#97 The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause
Zoe can't help but be lonely. Her mother is dying of cancer, and she feels as if her father is pushing her away as a result. Her only real 
friend is moving out of state. Normal tasks, such as eating, writing and sleeping at a normal times, are becoming difficult for her. Then, everything changes when she meets Simon, a strange boy with pale skin and silver hair. Eventually, Zoe befriends him, and learns that he is actually a vampire. Simon knows the pain of loosing a mother, and is tracking the creature that murdered her hundreds of years ago. Zoe agrees to help him, but will the task prove too dangerous?
I'm beginning to notice that books that I read at 13/14 are reappearing in popular culture. It's a strange feeling. I go to Walmart and see the Night World series proudly displayed. I turn on the TV and can watch an adaptation of the Vampire Dairies. I go to my local book chain and there's Christopher Pike's Last Vampire Series. The resurgence of such titles is of course due to the popularity of the Twilight Saga. One of the books that have been recently repackaged is The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause, originally published in 1990. Like Twilight, the focus is on a teenage girl facing a dramatic change in her young life (Bella's change was moving to Forks. Zoe's change is the forthcoming death of her mother) who becomes caught up with a strangely beautiful boy who happens to be a vampire.
The Silver Kiss is probably the weakest of the three Annette Curtis Klause books I've read (the other two being the werewolf story Blood and Chocolate, and the sci-fi novel Alien Secrets). Although it's a nicely written novel, occasionally it can wander too deeply into the melodramatic, and Simon's character felt inconstant at times. Still, there are many things that it does very well. It captures the emotional trauma and confusion a young girl about to lose her mother must go through. It manages to tell a story about vampires that can hold up to the test of time. The fact that it is still being read and enjoyed almost twenty years later proves that. Not to mention that it has a villain that is truly creepy. One thing I found refreshing was how the author treats the subject of death, always a big subject when dealing with books about cancer, or vampires. Klause chooses not to treat it lightly, or romantically, but instead very directly, leaving no room open for the option of an afterlife. Although I am a Christian myself and see things differently, I have to appreciate the honesty in which Klause presents her beliefs, and how she views this step as natural and necessary for this world.
I originally read this book at about thirteen and fell completely in love with it. With a slightly more mature view, I can see that it does have it's flaws, but still feel that the book is solid.
Rating: four stars
Length: 198 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Similar Books: Try Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde ( my review), Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, or Blood and Chocolate by the same author ( my review)
Other books I've read by this author: Alien Secrets, Blood and Chocolate
xposted to bookish and temporaryworlds
friend is moving out of state. Normal tasks, such as eating, writing and sleeping at a normal times, are becoming difficult for her. Then, everything changes when she meets Simon, a strange boy with pale skin and silver hair. Eventually, Zoe befriends him, and learns that he is actually a vampire. Simon knows the pain of loosing a mother, and is tracking the creature that murdered her hundreds of years ago. Zoe agrees to help him, but will the task prove too dangerous?
I'm beginning to notice that books that I read at 13/14 are reappearing in popular culture. It's a strange feeling. I go to Walmart and see the Night World series proudly displayed. I turn on the TV and can watch an adaptation of the Vampire Dairies. I go to my local book chain and there's Christopher Pike's Last Vampire Series. The resurgence of such titles is of course due to the popularity of the Twilight Saga. One of the books that have been recently repackaged is The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause, originally published in 1990. Like Twilight, the focus is on a teenage girl facing a dramatic change in her young life (Bella's change was moving to Forks. Zoe's change is the forthcoming death of her mother) who becomes caught up with a strangely beautiful boy who happens to be a vampire.
The Silver Kiss is probably the weakest of the three Annette Curtis Klause books I've read (the other two being the werewolf story Blood and Chocolate, and the sci-fi novel Alien Secrets). Although it's a nicely written novel, occasionally it can wander too deeply into the melodramatic, and Simon's character felt inconstant at times. Still, there are many things that it does very well. It captures the emotional trauma and confusion a young girl about to lose her mother must go through. It manages to tell a story about vampires that can hold up to the test of time. The fact that it is still being read and enjoyed almost twenty years later proves that. Not to mention that it has a villain that is truly creepy. One thing I found refreshing was how the author treats the subject of death, always a big subject when dealing with books about cancer, or vampires. Klause chooses not to treat it lightly, or romantically, but instead very directly, leaving no room open for the option of an afterlife. Although I am a Christian myself and see things differently, I have to appreciate the honesty in which Klause presents her beliefs, and how she views this step as natural and necessary for this world.
I originally read this book at about thirteen and fell completely in love with it. With a slightly more mature view, I can see that it does have it's flaws, but still feel that the book is solid.
Rating: four stars
Length: 198 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Similar Books: Try Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde ( my review), Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, or Blood and Chocolate by the same author ( my review)
Other books I've read by this author: Alien Secrets, Blood and Chocolate
xposted to bookish and temporaryworlds