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The Last Days (Peeps #2)

3.52 of 5 stars 3.52 · rating details · 6,394 ratings · 505 reviews

Something evil is bubbling under New York. People are going crazy and vampires stalk the streets.

For Pearl, Moz and Zahler life goes on and all that matters is their new band. As the city reels under a mysterious epidemic, the three combine their talents with a vampire lead singer and a drummer whose mind can see the coming darkness.

Will their music stave off the growing...more

Paperback, 257 pages

Published August 2nd 2007 by Atom (first published September 7th 2006)

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Sep 16, 2007 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Most everyone calls The Last Days a sequel to Westerfeld's novel Peeps. I suppose that, loosely, this is true. For my part, I think of this novel as more of a companion to Peeps because the main characters are completely different (don't worry though, characters from Peeps do turn up), the structure of then novel is different, and because the only way to get the most out of either book is to read the two of them together, back-to-back. So, this is a sequel in the same way that The Two Towers was...more Most everyone calls The Last Days a sequel to Westerfeld's novel Peeps. I suppose that, loosely, this is true. For my part, I think of this novel as more of a companion to Peeps because the main characters are completely different (don't worry though, characters from Peeps do turn up), the structure of then novel is different, and because the only way to get the most out of either book is to read the two of them together, back-to-back. So, this is a sequel in the same way that The Two Towers was (trick statement! Tolkien meant the Lord of the Rings trilogy to be one book but it was too long and written before the days of ginormous novels).

Suffice it to say, The Last Days is a very different book from its predecessor despite continuing the same story. Most of these differences are structural. Westerfeld again employs first person narration, but this time he has five narrators. Each chapter is labeled with a character's name and told from his or her point of view. Writing a novel in this way is incredibly difficult because you have to take into account continuity while also making sure you don't get redundant and trying to make each character sound unique. Westerfeld does all of that. Perfectly.

In this novel, Westerfeld's narrators are in the interesting position that they know less than the readers (this is why reading Peeps first is so important). The whole vampire thing is an unknown for everyone. As is the issue of a pending apocalypse.

But that doesn't tell you much about the story.

It all starts with a girl who wants to make a band. Pearl sees the weird things going on in the city. The sanitation crisis. The increasing number of stray cats. Then there are the rats that are slowly taking over the subway system. And Brooklyn. Then there's Pearl's friend, Minerva, who's been acting pretty weird herself. Pearl decides that the best way to help her friend, and maybe get through the craziness, is to start a band.

Soon Pearl finds the perfect band members. And they're a great band. But strange things happen when Minerva starts to sing. Making everyone wonder if the band's music is the one thing that can stop the apocalypse. Or start it.

There are very few male writers who can convincingly narrate from a female point of view. Scott Westerfeld is one of the few. Instead of making the novel seem choppy, or the characters under-developed, Westerfeld's split narration makes every character much more dimensional.

The story is about vampires, of course. And music. But it's also about friendship and relationships. Westerfeld artfully describes the vicious cycle some friendships have when one friend is always taking whatever the other has to give. He also shows how, sometimes, you have to keep those friends even when it's the last thing you want to do.

Like Peeps, parts of this book are a little gross. Raw meat does turn up on several plates. Some narrators are more "unique" than others. But taken as a whole it all kind of works to make a really fun, really exciting book.

At its basic level this is a story about a band trying to make it big when everything else is falling apart. Along the path to fame, they just might save the world.
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Jul 13, 2010 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, sci-fi-fantasy, library-book

****There may be some slight spoilers in this review which pertain to the novel Peeps. Please do not read this review if you haven't read Peeps.****

The Last Days was a great sequel to Peeps. Full of quirky new charters and more mysteries to unfold, The Last Days picks up where Peeps left us, in a world slowly being taken over by the plague, garbage, cats, rats, and crazy HUGE arse worms. Westerfeld introduces us to Pearl, a music genius who just so happens to be a busy body, Moz, an aimless guit...more

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Dec 07, 2008 Arthur rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this very slowly, I enjoyed it even although I haven’t read Peeps. The whole story was inspirations of young musician’s gathering up a band and the lead vocalist really just getting over some mysterious sickness of her own. This sickness though I thought caused by her boyfriend relationship with Mark prior breaking up the band Nervous System and had complete mystery to me. I found the new lives of Minerva worth thinking about, which involved her becoming close to Moz. While the city seems...more

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Apr 15, 2007 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Moz and buddy Zahler are struggling musicians in New York City, waiting for their big break. In the meantime, however, Moz witnesses a woman in a nearby apartment throwing all of her belongings out of her window. Amazed by these events, he barely manages to catch a 1975 Fender Stratocaster as it comes tumbling down toward the sidewalk. The girl who helps him, Pearl, turns out to be a musical genius, and offers the boys the opportunity of forming a band. How can they pass that up?

