Book Blog Mod. 8B: The Silver Kiss
Klause, A. C. (1990). The Silver Kiss. New York: Random House
Make way for another bitey teenage vampire romance! Simon plays your classic amoral, tortured, fanged hero, driven by a desire to kill another, older, crueler vampire who turned him. He is helped, humanized, and given love by Zoe, our sad heroine dealing with death.
I admit my bias up front: I am not a vampire fan. I can enjoy a vampire book, but the author has to work for it a lot harder than if the story were about a superhero. So the Silver Kiss wasn't my thing. But, it was a well-crafted book.
For one thing, the characters are compelling and they grow. Zoe is tortured over her mother's terminal illness and looming death. Simon is tortured over his inability to connect to others or die. It's a good balance of contradictory tortures. Also, while Simon is creepy and lacking in social grace, his behavior is treated as creepy, not romantic.
Granted, there are some problematic themes glossed over. Despite his creepy, "I pee on your steps because you interest me," actions, Zoe trusts and falls for him in a heartbeat. Simon uses a touch of mind-control to coerce her into kissing him, but it's completely hand-waved away, never brought up again, presumably because Simon never does it again. The ramifications of such manipulative abilities are never discussed.
Oddly, no one else seems to notice this. (Reviews, once again, all via Bowker's Books in Print, searching for the title.) Even Publisher's Weekly, which is the least complimentary, complains only "that suspense is uneven, her love story inadequately rooted and her resolution just a bit pat." Inadequately rooted, yes, I agree entirely, but that's it? No mention of the creepy, "I mind-control you just a little because I like you!" stalkery behavior? Is it just me?
Booklist also completely ignores the subtext, just calling it "a poignant love story that becomes both sensuous and suspenseful," and School Library Journal just calls it "seductive." So much for that. Guess it's just part of the vampire romance genre or something.
Still, Simon and Zoe's contributions and need for each other is genuine, and there is more to the story than the love. I didn't like this book much, but it's strong enough and popular enough to deserve space on the library shelf.
Make way for another bitey teenage vampire romance! Simon plays your classic amoral, tortured, fanged hero, driven by a desire to kill another, older, crueler vampire who turned him. He is helped, humanized, and given love by Zoe, our sad heroine dealing with death.
I admit my bias up front: I am not a vampire fan. I can enjoy a vampire book, but the author has to work for it a lot harder than if the story were about a superhero. So the Silver Kiss wasn't my thing. But, it was a well-crafted book.
For one thing, the characters are compelling and they grow. Zoe is tortured over her mother's terminal illness and looming death. Simon is tortured over his inability to connect to others or die. It's a good balance of contradictory tortures. Also, while Simon is creepy and lacking in social grace, his behavior is treated as creepy, not romantic.
Granted, there are some problematic themes glossed over. Despite his creepy, "I pee on your steps because you interest me," actions, Zoe trusts and falls for him in a heartbeat. Simon uses a touch of mind-control to coerce her into kissing him, but it's completely hand-waved away, never brought up again, presumably because Simon never does it again. The ramifications of such manipulative abilities are never discussed.
Oddly, no one else seems to notice this. (Reviews, once again, all via Bowker's Books in Print, searching for the title.) Even Publisher's Weekly, which is the least complimentary, complains only "that suspense is uneven, her love story inadequately rooted and her resolution just a bit pat." Inadequately rooted, yes, I agree entirely, but that's it? No mention of the creepy, "I mind-control you just a little because I like you!" stalkery behavior? Is it just me?
Booklist also completely ignores the subtext, just calling it "a poignant love story that becomes both sensuous and suspenseful," and School Library Journal just calls it "seductive." So much for that. Guess it's just part of the vampire romance genre or something.
Still, Simon and Zoe's contributions and need for each other is genuine, and there is more to the story than the love. I didn't like this book much, but it's strong enough and popular enough to deserve space on the library shelf.