Peeps By Scott Westerfeld

Peeps By Scott Westerfeld


Published: September 2006
Pages: 312
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Penguin Group

Okay, let's clear up some myths about vampires. First of all, you won't see me using the v-word much. In the Night Watch, we prefer the term parasite positives, or peeps for short.

The main thing to remember is that there's no magic involved. No flying. No transforming into bats or rats either. We're talking about a disease.

After a chance encounter with a mysterious woman one night, Cal Thompson's life is changed forever. He's been infected with an insidious parasite. The good news: he's only a carrier- still sane, without the worst of the symptoms. The bad news: he's infected all his former girlfriends- and now they've turned into what Cal calls peeps. The rest of us call them vampires. And its Cal's job to hunt them down before they create even more of their kind...

Incase you haven't realized yet... yes I am one of those lame people addicted to the paranormal, particularly vampires. Oh, and yes I do love Scott Westerfeld books as well. This being said, I had to question my love for both after finishing Peeps. To be comopletely honest, my favorite part of the book was its cover.

Right from the beginning, I was confused. Westerfeld dives right in, giving explanations for things after they have already happened. Then, as if I wasn't already confused enough, Cal explains that how Sarah was acting when he caught her wasn't normal (uh hello- you never told us what normal was!)

After things become a bit clearer I actually started to enjoy it. I have always had a certain respect for authors who take a such a common book theme, like vampires, and change it around completely. The first difference was the lack of a sappy love story. Yes I do love to read them, but the direction Peeps took romance was intriguing in a unique way. Because Cal is infected, he can't have a girlfriend. Worse than that, he can't even kiss a girl. That's right, if he does anything besides touch a girl they get infected. Talk about a twist.

The next difference I liked was the vampires, or peeps, themselves. In nearly every vampire book written, they are free to roam (though they usually spend most of their time out of the sun.) Even more, they are functional, and usually sane. In peeps, unless you have a rare case, like Cal's, the transformation leaves you schizophrenic, angry and anti-social to the extreme. They are in fact so different and creepy that they live mostly underground, with a brood of rats. I'm talking hundreds of them.

After taking in the differences between Peeps and most vampire books, I was bored again. Cal and Lacey's relationship never has any flame and only seems to become more and more boring with every page. When things start getting hectic, both Sarah and Morgan re-enter Cal's life and the book is once again confusing. On top of this, the build-up of meeting Morgan is completely pointless because the interaction between her and Cal is quick and unexciting. In fact, the only real contact they have is Cal running away from her house when she seems him and then him agreeing with her about spreading the disease. After a whole book of looking for her... that's it.

Unlike the Uglies series, Scott Westerfeld failed to impress me with this novel. The ups were mediocre and the down were boring, leaving me glad to be finished.



2/5