Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

October 13th, 2008 at 8:56am |

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Audience: Young Adult

Rating: B+

Synopsis:

(prequel to The Last Days) Cal has a secret – he’s infected with the parasite that causes vampires. Luckily, he’s a carrier and doesn’t crave blood. Unfortunately, everyone he’s kissed since becoming infected isn’t so lucky. The book starts with Cal tracking his ex’s and trying to control the spread of the disease, but he quickly realizes that something new is out there. Something unexpected, something out of control, something that doesn’t play by any rules: those set by vampires, carriers, or humans.

Chatter:

(Spoiler Alerts! ) I love how Westerfeld inserted the chapters on parasites into the narrative. He did it so seamlessly that I can’t imagine the novel existing without them. But that’s something Westerfeld always does well, weaves research into prose. It’s why he’s one of my favorite YA authors.

His take on vampires being another form of parasites seemed almost logical when set beside all of the real, but no less surreal, parasites he described. Believe me, I’ll be ordering my steak well-done and skipping all tropical rivers from now on!

I liked Cal a lot. I felt such sympathy for him because of all the guilt he must feel for having transformed Sarah and the other girls into something demonic. This is the one aspect of the story I wanted more of – I wanted Cal to go to Montana and see what was happening there. I wanted him to have a chance to reunite with Sarah. Mostly because I didn’t like Lace – I didn’t feel like she jumped off the page as much as Sarah did, which doesn’t make much sense because she was on way more pages than Sarah. Mostly, Lace irritated me.

There’s a sequel, The Last Days, but I haven’t read it yet. I read the preview chapter in my copy of Peeps and it had all new characters. I’ll be disappointed if none of the Peeps characters make at least a cameo – I want to know what happens with Cal, Sarah, Lacey, Morgan, etc.