Helpful Score: 6
I loved this book by Scott Westerfeld, my first! Cal Thompson, a cutey with a Texan accent, moves to New York to study Biology. A chance encounter in a gay bar with a mysterious young woman named Morgan Ryder, and several Bahamalama Dingdongs later, Cal's life changes. He becomes infected with a parasite that causes a form of vampirism, and unknowingly passes it along to other girls. Cal is a carrier of the parasite, an old strain dating back to a time in history when the plaque ran rampant all over Europe. Due to the world's overpopluation of rats, the old strain evolved into something terrible over the years, a new strain. The old strain is trying to resurface with help from cats and carriers like Cal. Having studied Biology myself, I really enjoyed the details about parasites, vectors, and the evolution of diseases, fascinating, well-researched!
Helpful Score: 1
I usually love Scott's books, but I couldn't get past the first few chapters of this book. This book was about sex, sex, and Horny vampires. All I could do was go What happened to Scott's writing abilities and why is this book about horny vampires!? Highly disappointed. I won't be reading the next book in this series because honestly, I have better books to read that don't contain a lot of talk about being horny and sex.
Helpful Score: 1
Westerfeld's vampires, aka 'Peeps', are a very interesting twist on the usual vampire tale. He actually has a great reason why they are the result of a parasite that doesn't end up in a hokey plot like some plots do. The suspense was great and it even got really creepy at parts, which I wasn't expecting, but was totally entertained by it.
The sex aspect of this story didn't bother me, since I actually found it to be a believable twist in the story. Plus, there's not any actual sex scenes as it's mostly just talking and kissing so only those who are easily offended will dislike it.
I also thought that the chapters that held actual information on real-world parasites were interesting. Some things I already knew, but there was also some others that I didn't or extra info I hadn't heard yet on species I was aware of beforehand.
Overall, this was an excellent story and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
The sex aspect of this story didn't bother me, since I actually found it to be a believable twist in the story. Plus, there's not any actual sex scenes as it's mostly just talking and kissing so only those who are easily offended will dislike it.
I also thought that the chapters that held actual information on real-world parasites were interesting. Some things I already knew, but there was also some others that I didn't or extra info I hadn't heard yet on species I was aware of beforehand.
Overall, this was an excellent story and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
Helpful Score: 1
I read Peeps in one day. Absolutely could not put it down, in fact. Scott Westerfeld is a terrific YA sci fi author, and once again, he lays the foundation for a stellar dystopian fiction series in the tradition of his Uglies books.
I am a big fan of paranormal urban fiction and speculative fiction, and Peeps manages to walk the line between both genres. The novel's main character, 19-year-old Cal, is a hunter who spends his nights in search of his ex-girlfriends. But Cal isn't a stalker -- he's a carrier of the disease that has left every girl he kissed a homocidal, bloodthirsty maniac. These modern day vampires aren't supernatural. Their condition is the result of an age-old virus that has lived in the rat population of every modern metropolis since the dawn of time. Now, a new strain of the virus is emerging or the old disease is changing, and Cal is in a desperate search to find his progenator Morgan -- the girl who changed his life with a one-night stand. His search for Morgan unveils a much larger secret that has the power to threaten the entire world as we know it.
The mythology laid out in this book is fantastic. I loved the concept of the Night Watch network working under the radar of modern government to keep the world's cities safe from the infected. I also loved Cal's character, and thought his first-person narration of the action did a great job of doling out the mysteries of Peeps. Readers are just as surprised as Cal as the book's strange events unfold, and feel genuine sympathy for our hero's sad circumstances.
As an aside, though -- this book is not for the squeamish. Every other chapter is an anecdote or informational snapshot of a parasite. It works with the book's theme and I have to say, I learned a ton of Jeopardy-esque knowledge nuggets throughout the book. But if you're easily grossed out, you many want to skip these passages.
I am a big fan of paranormal urban fiction and speculative fiction, and Peeps manages to walk the line between both genres. The novel's main character, 19-year-old Cal, is a hunter who spends his nights in search of his ex-girlfriends. But Cal isn't a stalker -- he's a carrier of the disease that has left every girl he kissed a homocidal, bloodthirsty maniac. These modern day vampires aren't supernatural. Their condition is the result of an age-old virus that has lived in the rat population of every modern metropolis since the dawn of time. Now, a new strain of the virus is emerging or the old disease is changing, and Cal is in a desperate search to find his progenator Morgan -- the girl who changed his life with a one-night stand. His search for Morgan unveils a much larger secret that has the power to threaten the entire world as we know it.
The mythology laid out in this book is fantastic. I loved the concept of the Night Watch network working under the radar of modern government to keep the world's cities safe from the infected. I also loved Cal's character, and thought his first-person narration of the action did a great job of doling out the mysteries of Peeps. Readers are just as surprised as Cal as the book's strange events unfold, and feel genuine sympathy for our hero's sad circumstances.
As an aside, though -- this book is not for the squeamish. Every other chapter is an anecdote or informational snapshot of a parasite. It works with the book's theme and I have to say, I learned a ton of Jeopardy-esque knowledge nuggets throughout the book. But if you're easily grossed out, you many want to skip these passages.
