The Silver Kiss

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

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

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

I got this book because it was written by the author who wrote "Blood and Chocolate" (which I haven't read yet). I was interested to read a vampire novel by her. It was an excellent book but it was not what I was expecting.

In this book Zoe is in a tough situation. Her mother is dying of cancer, her father is pulling away from her as he spends more and more time at the hospital with her mother. The doctor has told them that Zoe shouldn't spend much time at the hospital because it might stress her mother and that Zoe should try to keep her life as normal as she can. How can you keep your life normal when you are left at home by yourself, constantly waiting for the phone to ring to tell you that your mother is finally gone? If this isn't show more bad enough some bizarre murders are taking place in the area and then Zoe finds out that her best friend is having to move out of town. Zoe begins to hang out at the park at night just to be out somewhere; there she meets Simon. Simon seems to know about death and he might even know something about the murders happening.

This is not really your typical vampire book. It is beautifully written. A lot of time is taken on the contemplation of the character's feelings, and the description of the surroundings is beautiful. This is a book about death. It is about facing death and dealing with death and trying to move past death. As such, it is pretty much a downer of a book and a bittersweet story. In general this book makes you want to cry for death, for beauty lost, for everything we have to deal with as humans. Somehow with all of this darkness; this book comes off as a sweet little story about the lessons life teaches. You can't help but sympathize and love every single character in this book; and given that it is such a short story it takes some wonderful writing to accomplish that.

It is a very short book and a very quick read. I thought it was an excellent read; just know that this is not an uplifting book. The descriptions of the characters' feelings as they deal with death are heartfelt and accurate. This book could be a help to someone dealing with loosing a loved one.

Overall, very good story. I am definitely looking forward to reading "Blood and Chocolate". show less

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

This is a YA novel about an ethereally lovely, troubled teenage girl who is being stalked by a beautiful, ancient, angsty vampire and then they spend a lot of time necking.

This is a vampire novel that never once uses the word "vampire", while it pulls vampire traditions from a dozen legends and pulls them into a minor-key harmony.

This is a story where the vampire goes all sparkly in the sunlight, and it's haunting and eerie and an affirmation of life.

This is a story about death and dying.

This is a gothic romance where the main character is smart enough to go into counseling at the end.

Definitely recommended to all teenage girls who need to learn what a good vampire romance is about!

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