The Last Days

More of a companion novel than a sequel to Peeps, The Last Days tells the story of new characters: Moz, Zahler, Pearl, Alana Ray, and Minerva, as they form a band in apocalyptic New York. The vampires from Peeps continue to occur, under the guise of them going mad, the sewers are gushing black water, and the earth is shaking. Randomly, it reminds me of the Duck Tales episode when they're in the Bermuda Triangle. Overall, I had similar feelings for The Last Days as I did towards Peeps, but with the additional sex and language in this it's much more of an older YA novel than, say, a middle school YA novel. So, don't expect too much, but no need to hate. 

Peace out!

Peeps

As I started my journey into the world of Peeps, I thought I was seeing how Westerfeld has matured as an author, how Peeps can easily lead into Uglies, but then I saw that all of his novels are published in (or near) 2005. Crazy. He must have had them all stocked up before he got a publisher. But back to the story: Peeps is an apocalyptic novel centered on parasites which cause people to become Westerfeld's version of vampires. Our hero is Cal, who is trying to save the world. 


Being a lesser book of Westerfelds, it was a neat read, though, because Westerfeld likens vampirism unto parasitical infestation in a very plausible and understandable manner. One caveat: this novel is geared towards middle and jr high schoolers, but there's lots of "horny talk." So read it before you hand it to your child and decide for yourself if it's appropriate for your kiddo. It's written for them & a decent read. 


Now enjoy this quote from Westerfeld on Peeps: 

"Maybe there are too many vampire novels, I thought. But that was part of the challenge, to see if I could do something that felt new and interesting, while still being full of bitey goodness. (Unsurprising confession: I am a Buffy fan.) So the book had to be original, but also icky, scary, funny, tragic, and (ahem) not sucky.

Besides getting a new take on the sunlight-impaired, my other big concern was that my vampires should actually make some sense as far as science goes. So I started doing some vampire research, reading a bunch of books about rats, parasites, bites and stings, and biology.

After consuming all there was to know on these subjects, I came up with the four important features that any vampire novel (of mine) had to include:

natural selection,
sexual attraction,
parasitic infection,
and Elvis memorabilia."

Read on, my friends! 

Hawkes Harbor

As ya'll know, I loved The Outsiders and enjoyed That Was Then, This Is Now, so when I saw Hawkes Harbor, in the ADULT section of the library, I figured I'd give it a go. After all, it's Hinton.

Unfortunately, she wrote better as a sixteen year old than as an adult. Hawkes Harbor had an interesting concept, a unique take on vampires, but in trying to be mysterious she comes off as vague and the story seems lacking. And to be quite honest, if the flap had said anything about vampires, I probably would have put the book back on the shelf. I'm not entirely sure it was worth the read.

Thirsty

Thirsty by MT Anderson

"And I realize that the decision to be human is not one single instant, but is a thousand choices made every day. It is choices we make every second and requires constant vigilance. We have to fight to remain human"

When I saw this book I thought it was made to make fun of Twilight, actually written in '97. Were any Twilight fans even *born* then?? 

Thirst is a satire, but not on the vampire pop culture cult. (is that redundant?)It's not even a vampire book. It's about being a teenager and being human. Sometimes it takes turning into a vampire to realize what it takes to be a human.

Reading it without the lens of knowledge of intent of Anderson, I don't think I would have enjoyed this book. It seems that many folks did not enjoy Thirsty because they thought it was a vampire book. Silly people. Don't you know who Anderson is and his writing style?

But I did enjoy this book. 
Did I love it? No. 
Was it worth reading? Yes.
Will I read it again? Maybe.
Do I recommend it for you? I don't know. 

Nightlight

Nightlight: A Parody

You know, I heard this book was hilarious. And it was funny, but not quite hilarious. Can't say that I loved it. Def did not live up to the hype.  So if you are bored and have absolutely nothing else to read and need a laugh at vampire lovers, go for it. But don't go out of your way to read this.