Rating: 
Summary: An extremely cool read!
Review: I've gotten kind of jaded about books that have recommendations on the cover from other authors - they rarely ever deliver. Silk is a definite exception. I picked it up because I'd read some of Kiernan's short stories and liked them and although I was intrigued by quotes on the cover by Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, and Peter Straub, it was standing in the bookstore reading the prologue that hooked me. Kiernan's prose is fabulous, her characters real. Silk is a very, very scary book (especially if you're afraid of spiders...), but it's also a thought-provoking look at subcultures and life in the modern South, as well (I used to live in Atlanta). You absolutely won't be disappointed by this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Like a high schooler's spiral notebook
Review: This book held promise, and then left it at the door. What is left is the musings of a high schooler who felt the need to include every cleverly turned phrase ever jotted down in the spiral notebook between classes. They all turn up here, and even one of the main characters pays hommage to the source by carrying a notebook of her own. If only she had lost hers like the rest of us do. Goths have taken quite a hit lately, and it's a shame that many will see this book and think it's a summary of the subculture. Not every Goth is bound by the need to be pretentious and sullen. Not every Goth writer will disappoint quite this way.
Rating:
Summary: Yay for Silk.
Review: This is one of the best books that I have read in quite some time. It grabbed my attention and would not let me go. I thought the characters were amazingly developed, and I definitly felt a sense of connection with them. Caitlin uses metaphors in a way that makes me envious. And I enjoyed the fact that the novel was set in Birmingham immensely... I was familiar with many of the places and street names, which was fun to say the least. I think Caitlin is a very promising writer, and the numerous awards and recognition she has recieved gives credit where credit is due. However, this book may not be appropriate for the weak-stomached or closed-minded...
Rating:
Summary: A superbly literate work of fiction
Review: Ignore the review below this one (the reader from "the South" who's obviously using this book as an excuse to express his or her hatred for anyone he or she deems "alternative"). As others have already pointed out, the award-winning SILK has been recognized as one of the most important works in dark fiction in recent years. I agree completely. Readers who are put off by interesting characters and innovative writing may not be happy with it, but those who read to experience something outside the day-to-day drone of "normal" life should find it a great read. SILK *is* a novel about various aspects of alternative culture, but Kiernan has crafted her characters and the world they inhabit in such a way that only the most narrow-minded reader will fail to connect with at least some of them. One of Kiernan's talents is to remind us that the function of literature is not merely to reinforce our respective prejudices and preconceptions, but to expand our view of the world and society. Beautifully written, SILK spins its tragic tale with prose that (as others have noted below) is reminiscent of such authors as William Faulkner, Ray Bradbury, and Shirley Jackson. This isn't just another "horror novel," but a book that transcends genre and offers a challange to anyone who would attempt to explore elements of religion and the supernatural, as well as psychology, through novel-length fiction. I have followed Kiernan's career closely, from her stunning short fiction to this, her first novel, and can honestly say that I eagerly await her next book. Only once or twice in a decade does an author with this much promise come along who is interested in dark fiction and SILK is the herald of that promise.
Rating: 
Summary: As poorly written as I could possibly have feared.
Review: Well, the new "goth" author rears its ugly head. Thankfully, I didn't have to buy this awful book, as it was given as a review copy. Bad move on the editor's part, but not as bad a move as buying the manuscript in the first place. Kiernan's plodding and pretentious prose is awful enough in short stories, but absolutely intolerable in a novel-length format. Writing about execrable characters no one in a right frame of mind cares about is a mystery to me. And yet again I find myself amused by the holier-than-thou attitude of the alternative set, who think, in a kind of weird reversal of roles, that they are superior to the mundanes whose existences so bother them. This novel showed no promise at all, and likely reinforced the author's lamentable interpretation that this kind of writing is anything more than awful. I shudder to think what good work is shouldered out of the way so that garbage like this can see the light of publication. Ah, well. Perhaps there are enough Poppy Brite fans around to ensure that the book sees a profit.
Rating:
Summary: A book worthy of praise
Review: Before posting a review in which you claim that a book is disappointing, you should bother to learn how to spell disappointing...Or, at the very least, be consistent in your misspelling, if you're going to use the word twice. But, anyway, SILK is a marvelous novel and has been receiving numerous awards and accolades from the dark fantasy community. So far, the novel has garnered the B&N Maiden Voyage Award for Best First Novel *and* the International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel, as well as tying for second place in LOCUS' online reader's poll for best horror novel of the year. It has also been nominated, in the best first novel category, for the Bram Stoker Award. Glowing reviews have appeared in LOCUS, F&SF, FANGORIA, CARPE NOCTEM, and many other zines and newspapers. This is not a book or an author to be dismissed lightly. A skillful blend of an older style of "ghost" story (there are echoes of such masters as M. R. James, H. P. Lovecraft, and Algernon Blackwood) and a distinctly modern prose (think William Faulkner or William Burroughs), this is an exceptionally creepy and touching book (even if you aren't afraid of spiders!).
Rating:
Summary: Very Dissapointing
Review: Disapointing, but does show promise. If this book is anything to go by, Caitlin really should stick to writing 'The Dreaming' for DC.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the more innovative stories out there today.
Review: Silk is a story centering around a group of younger adults whose lives take a turn toward the supernatural side after something inhabbiting the mind/body of a troubled shop store owner Spyder Baxter begins to come out into reality and cause dark, terrible occurences towards the people around her. The book carrys a very dark dreamlike feel throughout it's entirety, and has a great cast of characters highly relateable towards the more underground music lifesyle. While sometimes confusing in the supernatural aspect as to what is actually happening and what's due to the characters' drug use(hallucinagens and heroin to be precise}, the book's characterization and originality more than make up for it. While I am a big fan of Caitlin's work on The Dreaming from Vertigo comics, Silk is a solid novel that stands on its own and is well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Silk is a novel that is well written and quite unsetteling.
Review: This would have to be one of the few truly Southern Gothic books that Ive read. Unlike some books that try to obtain a sense of fractured reality through semi-poetic verse and allegory, this one manages to keep the story cohesive. The story, however, is not the obvious one that it appears at first. At first Silk seems to follow the paths of a handful of young people in the underground southern scene, but by turns becomes the story of one woman's apparent insanity. The catch is the other characters are being dragged into whatever she is experiencing. Ms. Kiernan manages to create some rather troubling late night reading material with this.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: Easily the best horror novel I've read in a long time. Superbly written. Almost perfect!
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