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.
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