The Silver Kiss
One of the go-to Vampire Fiction novels from before the Twilight era is The Silver Kiss, authored by Annette Curtis Klause back in 1990.
Zoë 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 Zoë'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 Zoë to help free him from this lifeless chase and its insufferable loneliness?
Tropes used in The Silver Kiss include:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Leather-wearing, blood-sucking bad boys, right, Zoë?
- Author Appeal: Annette seems to have a thing for cats, poets (Zoë, Aiden) and painters (Anne, Vivian). And Vivian means "lively" and Zoë means "(eternal) life", in what might be a lampshade hanging.
- Bittersweet Ending
- Black Eyes: Simon.
- Character Development: From apathetic and angsty teen to... well... a less apathetic teen who has learned to "let go", in Zoë's case, thanks to having Simon around to sympathize with over the fact that they have a very close relationship with death.
- Chekhov's Gun: Zoë, we know that crucifix with the big red ribbon is fugly, but it's a really nice thing to have around, and not only for your Halloween disguise.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Remember those guys Simon stole his leather jacket from? Yes, they do show up again, in the least appropriate moment.
- Creepy Child: Christopher.
- Femme Fatale: Lorraine, since she's not young enough to qualify as a Fille Fatale anymore. Either way, she flirts with Harry, Zoë's father.
- Flash Back: Most of chapter 10.
- Follow the Leader: Inverted like hell with respect to Twilight, much to Annette's displeasure.
- Fridge Logic: Simon's plan. Zoë calls him out on all the bits that are wrong with it, but it has no effect.
 |
Simon: This is a pit on the opposite side of your bench. I dug it last night. |
 |
- Gray Eyes: Zoë and her mother.
- Ill Girl: Zoë's mother, Anne, of cancer.
- Indy Ploy: Zoë taking Christopher's teddy bear to lure him to the trap, because he stopped her too far from it.
- Lady in Red: One of Christopher's victims.
- Les Yay: Sometimes, Zoë and Lorraine are just a little bit too close.
- Kiss of the Vampire: The silver kiss.
- MacGuffin: Christopher's teddy bear has the dirt from his homeland that he needs to live.
- Meaningful Name: Zoë can be taken to mean life, which would bring her into contrast with Simon, and vampires in general. It can also be taken to mean eternal life, which brings her closer to them.
- Nightmare Dreams: Chapter 13 opens with one from Zoë.
- Not Using The V Word: Used once and never again. As with most Vampire Fiction, they use euphemisms most of the time.
- Older Than They Look: The vampires, obviously, but Christopher stands out because he's Simon's older brother.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Just like Twilight's, they sparkle... but only under the moonlight, because they become silvery with age. Otherwise, they appear to be common vampires that die with the sunlight and fear religious symbols and keep the hell away from running water. There's also the "dirt from home" issue...
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Zoë.
- The Reveal: That baby in the old painting? Simon. And the older kid? Christopher!
- Shapeshifter Swan Song: Christopher in the end, as he dies in a pit with stakes at the bottom.
- Spell My Name with an "S": It's Zoë, not Zoe, not Zoey; Zoë!
- Stalker with a Crush: Simon. Thankfully, Zoë does call him out on it when she finds out.
- Switching POV: With the chapters named after the narrators, too!
- Title Drop: Chapter 10, when Simon bites Zoë.
- Too Dumb to Live: Humans in general. Yes, even Zoë.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Simon spoils the whole plan to kill Christopher with Zoë's aid. It doesn't work as planned in the end, duh!
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Vampires can transform into mist and into some animals too.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy: Simon and Christopher.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Simon is not very happy with his immortality. He gets to chastise Zoë on it, when she suggests he could turn her mother into a vampire so she gets to live on in spite of her cancer.
- Wicked Stepmother: How Zoë and Lorraine view the latter's stepmother, Diane. Arguably, they're not too far off...
- Woolseyism: Zoë's name is nearly unpronounceable in Spanish as it is (Zoe or Zoey would be better), so she gets called Sofia (meaning "wisdom", which she acquires)
- You Killed My Mother: Simon's motivation against Christopher, his older brother.