Pearl knows the...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Martha added it · review of another edition

I thought this book was really good and unexpecting. It was a classic vampire story that had an odd twist, different from other vampire stories. In the book there is this contagious disease that is slowly spreading in New York, and New York is slowly tearing apart: there is this oily black goo that comes out of the fire hydrants regularly, and this disease is just spreading like crazy. There are two characters, Moz, short for mosquito, and Zhaler, that have been in a sort of band, with only two...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Andrea Blythe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

The Last Days starts off just about the point where Peeps ended, though from the point of view of a new selection of characters. (You could read these books out of order, and it would still be fairly logical.) The Last Days days is told from the viewpoint of five characters, each a member of a band that is pulled together as New York seems to be falling apart. Trash is building up on the curbs, rats are running in herds, cats are behaving strangely, and people are going crazy (trashy their apart...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Roberta rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

Questo è il secondo volume della serie "Peeps". Il primo è VampIRUS ma, sebbene l'ambientazione sia la stessa i personaggi sono diversi così come l'impostazione della storia.

Pearl e Moz si conoscono cercando di salvare da una caduta una Stratocaster degli anni Settanta e quando ci riescono scoprono di avere molto in comune e decidono di suonare insieme. Creano così un piccolo abbozzo di band: Moz e il suo amico d'infanzia Zahler come chitarristi e Pearl come tastierista. Ben presto al gruppetto...more

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Jan 01, 2011 Yolanda Sfetsos rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-paranormal, vampire

This book takes place after PEEPS, but is about a bunch of different characters. Five different characters - Moz, Zahler, Pearl, Minerva and Alana Ray. Although Cal and Lace do make an appearance or two. After all, the 'situation' is only getting worse.

Strange and yucky things are happening in New York City. Black water sprays out from the fire hydrants, rats seem to be everywhere, there are sections of the city where even the garbage trucks ignore. Not ideal conditions for summer, that's for su...more

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Jul 24, 2010 Gerri Leen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-author

I live in awe of this man's ability to world-build. In this series, in the Uglies collection, and in the Midnighters trilogy, he has created unique and fun worlds that are derivative of pretty much nobody (not an easy trick once, let alone three times). Uglies takes the world-building to the most extreme angle, with its own language and an Earth society definitely very far away from our own, but he can do it with things closer to home, too. The Last Days is a sequel to Peeps, one of the most uni...more

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Jun 23, 2010 K rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library

An infected New York City is back as the setting, but this book has a new perspective on the peep epidemic. The shift from the Night Watch to the new cast of characters is actually helpful. We’ve read all of Cal’s biological explanations but, really, peeps are an ancient and freaky paranormal part of history. Now the city’s getting freakier. This time around it’s more human gristle on the walls and less Garth Brooks anathema.

The book expands on the New World of the peeps and manages to be fresh...more

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Apr 01, 2010 Sarah705 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not bad, although it was a little slow at parts. I'm not quite sure what the author was trying to get at, but there was a lot of pressure put on all of the characters during the book. When they had pressure on them, they seemed to withdraw more from each other.

I think that when people are under stress, they tend to not be able to judge what's best for them. They pull away from people instead of using the support that they can get. It's hard for anyone to accept that they need help from other peo...more

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Jan 02, 2010 A rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My Review on The Last Days By Scott Westerfeld, Genre: Science Fiction.

