Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (4.5 stars)

Can Scott Westerfeld do wrong? Seems not so far. This was a fun read, I couldn't put it down. Lets start with the bad bits.

I hate Lace purely because she says dude all the frickin time. It is ridiculous. Was this some misguided attempt to appeal to teens? Did Westerfeld's editor tell him all the cool kids are saying it? Even people who do say dude a lot wouldn't say it how Lace does.

When I read this I wondered if the story was going to dissolve into some sort of stupid sci-fi Mills and Boon:

The parasite makes sure that I'm like the always-hungry snail, except hungry for sex. I'm constantly aroused, aware of every female in the room, every cell screaming for me to go out and shag someone!

Thankfully it didn't.

I found the alternating chapters of parasitology information slightly annoying because they broke the story up. It kind of felt like Westerfeld was showing off his research - look how much gross stuff I know - but it was pretty interesting so I didn't mind.

I liked the idea of vampirism being caused by a parasite, and the linking of all the major historical disease outbreaks was also pretty creative. This approach sets this book apart from the vast majority of vampire fiction.

I think I would have preferred to have left the evil in the sewers as a vague bad smell because the fight scene in the subway seemed a bit stupid. I think he would have been better stopping the story early and leaving the fight for the next book.

4.5 stars