Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

Book Summery:
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. . . -goodreads.com

Book Review:
I was rather disappointed in Westerfeld's Ugly series, but decided to give him another try after reading a several good reviews on Peeps. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Westerfeld puts life back into vampires, so to speak. ;) These aren't sparkly, vegetarian vamps. These are raving, rabid vamps that are just dying to share there disease with you...not by biting you, but by sleeping with you. ;) I enjoyed reading this book from a male perspective. As a woman, I find it most interesting to see the world from the eyes of a nineteen year old male. Especially one who is finding his way in the world as a (horny) carrier of the vampiric disease. Westerfeld also does some compelling world building. I enjoyed learning the "history" of the vampiric disease, as well as the history of the "night watch." Reading about the vampiric history of New York was rather engaging as well. Also, I will never look at another cat the same way again. Don't know what I'm talking about? Check it out for yourself. :)

Favorite Quote:

"But Cal, what about the Garth Brooks thing?"

"Garth Brooks? Oh, the anathema."

"It makes you start hating your old life, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "But Sarah's over that too. She was even wearing an Elvis armband."

"Elvis? What is with your girlfriends?" Lace sighed. (p. 250).

Cover Art Commentary:
While colorful, I am not quite sure what the reference of the cover is. Perhaps the storm drain is eluding to the underground world? The flower petals? I am not quite sure what's up with those...

Overall Rating:

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

In the second book of the Uglies triology, Tally has finally taken the plunge and become a pretty. She recalls bits and pieces of her former life, but mainly focuses on partying and joining a clique known as the "crims". This highly regarded clique is composed of other pretties who played a lot pranks or at least got in a decent amount of trouble back in their ugly days. Through this clique, Tally meets Zane. Together they fight to remember the past and restore their future. All of the characters are back and they have a plan to turn pretty town inside out and re-align themselves with the "smokies", a reclusive community of people who live in the wild outside of the authoritative restrictions of the "pretty" community. As with anything, no plan is perfect.

I immensely enjoyed Pretties. Much more-so than Uglies. While Uglies was interesting and necessary to set the tone for the entire series, it was very predictable. After Westerfeld set acclimated readers to the ugly/pretty world, he was able to dive deeper and create a story with a deeper plot as well as throw in some unexpected turns. Again, it's not the great American novel, but it's a good story. One in which I was able to get quickly wrapped up in.

Uglies be Scott Westerfeld

Tally Youngblood can not wait to turn sixteen. It's the age you get the operation...to become a pretty, to look like everyone else. Shortly before Tally turns sixteen, she meets Shay. Shay isn't interested in becoming pretty. Instead, Shay wants to stay exactly as she is. Therefore, she runs into the wilderness to find "the smoke," a society where people can live just as they are, without an operation. The society in which Tally lives in does not approve of such societies. In attempt to snuff out "the smoke," officials tell Tally that she can either find and reveal the secret location, or she can stay ugly for life. Choosing to become pretty, Tally journies into the unknown to find The Smoke, and she does. However, the utopian socitey is quite different than she anticipated, and Tally finds herself with a much tougher choice than she thought possible.

A fun, quick read, which I needed as life has been majorly stressful lately. I look forward to the rest of the triology...Pretties and Specials. Uglies definitely had faster-and-slower-paced portions. I have started Pretties and it definitely has a faster pace to it so far. Anyways, it's a good read if you are looking for something entertaining.