I somewhat enjoyed this book. It definitely had its ups and downs and i felt like it wasn't as good as Peeps.I really enjoyed how this books chapters where in different peoples view. That made the characters easier to understand and it was great way to see what all the different people were thinking at that part in the book. The characters where all very different and it was neat how they all come together through a band.The...more

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Aug 24, 2009 Patricia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Strange things are happening in New York City. Stranger than usual, that is. In fact it is down right scary in a paranormal kind of way. Black liquid spurts out of fire hydrants; rats, more numerous than ever, are roving the streets; and people suddenly go crazy, like the woman who throws all of her belongings out her sixth floor apartment window all the while screaming about who knows what. One about-to-be-discarded object catches the attention of two teen onlookers. The crazy lady waves a mid-...more

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Jun 18, 2009 Mrs. Foley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hickman

From Destiny Library record, "Five New York teenagers try to concentrate on their new band while the city suffers from a mysterious epidemic that is turning people into cannibals."

Not quite as good as the first book, Peeps, but very entertaining. Also interesting to music lovers is the fact that the title of each chapter is the name of a band. Westerfeld gives info on each band at the Author's Note. The characters from Peeps do play a role, but not until the last third of the book or so. Both bo...more

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Jun 07, 2009 Jules rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read first: Peeps

The peeps infection continues to spread in New York and civilization is threatening to topple. Amid this chaos Moz, Pearl and Zahler are determined to start their own band. Unbeknownst to them, they hire an infected peep to be their lead singer. As they play, the darkness below seems to grow and move closer to the surface. One senstive band member fears that it may not be ethical or healthy to play their music for large crowds. If they do, will it launch their careers or end liv...more

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May 04, 2009 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kent-ya-class, reluctant-readers

(Reluctant Readers, fiction)

This is a sequel to Peeps, something I was not aware of until half-way through the book. Reading Peeps first would definitely have helped me understand a few situations, but ultimately this book can stand on its own. A plague has descended on New York City, and a rag tag musical group may be its only hope. Each member faces their own struggles as they come together as a band and try to save the world.

Teens who love music would love this book. Each chapter title is the...more

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Apr 21, 2009 Steph Su rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Scott Westerfeld is arguably the master of modern-day sci-fi. His books, whether they are set in this present world, or in a future place, are always easy to relate to and understand. Even readers who have not read PEEPS (and you should) will enjoy this one.

THE LAST DAYS is essentially a story about five wannabe musicians getting together to form a band. There’s Pearl: musically talented, smart, rich, an entrepreneur, and a little bossy on the keyboard. There’s Moz, the talented but untrained gu...more Scott Westerfeld is arguably the master of modern-day sci-fi. His books, whether they are set in this present world, or in a future place, are always easy to relate to and understand. Even readers who have not read PEEPS (and you should) will enjoy this one.

THE LAST DAYS is essentially a story about five wannabe musicians getting together to form a band. There’s Pearl: musically talented, smart, rich, an entrepreneur, and a little bossy on the keyboard. There’s Moz, the talented but untrained guitarist who along with Pearl saves a rare Stratocaster guitar that a crazy woman was chucking out of her apartment window. Zahler is Moz’s best friend, guitarist turned bassist, who constantly feels as if he’s the band’s weak link and has a penchant for making up new words (fawesome!).

The threesome hire Alana Ray, a talented but neurotically challenged drummer who drums on paint buckets and can see what music looks like. And finally there’s Minerva, Pearl’s friend who was bitten by something and now exhibits vampirish and vaguely cannibalistic tendencies—but whose singing talent somehow connects the whole band together into something paranormal.

When the band rehearses, strange things happen. The ground beneath them rumbles, as if something is struggling to reach them from underground. Meanwhile, the infected Minerva develops a relationship with Moz, as the parasite inside of her tries to spread itself by making her horny and irresistible.

In their journey to find an agent and get signed up to a label, the still nameless band learn that there is something very powerful about their music, as it has a way of summoning up the human race’s greatest enemy from deep within the earth where they reside. Now, the five young men and women must use their musical and supernatural talents to help the peeps, infected humans who can control their vampirish tendencies and who were created to help save humanity. Together, they will summon and fight the enemies until nearly all are extinct. Until next time.

