Rating: 
Summary: Delicious new South gothic
Review: The description of Kiernan's writing as a mix of Bradbury and Childress is right on the mark! She manages to make even the most mundane aspects of life feel slightly askew, creepy and even threatening. Her fluid descriptions have the effect of transporting the reader to a fresh vision of the most every-day events. And the characters of SILK seem like the kids down the street (much like Boo Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird"). Here in the South we cherish our ghosts and crazy relatives; the past is never far from our hearts and minds. Kiernan captures that perfectly in her writing. This is a divinely spooky book in the tradition of the best gothic and southern storytelling tradition.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointing
Review: Not a book to be lightly tossed aside, but one to be hurled with great force...
Rating:
Summary: New Hope for Horror
Review: There are very few authors today capable of conveying the sort of dread and subtle creepiness that make SILK such an amazing and utterly outstanding novel. I am astounded at Kiernan's ability to draw the reader into her nightmarish world, one that is at once everyday and bizarre. SILK really does transcend the genre; while this is certainly one of the "spookiest" novels I've read in years (think Ray Bradbury meets Mark Childress), there's a lot more here than simple ghosts and goblins.
Rating:
Summary: Not a novel, just a big pile of sentences.
Review: I will keep this short, as short as Silk should have been. Kiernan's verbose novel is tolerable only to those who have little or no interest in story, who wish to spend (waste) their time swimming in the superficial, faux-Gothic,pretentious crud known as "Goth." This bastardized version of Gothicism will not appeal to people who enjoy the work of true Gothic writers, such as Poe and Shelley, for more than just the "spooky" descriptions. Kiernan's Silk is all about the make-up, people. The most Gothic thing about this novel is the mysterious lack of plot.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I thought Kiernan's charachterization was top notch. Everything was incredibly real, from the peyote to the music. For instance, I dont think there was one band in that book i dont have in my cd collection...it was just so real. Easy to ideantify with and beautifully written.
Rating:
Summary: What happen?
Review: I heard this book had something going for it. The friend who told me was completely wrong. The plot was never explain; the characters lacked individuality, brains and substance. I would say Kiernan is not a complete lost. She is skilled with words. I'll give her another chance.
Rating: 
Summary: Tastes Great. Less Filling
Review: Just finished "Silk" and don't have all that much to say about it. It is written really well. Kiernan knows how to write "real" people and make their dead-end lives interesting, but it doesn't seem like she spent quite enough time constructing a story. "Silk", if anything, reads like a series of character sketches. One has to read well over half the book before anything even remotely eerie happens. And when the eerie happenings and bumps in the night begin, there are very little explanations of the why s and hows in the end. The introduction, which sets the stage for a potentially interesting story, is actually a red herring. The book also suffers in that the culture it portrays has already grown up and moved on. I defy anyone reading this book to find a club that still plays any of the music referred to in the book. The books editor should have encouraged Kiernan to change the Goth settings to the more timely settings of the hip-hop rave scene. Still, Kiernan knows how to write and I don't want to trash her too badly. I'll definately pick up the next book.
Rating:
Summary: I must admit I was very dispointed with this book.
Review: I began this novel hoping to read something new and different. I am forced to admit that I gave up after 290 pages. I know, only 60 to go, but this novel is just dreadful. Goth, angst, lesbians, homosexuals, the war in heavan ( not very well explained might I add). Who cares? I realized I didn't care about a single character. Not a very promising debue.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb Uber Goth Counterculture Stuff
Review: 'Silk' is definitely shades of Poppy Z. Brite...but I don't consider that to be a negative trait, and Caitlin obviously has her own uniqueness. This book is a contemporary southern gothic counterculture erotic psychological thriller extraordinare. I know this genre has it's critics, and people think the 'GenX Misfit Kids in Black' theme is overdone,I still love each new spin on it...and 'Silk' is a book that's very easy to relate to.
Rating:
Summary: The best since Barker.
Review: Caitlin R. Kiernan is the first new dark fantasy writer that I've really gotten excited about since Clive Barker's BOOKS OF BLOOD first appeared in the States. SILK is an absolute tour de force, a first novel that demonstrates not only a startlingly fresh talent, but a profound insight into the psychology of horror. Kiernan's skills as a storyteller and wordsmith are perfectly balanced by her grasp of the macabre. SILK is a novel of unexpected depth, working old school Lovecraftian magic in a thoroughly contemporary, urban setting. Her characters are young people who are drawn both realistically and sympathetically; Kiernan presents a sober portrait of the GenX scene, without romanticizing or passing judgment. This is as good as it gets.
| 
