The Silver Kiss

Zoe is alone. Her mother is dying of cancer, her father is consumed by his grief and his wife's suffering, and Lorraine, Zoe's best friend, is moving away. Zoe is alone with her pain and her anger, not even allowed to visit her mother in the hospital. Simon is also alone. A centuries-old vampire trapped in a hopeless, endless quest. Forever a teenager, forever chasing after his depraved, child-like brother. And when Simon and Zoe encounter each other in a park, each recognizes a fellow lost soul and each is changed forever.Annette Curtis Klause writes with such depth and characterization that I felt I knew these characters. I felt Zoe's grief and isolation, and understood her selfish anger at her mother for being ill. Likewise, I understood Simon's desperation, and sympathized with his self-loathing and his urge to seek companionship, however mad the desire. And I loved how Ms. Klause drew a parallel between the disease killing Zoe's mother, and the "disease" forced on Simon so many years ago.I loved how fully the author created a history for Simon; how she took the reader all the way back to Cromwell's England to show how Simon had ended up in Zoe's world. And I loved how she amplified the vampire legend and explained their aversion to water, their fear of sunlight, and the reason a wooden stake kills. But I also loved that Simon seems like a real person rather than just the standard creature of the night. Simon is tormented by the knowledge that he is "at odds with nature." And though he tries to do no harm to his victims, he cannot completely abstain from human blood. He does not kill, and he uses his ability--his "silver kiss"--to make the experience as pleasant (even pleasurable) as possible.This book was originally released in 1990, making Ms. Klause a pioneer of the emo-vampire genre. Indeed, the book has been re-released with a Twilight-esque black, red, and white cover trying to capitalize on that fact. But I don't think the two books really compare. //Twilight// is Bella and Edward's story together--we wouldn't care about Bella without Edward and vice versa. But //The Silver Kiss// is about Zoe's story and Simon's story and how their lives briefly intertwine and how they help each other learn what's real and important. I loved both books, but I don't think //Twilight// fans (especially the kind who white out Bella's name in the book so they can insert their own) will find what they loved in //Twilight// in //The Silver Kiss//. But I think anyone who appreciates good writing, great characterization, and real emotion, will love //The Silver Kiss//.

I've read Vampire stories for many years and this has to be one of my favorites due to the perspective of having a Vampire act like an actual Vampire. Most Vampire stories have them too soft towards whoever they are attracted to AND yet they are somehow strong enough to fight their Vampire ways because of their emotional attraction. This is different and raw. My only negative is the ending, which I wont give away. However, I would have personally prefer a different ending but I respect the author's choice since every writer is different. It worked for her and I still consider this one of my favorites. I wish there was several more books on Simon. His character is interesting.

After I was done reading this book I told my friends that before there was Edward Cullen, there was Simon. The same way Edward stole Bella's Heart, so did Simon stole Zoe's heart. The thing about this book is that the love plot between the two main character is not the main them of the book I believe is that book seeks a deeper meaning, is more about the loosing someone you love and being able to let go and move on. Death is a imminent thing that happen to any human sooner or later we are meant to it.I read this book after I read Twilight so I found that Simon had many qualities that Edward had or I better said Edward is very alike to Simon because The Silver Kiss was published almost 20 years ago. Simon is very charming, handsome and he worries a hell of a lot for Zoe and of course he's a vampire with conflicts but the one thing that makes him VERY different from Edward that in the end he had to made a choice and believe me he is WAY different.Even though the book was written many years ago and there's no such a thing as cellular phone or dvd or anything like that you don't feel the story to be outdate and one thing that would shock you is the antagonist of the story, you never see that one coming and never thought this person could be the one person who is in a killing spree.This is not an outstanding book but is a good one. It has very touching moments and even though the ending was something I had not expected or liked I believe it was necessary.So if you are into YA vampire story this one is nice, short and sweet.

Back in 7th grade was when I first picked this book up. I loved it from the start. Despite it's apparent flaws in writing, how the story seems a bit jumbled up in spots, and how the sudden (and awkward) love of Simon and Zoe comes out, in my opinion, too early, it does hold onto my emotions a bit.Zoe's mother is dying, she feels that her parents just don't care about her anymore, death terrifies her, her best friend, and only friend, is moving far away, and she finally meets someone who understands.For anyone who is 12-15 they can at least partially relate to all of this. The feeling of being alone, and no one understanding what you're going through, when finally even if the person seems strange at first, you somehow connect, and he/she understands everything.The only aspects of this book that I didn't like, was the ending, how you went through this love story, only for it to be stopped short, because Simon felt that he had nothing left to exist for. The cover of the novel also disappointed me. I prefer the hardback book jacket. It was much more accurate in the look of the characters, the paper back makes Zoe look like she's on her death bed, and Simon like he's a 50 year old trying to reassure her that everything will be fine, even in death. (In which the book clearly states that Simon appears to be more boy than man, and in my mind that's about 18-20 years old.)

Thus book is great and suspenseful! It literally keeps you on your toes! I just had to keep reading to the end.

It's strange because in the introduction Klause describes how she fell in love with her first vampire - from a book in the library. Well this book is how I fell in love with vampires. I read it when I was thirteen and have never forgotten it. Now I'm thrilled to own a copy. It will always be my favourite vampire story.

good read for teenagers

was ok

I first read Annette Curtis Klause's Blood or Chocolate, which I enjoyed, but this one even surpassed that story. Since the "Twilight" phenomenon of the books and the movie, I hear people ask how you many ways can you write about vampires, well, from some of the stories I've been drawn to in the past year, there are many ways (and many good ways too!) and this is just one excellent example. It's similar in that the one character is struggling to not be the monster they perceive themselves to be, but I like the way she develops the characters and how the story plays out as a result. I really cared about these characters and even ended up crying with the last chapter! She also deals with some real life situations, life, death, family, grieving, justice or vengeance, the fact that life does not always go according to plan, life can be messy and bring up a lot of emotions. I just really enjoyed this story and enjoyed reading it again with this reissue with stories of the characters before and after the main story takes place. I would highly recommend this book.

The silver kiss hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Ich hätte gern mehr über zoe und simon erfahren. Das habe ich dann in den beiden Zusatzgeschichten "Chritmas cat" und "Sommer of love". Was mir nicht gefallen hat, war das Vorwort der Autorin. Es hätte wohl besser Nachwort heißen sollen, denn ich habe es vor den eigentlichen Geschichten gelesen und mich riesig geärgert, da die Autorin darin verrät, wie die Geschichte endet. Völlig unpassend platziert!! Die beiden Zusatzgeschichten erzählen etwas über Simons Zeit, bevor er Zoe trifft. Christmas cat schildert, was nach dem Ende der eigentlichen Geschichte passiert. Obwohl es sich bei Silver Kiss um eine Kurzgeschichte handelt, sind die Figuren und die Handlung wunderbar vielschichtig erzählt. Mich hat die Geschichte sehr berührt. Wer allerdings eine "am Ende ist alles eitel Sonnenschein"-Geschichte erwartet, wird enttäuscht sein.