The world that Scott Westerfeld has created is creepily realistic. I got chills from reading this novel, and anything that moves me to such a reaction is extraordinary.
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Jun 22, 2012 Kaitlyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favorite-author

The Last Days was basically about five people-ranging in age from teenager to young adult-who form a band and are trying to become famous amidst the end of the world. I loved it like I love all Westerfeld books, but it might not be for some people (although I think it should be.) First of all, you should read Peeps before you read this, because it is the companion novel to Peeps. Second of all, for a large portion of the book, not much happens aside from these people playing music. That isn't ex...more

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Sep 14, 2011 Steph Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Laugh out loud, cannibal-rocker, giant-New Yorker-eating-worm hilarious. So, the characters were typical, annoying teenagers- the kind you'd like to "smack upside the head" (even us peaceful types). Well, except the drummer, who was more interesting and less obnoxious. Otherwise, it was chock full of chortle-worthy details (and maybe one or two moments of suspense-- not too much, mind you). A slight obsession with sexual tension, similarly to Peeps. I only had to black out a couple lines to make...more

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Feb 28, 2009 Sella Thorne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: whoever read Peeps

I have mixed feelings about this book. I both loved it and hated it. On one hand, I thought it was an amazing sequel to Peeps. Scott Westerfeld is a great writer, with a very hypnotizing and mesmerizing writing style. His characters are real and well-developed, and I loved many of them. Scott knows how to grab my attention and keep me there. I really enjoyed the whole band thing- Westerfeld managed to capture the power of music down on paper in a way that no one has been able to do before. The b...more I have mixed feelings about this book. I both loved it and hated it. On one hand, I thought it was an amazing sequel to Peeps. Scott Westerfeld is a great writer, with a very hypnotizing and mesmerizing writing style. His characters are real and well-developed, and I loved many of them. Scott knows how to grab my attention and keep me there. I really enjoyed the whole band thing- Westerfeld managed to capture the power of music down on paper in a way that no one has been able to do before. The book was suspenseful, exciting, thrilling, action-packed, and left a huge impact on me.

Yet, this book was also highly disturbing and made me very angry several instances throughout. The whole Peeps disease thing is cool, but sometimes it can get really creepy- especially with all the cats having it now.

And then there was the evil monster worm thing.

Ah, yes. Let's talk about THAT.

That was what entirely ruined the book for me. I mean, come on. PLEASE. The world is coming to an end not because of creepy cannibals but because of...an evil people-eating giant monster WORM?!?!?!?! Um, okay. No thank you. That's just too cartoon-y, mwa ha ha Dr. Evil type thing for me. I couldn't imagine it, couldn't make a sense of it in my head whenever the worms came up. Everything else in the book seemed so real, but this was just like, "WHAT?!?!" It was like the whole book was a movie with real-people actors, and then all of a sudden the worms are animated pictures that suddenly appear in the real-life movie. They don't fit and they ruin the book. It was MUCH better when the Peeps were the villains.

Other Pet Peeves About This Book/Things That Made Me Mad:
(Warning: Some spoilers below)
-Pearl is my favorite character. All along, I'd been waiting for her to get together with Moz. AND THEN MOZ HAD TO GO AND MAKE OUT WITH MINERVA!!!! B****!!!!! BOTH OF THEM!!! I HATE YOU, MINERVA AND MOZ!! YOU CAN BOTH GO DIE FOR DOING THAT TO PEARL!! HOW DARE YOU!!! Lol, sorry for that rant. I just had to get it out there...Yeah. As you can tell, I'm really pissed that Pearl didn't get to be with the boy she was in love with, and got her heart broken. (God, Westerfeld really hates me. He has a bad habit of repeatedly torturing my favorite characters!! Dess was my favorite character from Midnighters, and Scott had to make her excluded and left out all the time. And now Pearl!! Gee, Scott- what have I ever done to YOU????)
-God. MINERVA!!! She should go die. I HATE her. HOW CAN SHE DO THAT TO PEARL???? GO OUT WITH MOZ?!?! Doesn't she KNOW one of the first rules of friendship- you DON'T go out with your best friend's crush, even if you like him! GGAAHH. SHE'S A GREAT BIG B***** AND I WILL KILL PEARL IF SHE EVER FORGIVES MINERVA!!!!!
-It really bothered me how a lot of things were left unfinished. Like how we never found out how Moz was getting the money to pay Alana Ray. I really wanted to know if my suspicions were correct, and if Moz was stealing the money, and I was holding my breath and hoping all throughout the book- but I never found out! That really annoyed me. Also, the Black Death thing was never confirmed- the book never said what disease it was. I mean, if you're going to bring up a bunch of questions, can't you at least do me the courtesy of ANSWERING them?!?!
-What REALLY made me mad was how everyone just shrugged and accepted the supernatural, just like that, when that's NOT the nature of humans. I mean, come on. There are vampires that seem to somehow exist now, and giant evil worm monsters who are eating people. So does everybody freak out and stuff, like expected? NOO!!! NOBODY freaks out!! Everyone just goes, "Oh, it's evil monsters that shouldn't exist. That sucks. Let's all save ourselves and fight them now." Uhhh...WHAT?!? That is NOT how normal humans react to the supernatural!! IF that happened in real life, NORMAL humans would be running around screaming, thinking it was all a hallucination or something. They WOULDN'T accept it right away and they wouldn't actually HELP get RID of the monster, like all the unrealistic humans in The Last Days did.

