, it wasn't the kiss she had imagined in her daydreams. She'd never have dreamed James' lips could feel so hard. They may as well have been a hand clamped over her mouth. (2.9.19)
This kiss pushes Anamique over the edge. After years of keeping herself silent on faith that the curse is real, she just has to test it. Of course, we all know how that turns out—with a whole lot of dead people. Oops.
In "Hatchling," Esmé's life is changed by just remembering a kiss—one that didn't even happen to her. Eek. Once she wakes up with the Druj Queen's memory of kissing Mihai, her life is never the same again: She goes on a journey of self-discovery that involves visiting the Druj kingdom of Tajbel and consequently tearing her soul away from the Druj Queen. It's super dramatic, to say the least.
Are you noticing a theme here across the stories? In each, the kiss isn't simply a moment of transformation—it's a moment of the main character, who is always a young woman, coming into her own and taking charge of her life. Kizzy chooses to change her destiny; Anamique realizes and accepts the power of her curse; and Esmé no longer lives as the hostess to the Druj Queen. In other words, kissing is less about connecting with someone else in this book then it is about young women connecting with themselves.