The Silver Kiss

2025 Advent, Day 23 (a reread): When I was in my late teens , this was one of my favourite books. I lent it out to my boyfriend at the time and asked him to read it because it was my favorite, it was not that long, and it was important n to me. That boy kept the book for several years, and even after we broke up, would not give it back to me because he still had not read it and felt bad that he had kept it so long but also like he needed to read it before returning it.
When I moved to England, this book was one of the first things that I bought for myself, somewhat a means taking back control and closing that previous chapter of my life by cutting that tether and finally letting go of that expectation for return.
I added this book to my show more advent calendar several months ago because it occurred to me that I had not actually read the book since loaning and I had a vague recollection that one of the bonus stories in this edition was specifically Christmas themed. The book was definitely 5 stars at an earlier point in my life, but I also have always considered it important reread and rewatch, because even if the content has not changed, you have.
So, my reread now, more than a decade later:.... I'm still crying. It's some teen melodramatic but it's also so human. Still a better love story than twilight. 4 stars. (It is demoted, but it's still in my emotional favourites, even if just for the nostalgia) show less

It would appear that I disappeared for two weeks after reading this, ostensibly because it was so bad. No. I was so busy and flustered IRL that--I didn't have it in me to sit down and properly review this. Now, I can. I absolutely loved this book when I read it in fifth grade, twenty-five years ago as of this writing. I read it a few times in middle school after. Fast forward to now. I actually tried reading this a couple of times and got annoyed. Now, I wanted to just sit down and finish it so I could review it and note to myself, "I already read this and here's what I thought."

After DNF'ing several books with bland, simplistic, or bare-bones descriptions, the purple prose in this was refreshing. Whole way through, even, for the most show more part. As long as nature or day or night was being described. If it was a person or a feeling, I quickly grew annoyed. That's part of purple prose, though. I remembered most of this as an adult, but had totally managed to forget Christopher. Good on me. What an insufferable asshat. His brother is a dick, condescending and controlling to Zoe; but he's arrogant in a different way that Christopher is. Christopher is a pompous brat and ugh, every time he was on the page I yearned to return to "Interview with a Vampire," which handled child vampires in an altogether different way through Claudia. And I hated Claudia back when I read Anne Rice as a teen. But I liked how her character moved through the world and had realistic emotions about forever being trapped in a child's body.

Simon's...increasingly, when he was on the page, I shook my head and thought, "And you will grow up, sink deep into literature, and star in a book called 'Seven Types of Ambiguity,'" because wow, this book's Simon and that book's Simon had definite similarities beyond their names and ability to charm others. The author wanted him to be a wounded bird of sorts, and for the audience to feel bad. Instead, I found his circumstances and the way he handled them, annoying. Simon, as a vampire, shares story beats and some characterization with Spike from BTVS: Spike rides around in a car with a dirty windshield and wraps himself in a dirty blanket to cover what his leather trench coat does not. Simon sleeps in a boarded up building, and wedges himself into a tiny space rather than, you know, steal blankets out of something and spread out reasonably. Both become obsessed with a teen girl far younger than them and engage in victim blaming and attempts at grooming. They're manipulative.

And both get monologues as the sun rises. Instead of staked. How cheap. Where's my big fight scene? I never felt like either character earned "monologue as the sun rises". No, I wanted their objects of obsession to fight them.

I congratulate Annette Curtis Klause on her success, and I'm a little sad that my nostalgia is streaked through with bitterness of adulthood who frowns upon weird power dynamics in books like this. I contemplate reading some Mary Downing Hahn to make myself feel better. I'd still recommend this to people, though. Even though my opinion has changed, I'm still glad I got to read this again. show less

The Silver Kiss is Most Excellent! To me, this is almost the perfect vampire romance/non-romance. More importantly, it is about facing death, facing life, facing evil. It is about choosing life.

Zoe is perhaps too wise for her years, but I think that comes when loving with a family member who is suffering and facing death. Perhaps that is what made it resonate with me in a year when the news is filled with illness, suffering, and death.

Simon is a vampire who is over 300-years old. Simon wants revenge on a vampire who killed his mother and continues to delight in killing others. When he was turned, he was probably an appropriate age to court Zoe.

I liked this book because Simon knows that his life is too dark to ask anyone, even Zoe, to show more share it. And Zoe learns and grows throughout the book. And the ending ... well, I leave it to you to discover.

While it was written for young adults, I highly recommend it for anyone who likes a touch of horror in their vampire novel. show less

Zoe’s mother is dying, her father is always at the hospital, and her best friend is moving away. At this most vulnerable point, she meets Simon, a permanently teenaged vampire seeking revenge for his mother’s death over three hundred years ago. Zoe helps him in his quest as he helps her to process her mother’s impending death. This is a dark tale that contrasts rather sharply with the wish fulfillment of the Twilight (yes, the teen vampire novel to which all others must now be compared).