Another thing- I thought the pace was a bit TOO fast, especially towards the end. I mean, there's nothing wrong with a fast, exciting book, but it wasn't just that. Events started flashing by without Scott Westerfeld paying much attention to them, and he just sort of zipped through things in a second, making me feel like everything was happening at once and way too fast, like the last chunk of the book was frozen on the fast-forward button on a remote.

Wow, I realize I've been ranting for a long time on this book, and most of it's all just rambling...whoops. Anyway, basically, I thought that overall, this book was pretty good, but there were just a lot of flaws and gaps that ticked me off. I have just summarized this whole entire review in one sentence. Wow. :D

It's weird- Scott Westerfeld seems to always lose his grip towards the end of all his "series" or whatever. Like, he had a great trilogy going with Midnighters, but then he blew it with Blue Noon. Peeps and The Last Days were good, but the ending chunk makes me hesitant. I think the only time he DIDN'T do this was in the Uglies series.

Anyway...you should read The Last Days if you've read Peeps, because it's interesting to know what happens next, and because Pearl is awesome. But DON'T read The Last Days if you haven't read Peeps, because you'll be utterly lost and confused and mad and you probably won't read Peeps because of that. So, I'll just end this incredibly and unexpectedly long review by saying...The End. There. ;D(less)

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Feb 05, 2009 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Scott Westerfeld, vampire, and Peeps fans.

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, young-adult-lit, own

The Last Days, by Scott Westerfeld is an interesting sort of sequel. The main characters from the original, Cal and Lace, are absent aside from brief appearances in the middle to end of the book. It is also told from the alternating point of views of five different teens who form a band. Zahler, Moz, Minerva, Pearl, and Alana Ray, respectively. Nonetheless, it was a good book, very entertaining.
If there's one thing Mr. Westerfeld does best, it's character depth and development. Each of his cha...more

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Feb 08, 2010 Jaylen Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a good book. In the book a band forms. The two people who formed the band, Pearl and Moz, were trying to catch an expensive guitar when they met. A lady was throwing it out the window. There is an interesting plague going around. People get very sick and then they start throwing their stuff away. They start hating their friends and family. They can't get out in the sun for a while. When they go out they have to wear sunglasses. You can tell that they've had their plague in their ey...more This book was a good book. In the book a band forms. The two people who formed the band, Pearl and Moz, were trying to catch an expensive guitar when they met. A lady was throwing it out the window. There is an interesting plague going around. People get very sick and then they start throwing their stuff away. They start hating their friends and family. They can't get out in the sun for a while. When they go out they have to wear sunglasses. You can tell that they've had their plague in their eyes. There is a beast inside the people who get the plague. The people who get the plague eat garlic and raw meat to calm the beast down. Also, in the city black water comes from the fire hydrant and rats have taken over the city of Brooklyn. The garbage is overflowing the city. All the members of the band know something about the plague. The main singer, Minerva, can bring out the worms with her singing. She got sick for a while and wasn't allowed out the house. She had to sneak out. Her parents kept her locked in her room and got her an esoterica, Luz, for her. Minerva has to sneak out on Sundays, when her esoterica goes to church, to go to practice. Minerva has to be back by the time Luz gets back. Minerva gave Moz the plague. Angels take the sick away and make them become angels. Less than two weeks before her 18th birthday she ran away. The band members are Minerva(singer), Moz(guitarist), Pearl(keyboardist), Zahler(bassist), and Alana Ray(drummer). Pearl got the band signed to a contract. The contract was singed by a guy that Pearl saw at an art show. They couldn't find a name for the band. Zahler had to change from guitarist to bassist. He really didn't want to. He didn't think that he was a good guitarist. He thought he was going to get kicked out of the band, but Pearl and Moz already had something worked out. Alana Ray doesn't even have drums. She is one of the best drummers around, but she doesn't have any. She plays on paint buckets. Pearl is very talented when it comes to music. She goes to Julliard. She can play every instrument. She plays guitar, xylophone, keyboard, and more.(less)

