The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

This is a sequel to Peeps, so you may not want to read this review if you haven't read the first book.

Moz (short for mosquito) is confused yet excited when he sees a woman throwing all of her belongings out of her window including a "mid-seventies Fender Stratocaster with gold pickups." He, with the help of a girl named Pearl, catches the guitar and they run away with it. Pearl; Moz; Moz's friend, Zahler; Pearl's friend, Minerva; and a girl who plays the "drums" (paint buckets) on the street decide to start a band. They can tell that New York City is deteriorating around them as the disease spreads, but all they care about is signing a record deal and getting famous. Somehow, their music is causing strange things to happen and is more important than they all originally thought.

The Last Days starts out very slow. I did not realize that it is about completely different people. I figured it would start out continuing the story of Cal and Lace. I was disappointed. The book was OK, but I liked Peeps better. I have to say that the second half of The Last Days is much better than the first. It eventually got to the point where I really wanted to finish the book to see what would happen. I'm definitely taking a Scott Westerfeld break. The books I've read recently by him just haven't been all that great.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Midnighters 2: Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld

Touching Darkness is the second book in the Midnighters trilogy. It continues the story of Jessica Day and her friends, the Midnighters, who experience the secret hour that happens at midnight every night. In this book, Jessica, Rex, Dess, Jonathan, and Melissa learn more about Midnighter history and discover a horrifying secret that began 50 years earlier. They need to learn to work together if they want to save one of their own.

I feel like I've been reading so many Scott Westerfeld books lately, but it's because he has so many series and I'm just reading my books as I get them from the long list I have at the library. I think Touching Darkness was better than the first book, The Secret Hour. It had more action and kept my attention more. I felt The Secret Hour kind of dragged, especially in the beginning. I will definitely put the third book on my list of holds at the library.

4 out of 5 stars

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

I've been reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, but the book is so long that I decided to take a break from it and read a shorter, easier book.

Peeps is about Cal Thompson, a vampire hunter of sorts. He hunts down "peeps", people who are infected with a parasite that causes vampire-like tendencies (dislike of sunlight, craving blood, superhuman senses, etc.). The reason Cal does this is because he also has the parasite, but he is a carrier, not a full-blown "peep". He doesn't have all of the yucky side effects. During an investigation, Cal meets a girl named Lace who makes it difficult for Cal to stick to his forced life of celibacy. One kiss could turn Lace into a "peep". Cal and Lace investigate a series of disappearances and strange things start to happen.

I've been reading a lot of Scott Westerfeld books lately and haven't been too impressed with the last few, but I liked Peeps a lot more. It was an interesting take on a vampire story; a lot different than the usual. Every other chapter has information about real-life parasites. It's sort of gross, but he writes it in a way that makes it funny so it dulls the gross factor. I really enjoyed this book. The story was good and kept my attention and it was funny. Now I guess I'll get back to the monstrosity known as The Pillars of the Earth. It's over 900 pages!

4 out of 5 stars

Midnighters: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

The Secret Hour is the first book in Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series. When Jessica Day moves to Bixby, Oklahoma, she expects to feel like an outsider because she is new; but, when she meets Rex, Melissa, and Dess she realizes just how much of an outsider she really is. Rex, Melissa and Dess are Midnighters. They do not freeze like everyone else in the "secret hour", the twenty-fifth hour in the day that occurs at midnight, they explore it and even have special powers during this hour. Jessica learns that she is one of them and she's special. The darklings, creatures that live in the secret hour, have a deadly interest in Jessica and no one can figure out why.

I've been reading a lot of Scott Westerfeld books ever since I discovered the Uglies trilogy. I thought that this book was OK. It definitely is not as good as Uglies, but it's an interesting story. It's a very short, easy read. I feel like I should stop reading Scott Westerfeld's books because they are all slightly disappointing compared to the Uglies trilogy, but I already have Peeps from the library so I'll be reading that fairly soon, if not next.

3 out of 5 stars

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld

Hunter is a "cool hunter". He is always on the lookout for new and innovative ideas. He meets Jen who is an "Innovator". She comes up with the new ideas Hunter is looking for. When they discover that Hunter's friend has been kidnapped and stumble upon the most amazing shoes they have ever seen, they go into detective mode. A group of people are trying to mess with the "cool pyramid" and they don't want Hunter and Jen to find out what they're doing.

