The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause

The Silver Kiss
Annette Curtis Klause
This edition published July 28th, 2009 by Delacorte for Young Readers
Source: Swapped

Zoe is wary when, in the dead of night, the beautiful yet frightening Simon comes to her house. Simon seems to understand the pain of loneliness and death and Zoe's brooding thoughts of her dying mother. Simon is one of the undead, a vampire, seeking revenge for the gruesome death of his mother three hundred years before. Does Simon dare ask Zoe to help free him from this lifeless chase and its insufferable loneliness?-Goodreads

The edition I read also contained two short stories entitled Summer Love and The Christmas Cat, however I will only be commenting on the main story, The Silver Kiss.

This book is written with the dual narratives of Simon and Zoe. Zoe is constantly alone because her father is always visiting her terminally ill mother in the hospital. Not only is Zoe frightened to see her mother in such a state, it seems that both her mother and father has shut her out during this difficult time. She feels ashamed that she is complaining about not having anyone around her while her mother is wasting away in the hospital. Simon is also very much alone. He is a 300 year old vampire who is desperate to make a connection with someone or something in this life. His only reason for living is tracking down the evil vampire who made him and getting his revenge. On a dark night when Zoe feels stifled by her loneliness inside her house, she goes for a walk and meets Simon for the first time. Without a word, their eyes lock and curiosity stirs inside each of them. But can their love endure what lies ahead for both Simon and Zoe?

Since this story was originally published in 1999, I feel that it must have been a major influence and precursor to the YA vampire/werewolf books of today. Even though I like Simon's back story and character when he is by himself, where Zoe is concerned, he is just another stalker-ish, love sick puppy. I didn't feel like it suited him very well. What is even more weird is that when Zoe finds out that this boy she first saw sparkling in the moonlight (sounds oddly familiar) has been stalking her outside her window, she invites him in her house with barely a question! She doesn't seem frightened at all by him or his tale of vampires. She was quick to accept Simon's story and to even let him drink from her because she was so mesmerized by him. Because of this, I felt there was a real disconnect between their characters and they didn't gel well together. Aside from the fact that they were both extremely lonely and faced with death, I didn't get a real sense of who they were together.

The story is extremely fast, almost too much so at some points. That is too be expected, I suppose, since the actual story is less than 200 pages. There was just no time to get to know the characters because of this. I did feel that the plot where Christopher was involved was really interesting and I wanted more of that. This just wasn't my taste at all, but I am betting fans of Twilight and Shiver would enjoy it.