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Jul 06, 2011 Narrelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, fantasy, vampire

It was only when I finished reading The Last Days that I realized it was the second book in Westerfeld’s Peeps series. It didn’t matter, because The Last Days stands on its own.

Something sinister from deep underground is corrupting New York (and by implication, the world). The rats are coming up, and seem to be in league with the cats. A disease is spreading among the humans, leaving them repelled by their former lives, by their own reflections – leaving them with very sharp teeth and a worrying...more

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Nov 26, 2010 Mooncactus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: so-disappoint, vampires, sucky-love-interest, better-then-the-first, westerfeld

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In which is essentially the plot of Peeps, except NOW WITH MORE ROCKSTARS.
Ah, nah, I can't say that, this is much better then Peeps. It's crazy to see what a few witty, badass teens can do to a book.

What Peeps lacked- aka, a good cast- has shown up fashionably late for the sequel. Not to say the entire cast is good (I can't be the only one who wanted to punch Moz in the face) but shiny Pearl, laidback Zahler, mellow Alana Ray, and batshit crazy Min rock this novel. Pun intended.
See, I am a zom...more In which is essentially the plot of Peeps, except NOW WITH MORE ROCKSTARS.
Ah, nah, I can't say that, this is much better then Peeps. It's crazy to see what a few witty, badass teens can do to a book.

What Peeps lacked- aka, a good cast- has shown up fashionably late for the sequel. Not to say the entire cast is good (I can't be the only one who wanted to punch Moz in the face) but shiny Pearl, laidback Zahler, mellow Alana Ray, and batshit crazy Min rock this novel. Pun intended.
See, I am a zombie apocalypse person. So looking at a deteriorating, dying New York through the eyes of jaded wanna be rockstars beats "LOLOLOL I AM A VAMPIRE HUNTER AND I AM SOOOOO HORNY" annnnny day. ...but weirdly enough, the scenes where everything goes wrong... just felt strange and out of place to me. See, in Peeps we said hi to the strange in the first chapter. And it just got weirder and weirder. But The Last Days feels like a simple start-of-a-band book, albeit with a very strange singer, that suddenly turns into... giant worm fighting.
...Okaaaay.

I was also disappointed that Zahler, my second favorite character, seemed to exist only because there needed to be another perspective. Seriously, what is his specialness? Moz and Min are crazy vampires. Pearl is the boss. Alana Ray is the glue that keeps the band together. ...Zahler is the plucky comic relief? His character was so appealing- funny, clever, a little dorky, but is completely wasted. Sigh. I'm starting to think Westerfeld hates his Z name characters. Zane, Zahler, Zaven...
And Pearl, my favorite, is stuck mooning over a rude, selfish, uninteresting guitarist who is soooo not interested in her for the entire book. Giiiirl you could do so much better.
.... Because yeah, I was hoping for Zahler and Pearl to get together. He's totally crushing on her in the first place, and their personalities balance eachother out. SIIIIGH.

This is definitely better then Peeps, though. You could read this without reading the original, though you may be a tad confused at parts. Still, though, weak series is weak, and definitely not Westerfeld's best.(less)

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Mar 03, 2011 Carie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not as good as Peeps, but an interesting, entertaining sequel. The story kept me reading, but I had some issues with one person and the direction the plot went for some of the characters. I didn’t care AT ALL for the character of Minerva, although I really enjoyed everybody else. I liked Moz best, but didn’t like the evolution of things with his character. But, the ending was satisfying, the music/band stuff was fascinating, and the book held my interest.

