This is good because the bad effects - such as an intolerance of daylight and a hatred of everything previously loved, followed by madness and cannibalism - are really undesirable. So while he gets the benefits of infection, a fast metabolism, increased life span, night vision and super human strength, he gets none of the bad effects of infection. He is one of the few rare people who are partially immune to the effects of the parasite. Parasite Positive is told in first person by nineteen year old Cal, whose whole life revolves around parasite containment since his own unfortunate parasitic infection.

Unlike most of the young adult novels that I have read recently Parasite Positive doesn’t feature school or college as the main location and perhaps it is this lack of educational location that makes this novel seem less like a teen read and more like a book for readers of any age. Parasite Positive is written for the young adult market but I had to keep reminding myself of this fact as I was reading the novel. Scott Westerfeld has written many novels both for adults and teenagers. For readers in the US, Parasite Positive is published under the title of “ Peeps.” So if you’re reading this and thinking, “Hey, that book sounds just like Peeps” it’s because it is Peeps! Now - book identity established, I’ll get on with the review. And it's Cal's job to hunt them down before they can create even more of their kind.

Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he's infected the girlfriends he's had since Morgan and all have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls peeps. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal's life.Ĭal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. One year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying in New York City than in attending his biology classes.

Peeps by scott westerfeld