Book Reports

The Story

Zoe's life has been turned upside down. Her mother is in the hospital, dying from cancer. Her father, who spends most of his time at the hospital, is distant and distracted during the few minutes he has to spend with Zoe, and they communicate mostly through notes pinned to the fridge door. She misses her mother very much, but her visitation times are limited, so in effect, Zoe feels like she's lost both parents. And to make things worse, her best (and only) friend Lorraine is moving to another state where it is unlikely they'll see each other much.

A rash of murders is plaguing their town, women found drained of blood, their throats brutally slashed. Despite the danger, Zoe still relishes walking after dark--with no parents to stop her doing otherwise--and one day while sitting in the park, she meets a mysterious young man clad in black with hair so blond it appears almost silver. His name is Simon, and he's not what he seems...

The Good Stuff

Like the book of Klause's that I previously reviewed entitled Blood and Chocolate, The Silver Kiss also has a heroine with a strong personality who is dealing with growing up. Zoe faces the challenge of living a life that seems prematurely independent. Although it's fairly clear she's still in high school, both of her parents are usually absent and she has very few friends and no one to talk to. Even her best friend Lorraine is uncomfortable discussing the one issue that features largely in Zoe's life--the illness of her mother and how she's changed from a vibrant, lively person to one wasting away in a hospital bed.

All of Zoe's feelings are very realistically dealt with in this novel. She longs to have her mother back the way she was, she feels guilty for not being there more often, indignant that her parents seem to shut her out, and frightened to see her mother so ill. There's so much Zoe wants to tell her, but the words sometimes get stuck.

Simon's presence really changes her situation. He becomes a friend and confidante, and truly, a little more than just a friend to Zoe. As a sympathetic vampire character, he's not at all like Anne Rice's rather egomaniacal Lestat. Simon was an unwilling vampire, one who is disgusted by the necessity of taking drinking blood and one who has fought against his vampire nature ever since he became one. But Simon isn't just hanging around. As an immortal, he's lived for centuries in pursuit of his mother's murderer--another vampire. Ironically, Zoe, with all her fumblings with her other relationships, is the first human being to make him feel human again. Her friendship makes immortality a little easier to bear, where before Simon always regarded it as an unpleasant burden.

Klause's descriptions are again, fairly lush and sensual. It would be difficult to write about vampires without addressing the issue of the romance and sexuality behind the vampire myth. The drinking of blood is an intimate sharing, and in Klause's book, vampires are able to exercise a certain power of their victims. Simon is able to make the blood ritual more of a sensual experience, one without fear:

"Poor Simon. What can I believe?"

Her throat throbbed with life near his mouth, and the gentle, warm smell of her made him giddy. He fought it briefly, but it was no good; she was too near, too inviting. The fangs slid from their sheaths. "Believe this," he whispered, and kissed her neck softly. "And this, and this." Then he kissed her with the sharp, sleek kiss, the silver kiss, so swift and true, and razor sharp, and her warmth was flowing into him. He could feel it seeping through his body--warmth, sweet warmth.

She uttered a small, surprised cry and fought him for a second, but he stroked her hair and caressed her. I won't hurt you, he thought. Little bird, little dear. I won't hurt you. And she moaned and slipped her arms around him.

Simon himself is, not unsurprisingly, beautiful:

"He was young, more boy than man, slight and pale, made elfin by the moon. He noticed her and froze like a deer before a 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."

Weaknesses

I was a little disappointed that Klause hadn't expanded more on the vampire culture as she did for the werewolf culture in Blood and Chocolate. The basic things get covered--sunlight is deadly, running water, crucifixes (garlic is not mention) are unpleasant to Simon. There's not really any unusual developments regarding the general vampire myth. I find myself wishing Klause had written a little more about vampire history and how Simon had spent his time between the moment he became a vampire to the present day. She only hints at his activities in this period. I also found the ending to wrap up all too quickly, although I remember loving it the first several times I read it.

The other major weakness is probably the language itself. Unlike Blood and Chocolate, The Silver Kiss feels a bit more dated. Even though it was published in 1990, it has a somewhat 1980's feel to it with references to punk culture, etc. I can't quite put my finger on it, because it's not like black leather and funky hair is really limited to the 80's, but the atmosphere just seems a couple decades behind. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, although since this is a Young Adult book, younger audiences today aren't really going to have as much in common with this era.

The language is also a tad more melodramatic than I remembered. This appealed to me a lot more when I was younger, and the topic of vampires certainly lends itself to very flowery descriptions, eyes being "full of wilderness and stars" being a prime example. Even Anne Rice is not immune to this! It does stick out a little more to me now, but generally, I'd have to say it's appropriate for this subject and this age group.

Recommendations

I think this is a good book for a mature young adult audience. The themes were very easy to identify with when I was that age--loneliness, isolation, failing to fit in and having a slight dread of what the future would hold, etc. The romance between Simon and Zoe also made an impression, since it was more or less a doomed one. All of this appealed to me very much, as did this book. Like Blood and Chocolate, there is no explicit sex, although there are sexual situations. Zoe is a healthy, but rather lonely young woman and her awakening sexuality is one of the minor issues in the story. Naturally, there are lots of other fascinating issues, like how one deals with death and tragedy. Simon's immortality is a big draw to Zoe, especially now when she fears losing her mother. There are also some rather graphic scenes in the novel, so it's not for those who are squeamish about blood. (Although why such people would be reading about vampires, I don't know!)

Tastes change as one gets older, so it's inevitable that not every childhood favorite remains a favorite into adulthood. I'd rather hoped The Silver Kiss would be one of them, but I think I like it more for its nostalgia than anything else. If I'd read it for the first time today, I would probably be more critical. Out of both books, I think I prefer the werewolf one simply because it had better plot pacing. The end seemed to be a little rushed in this novel and didn't have quite the same bang-up ending or resolution. It's still worth a look if you like vampire fiction, but remember its limitations and the fact that it is meant for a younger, perhaps less picky audience.

Recommended:

Yes