Senza dubbio questo è un libro per ragazzi di una certa fascia d'età e con determinate aspettative nei confronti di un libro fantasy.
Io, nonostante ciò, mi sono ritrovata in più punti a commuovermi. I temi trattati sono molto 'umani', cupi e tristi che finiscono per usare il fattore 'paranormale' solo come espediente per affrontare tematiche generalmente tutt'altro che piacevoli. Breve e scorrevole è un romanzo che si legge tutto d'un fiato, che commuove e che soprattutto fa pensare. Ben lontano dal commerciale Twilight dato che è stato scritto più di 10 anni fa (1990) ritroviamo la protagonista Zoe a far i conti con la malattia terminale della madre e con il senso di abbandono e rabbia verso un padre così preso dal dolore e show more dal compito di 'accudire' la malata che spesso dimentica quale siano le esigenze di una 'figlia'. Su questo sfondo viene affrontato un altro tema ovvero il distacco dalla propria amica del 'cuore' ed il mutamento irreversibile della pripria 'realtà'. E mentre Zoe lotta per non farsi sommergere dalla marea degli eventi che la stanno affondando fa la sua comparsa Simon, un vampiro. Certamente la scrittrice avrebbe potuto approfondire decisamente di più la storia ma, come già detto, questo è un libro pensato per dei ragazzi quindi ci sta bene la 'velocità' del romanzo che colpisce e scuote la mente scivolando via verso una fine, per una volta, non scontata ed abbastanza dura da non rovinare il suo intento.
Decisamente un bel romanzo. show less

This story by Annette Curtis Klause entwines the two stories of Zoe and Simon, chapter by chapter. We start with Zoe - a lonely girl who is struggling with the steady decline of her mother to cancer and the loss of her best friend who is moving to a new city. She feels lost and unloved, and as though no one can understand her grief and pain. Enter Simon, one of the undead. A vampire who has flitted from city to city in pursuit of his monstrous brother, also a vampire. Simon struggles against his nature, believing himself to be unnatural - this is why he is unable to show his face to the sun, or cross running water. He is perfectly positioned to understand Zoe's plight, particularly because he feels as though his condition is a show more disease.

This is a beautiful, poetic and ephemeral little book. The fleeting nature of Zoe and Simon's relationship and their brief sweet love is perfectly written. Unlike other reviewers I felt the ending of the book to be extremely appropriate and very moving.

I loved the language that Klause used throughout the book, especially when describing Simon - such as: "He was young, more boy than man, slight and pale, made elfin by the moon. He noticed her and froze like a deer before the gun. They were trapped in each other's gaze. His eyes were dark, full of wilderness and stars. But his face was ashen. Almost as pale as his silver hair. With a sudden ache she realized he was beautiful..."

Simon is a lovely, half-wild predecessor to Edward Cullen - from a time when vampires could love, but were never selfish enough to think they could stay with a human. Simon is written in an 'old-fashioned' sense, when the usual cliches of vampires applied - couldn't go out in the daylight, affected by crosses, definitely not sparkly. I much prefer him, although I know I am in the minority here!

I am glad that in the wake of the Twilight phenomenon this book would have seen a wider audience, because it deserves to be read. It has two strong central characters, with genuine motivations, who affect each other's lives and learn from the other. The girl does not depend solely on the vampire for succour and support; although lonely and scared, she can stand on her own two feet. The vampire is not emasculated by his love for a human girl.

The only part I wasn't too sure about was the info dump approach to Simon revealing his past in one long story, but this section was still absorbing and probably necessary to get out all at once considering the slightness of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely story and felt deeply affected by both Zoe and Simon. I would recommend it to anyone who does not like the cloying nature and poor writing of the Twilight books and their carbon copies on the market. This is the thinking girl's Twilight. show less

Summary: Zoe's life is falling apart, and she has no one to share it with: her mother is dying from cancer, her father is growing increasingly distant in his grief, and her best friend is moving away. When she meets a strange, pale boy named Simon, she's instinctively drawn to him, and even though she knows she shouldn't trust him, she feels like he really gets her, and understands the losses she's going through. And she's right, Simon does understand death... because he's a vampire, and has been alone on his quest to track a savage murderer through the centuries.

Review: Maybe if I had read this in junior high, shortly after it was published, I would have had an easier time identifying with the characters. Maybe if I had read this show more before I got so thoroughly burnt out on vampires, I would have found it more interesting. Maybe if I had read this before I started reading critically (or cynically, take your pick), I would have found the writing style easier to deal with. Maybe a lot of things... but maybe not.

This book does do one thing very well, namely portray Zoe's mix of emotions in the face of her mother's illness. I didn't identify with it personally (thank god!) but it felt very real and very raw, and I can see how it would really resonate with a reader who has lost a loved one to illness, especially at a young age.

But all of the rest of the story, all of the vampire stuff and the "romance", does not hold up particularly well. It may have been new and interesting when it first came out, but it's showing its age in a world that is flooded with teen paranormal romances. Simon wasn't a particularly intriguing character to me, and their relationship felt rather forced and not particularly romantic.

I also really didn't care for the writing style. I didn't notice it so much in Blood and Chocolate, the other one of Klause's books that I've read, but in The Silver Kiss the prose is weirdly blunt and choppy, with a lot of short, declarative sentences, and basically no nuance. It made it feel like it was written for a younger audience than teens, which created some cognitive dissonance with some of the more violent and bloody behavior it portrayed.

This book is short, so it was a fast read, but in the final analysis it just didn't do enough for me. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: It's one of the starting points of the current craze for teen vampire fiction, so it might be worth checking out for historical interest, but on its own merits as a vampire story, it hasn't aged well. show less