Peeps

I really loved that the alternate chapters read like non-fiction. Also, I loved the weird parasitic vampire lore. This is a sucky review. You should read the book anyway. ( )

This book was so good. The parasite facts freaked me out big time. ( )

This is undoubtedly one of the weirdest books I've ever read...but you could tell Westerfeld had an absolute blast with it. And the thing is, it worked.

Cal is a peep-hunter; he tracks down humans infected with a little-known parasite that causes what most of us think of as vampirism. Cal himself is a carrier; an infected human with only a few superhuman side effects and none of the insanity that most other peeps have. Cal carries out his work in secret, until the day he accidentally stumbles upon a brand new strain of the parasite...and pulls in the beautiful and sarcastic Lace with him.

Along the way, Cal gives us parasite "fun-facts," both revolting and fascinating. And the way Westerfeld has taken so many real world concepts and woven them together so plausibly gives this book that extra dimension of realism; the feeling that it could be true, somehow. Cal's realistic nineteen-year-old guy narrator voice helps; he's not afraid to talk about rats, parasites, organs, and sexual feelings in detail.

One things for sure; you've probably never thought of vampires or the zombie apocalypse quite this way before. And you'll certainly be more knowledgable about the freakier side of biology. ( )

This is sort of hard to review.

On one hand, I read it in basically one sitting, but it is fairly short so that doesn't mean much. I liked the mystery element, but found the actual ending to be... stupid? Like, Extras ending level of stupid ~it was all just a misunderstanding!~ kind of stupid that frankly pisses me off.

The world was pretty cool (until the literal big reveal) and idk something about Cal just screamed "I'M A SELF INSERT CHARACTER FOR SCOTT WESTERFELD" I mean, they're both Texans in New York, they're both boys for one thing, and I've never met Scott Westerfeld, but I've read a crap ton of his books, and after a while, the author's personality bleeds through. Cal's a self insert character if I ever read one, and that's pretty disappointing because I wanted more normal guys as YA protagonists. Also, he was half assertive cool guy, half nerdy loser, and that's an annoying combination. Lace was really annoying and didn't feel like a person. No one felt like a person in this except for Manny, the lobby guy. And he showed up only three times for the best cameos in the book.

Also, like, half this book was just Cal narrating a nonfiction book on parasites. That's not necessarily a bad thing (I personally kind of liked it) and it did actually sort of connect with the plot and was a clever way to do worldbuilding, but like...it started to feel a bit like a BuzzFeed list: "10 Freaky Parasites You'll Never Guess Are In Your Body!"

Also, the ending kind of just showed up and felt extremely unresolved and unearned. There's a sequel, but I'm probably not going to read it. They really should have been just one book.

It should have been an adult book, not YA. The thing that initially drew me to this was the premise of "sex addicted guy finds out he's a carrier of a vampire STD and has to hunt down all his past flings because they're all zombies now" but it played out more like "awkward 19 year old has to file a lot of paperwork and meet with his creepy, borderline pedophilic therapist after going and sedating one of his past girlfriends (because the rest were caught before the book began) and avoid making out with a girl who keeps following him around". If it had been adult, it could have actually delivered on the premise promised. ( )

Cal is a carrier for a parasite that causes symptoms that may sound a little familiar, such as a hatred of sunlight, superhuman strength and senses, and a desire to feed off of other human beings. But they really don't like the V-word, preferring the term "parasite positives," or peeps for short. Fortunately, Cal, being a carrier and not a full-blown victim, got most of the useful parts of the condition without the irresistible urge to violence, and he now works for an organization of other carriers, hunting down the more dangerous infected.

The idea of vampirism as a parasitic disease isn't remotely a new one, but Westerfeld does put some genuinely new and interesting touches on the idea, and I'm always kind of impressed when a writer finds something even slightly different to do with a subject as well-used as vampires. And the plot is fun. Completely and utterly ridiculous, but fun. The novel also includes a lot of little interludes describing real-world parasites. Enough so that I half think Westerfeld wrote the whole novel just as an excuse to ramble on about various weird and disturbing parasites, but, you know, I'm okay with that. Because it is fascinating, in a repulsive sort of way, and he writes about it quite entertainingly. ( )