Peeps

by Scott Westerfeld
Start Date: 6 April 2011
End Date: 9 April 2011
312 pages (paperback)
Published September 7th 2009

Summary (from Goodreads):
A year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying than in attending biology class. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal’s life.

Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he’s infected the girlfriends he’s had since Morgan. All three have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls Peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires. It’s Cal’s job to hunt them down before they can create more of their kind. . . .

Bursting with the sharp intelligence and sly humor that are fast becoming his trademark, Scott Westerfeld’s novel is an utterly original take on an archetype of horror.

My review:
I have found that I can count on anything on Westerfeld's to be great. Peeps was by far the creepiest of the bunch, but it was really fun to read. Set in modern day New York, vampirism is an STD that needs to be controlled by agents like Cal. He didn't chose this, but he is responsible for capturing those whom he infected and Morgan, the woman who infected him. The chapters switch between Cal's narrative and short segments talking about real-life parasites. This may sound weird, but the parasite chapters were some of my favorite parts of the book, and definitely helped me bridge to gap between the the fantastical elements of the story and the reality it happens in.

I have to mention that this book is not as appropriate for everyone as most of the books I read. I'd call it PG-13. There's nothing graphic, and as far as I can remember no swearing or anything of that sort, but the entire premise has to do with sexuality, which is mentioned throughout the book. But I refuse to read anything too bad (I never finished Oscar Wao), so nothing that I review on this blog is going to be something readers need to be overly cautious about.

Overall, I thought this book was original and exciting. I had fun reading it. Cal is witty and Westerfeld's world is easy to immerse yourself in. Recommended for high schoolers.

Judge this book by its cover!