I picked up So Yesterday from the library because I really liked Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. I wish I hadn't, now. This book was so disappointing! It tries to be a thriller, but it just wasn't working for me. It took a lot just to finish the book. I really wanted to like this book because his others were so good. There isn't a lot of character development, and the relationship between Hunter and Jen pales in comparison to the relationship between Tally and Zane in Pretties. Thank goodness the book was short; I wouldn't have been able to finish it otherwise.

2 out of 5 stars

Extras by Scott Westerfeld

I just finished Extras, the fourth book in the Uglies series. Aya Fuse lives in a city where fame is everything. Every person living in the city is given a face rank which is based on how famous they are. Aya's face rank is so high she is considered an "extra". Aya finally finds a story she can broadcast that is sure to make her very famous, but she soon learns that it's more complicated and dangerous than she originally thought.

I didn't like Extras as much as the other three books. It was still a good book, just not as enjoyable as the first three. I liked that it shows a different city in a different part of the world and how it changed compared to Tally's city. I hope Scott Westerfeld writes more books in this series. I would definitely be interested in reading more!

3.5 out of 5 stars

First Impressions - Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Specials is the third book in Scott Westerfeld's trilogy. Tally is a special with her friend, Shay. The specials must have altered her brain again because she never would have wanted to be special in the other books. I'm only about 100 pages into the book, so not a lot has happened. I'll write my full review when I'm finished!

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Pretties is the second book in the trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. It continues the story of Tally Youngblood. She is turned into a pretty so she can save her friend. When she eventually is given a cure she realizes she needs to get out of the city with her friends.

This book seemed darker to me than Uglies. I still loved it and I'm excited to read Specials, the final book in the trilogy. The books get more and more exciting as they progress. I finished the book in a day and a half. These books are great for a fun and quick read. I definitely recommend reading them.

First Impressions - Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

I am already about 100 pages into Pretties by Scott Westerfeld. This is the second book in the Uglies trilogy. I can tell I'm going to like this book as much as I liked the first. It was hard to put it down just to write this post. Tally is a pretty! I can't wait to find out what happens and where David is... I'll post the full review when I finish!

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

I just finished Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. It is about a young girl, Tally, who wants to be pretty like all other fifteen year old girls, and in her world that dream comes true...for everyone. Every single person has major full-body re constructive surgery to make them pretty as soon as they turn sixteen. Tally's world is turned upside down when she meets Shay, a soon-to-be-sixteen year old who doesn't want to be pretty. Shay runs away and Tally is sent to find her along with other "uglies" who had run away to avoid the surgery. Along the way, Tally learns some things that are less than great about being pretty, like the brain lesions...

This book is great. It definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. I finished it in two days, so it is an easy, fun read. I think that Scott Westerfeld is definitely making a statement about our society and where it is headed. We already have sixteen year olds (and even younger kids) who go get plastic surgery to look "pretty". Looking pretty has become the ultimate goal because pretty people seem to get whatever they want. I noticed some similarities between Uglies and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (which is one of my favorite books and I think everyone should read it). In both books, the society is being controlled through brain alterations first of all, and secondly through pleasure and happiness. They keep the pretties happy and let them do whatever they want so that they remain docile and complacent. It is the same way in Brave New World.

I thought this book was great, and I can't wait to read the next one, Pretties. That's the next book I'll be reviewing. I hope it's as good as Uglies!

First Impressions - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

I just started Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, and I'm about 100 pages into it. My first impressions are that it is an easy and interesting read. It is about a girl named Tally who is "ugly". She can't wait to turn sixteen so that she can have a surgery to make her "pretty". Her friend, Peris, has already had the surgery and moved from Uglyville to New Pretty Town. It is a constant party in New Pretty Town. There are no rules, and everyone is beautiful. Tally meets a girl who is also an Ugly named Shay. Shay doesn't want to have the surgery to become pretty, though, so she runs away. This is as far as I've gotten in the book so far. I definitely want to continue reading. It is a fast read and fairly amusing. I think Scott Westerfeld is definitely making a statement about our society and the way it is going. I will review the entire book after I finish it!