**SPOILERS**: I was not AT ALL happy with...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Nenia Campbell rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-baby-ya, x-2006s

Oh dear, vampire rockstars?

I liked the Peeps series. A lot. I think what set it apart, for me, was the fact that it was grungy and sciencey enough to be realistic. The characters were likable and intelligent - and OLDER. The romance wasn't so prominent as to completely dominant the plot; it was a by-product, which added to the realism.

This book NEGATED everything that the first book had established. The horrible mystery about what dwells beneath New York City became a laughable letdown. The main...more

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Jul 21, 2011 Sareh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the next book after Peeps, we meet five kids who want to start a band. Pearl and Moz meet when they save a rare guitar and then Moz introduces her to his best friend. The two boys have been playing guitars together for six years and considered themselves a too person band.

Pearl then brings her friend, Minerva, to their band practices as the singer. Min has been getting over the sickness that turns you into a vampire. That's one of the things I liked about this book, while they turn into vamp...more

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Nov 29, 2009 Sydney Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comfort-books, death

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Apr 16, 2009 Afira rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ooh.. I always did wonder how the Night Watch would eliminate all those worms and wipe the parasite outta all those people.. Guess this books answers it. It was totally fawesome *Zahler's odd word*. Basically, this book is about how five teenagers make one song that manages to save the world. Funky huh?

What displeased me about this book was the fact that Moz didn't end up with who I wanted him to. He ended up with Girl A, not Girl B *frowns* Sure, there was that little sort of friendship-y mome...more

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Jan 08, 2010 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

I really enjoyed Peeps, the novel that The Last Days is a sequel for. In Peeps, Wsterfeld created a whole new and elaborate theory surrounding vampirism: vampires are humans that have simply been infected with a parasite, and they are the natural response to an even darker underworld threat that lurks below the crust of civilization. Vampires are like civilization's immune system going into overdrive to resist a more serious invasion. Luckily, there are a few carriers of the vampire parasite; th...more I really enjoyed Peeps, the novel that The Last Days is a sequel for. In Peeps, Wsterfeld created a whole new and elaborate theory surrounding vampirism: vampires are humans that have simply been infected with a parasite, and they are the natural response to an even darker underworld threat that lurks below the crust of civilization. Vampires are like civilization's immune system going into overdrive to resist a more serious invasion. Luckily, there are a few carriers of the vampire parasite; those who have been infected, but who do not have all of the symptoms. These "Peeps" are helping to control the outbreak, and to save humanity from both untreated vampires and deadly outside forces.

The Last Days builds on the already fully formed philosophy of vampirism articulated in Peeps, but it takes the storyline in a completely new direction by introducing a whole new set of characters. The Last Days tells the story of five teenagers who come from very different walks of life, but who share musical abilities that perfectly complement one another. Each of these five band-members also shares narration of the story, as Westerfeld weaves their individual perspectives together to create the larger story. Though Westerfeld is not exactly subtle with this musical metaphor, it does work well in this context.

The band's own dreams of fame and greatness, however, are tied intrinsically to this battle for the survival of civilization that is going on in the streets of Manhattan each night. And, it turns out that their songs may hold the key to the final stand of humankind.

The Last Days has a very different tone than Peeps, which was ultra-scientific. In The Last Days, Westerfeld shows readers that music is an elemental and ancient part of who we are as a species, and only when art and science work together can there be real triumph over evil.

The biggest detractor, which held me back from higher star ratings for both Peeps and The Last Days, was Westerfeld's depiction of the enemy. I won't go into detail or spoil anything here in my review, but the idea of a whole host of alien-like beings lurking below-ground was a little too "comic-bookish" for my taste. I like it when the bad guys are more believable. Vampires are already so legendary. I wish that they had been fighting against other legendary beings in the Peeps series. I know that Twilight comparisons are rather cliche, but the vampire vs. werewolf feud is one thing that I think makes Myers' stories so emotionally powerful. Rather than invent a whole new monster, Westerfeld could have dredged up another primeval character from folklore that could have played this "ancient evil" part more effectively.

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About Scott Westerfeld

Scott Westerfeld is a New York Times bestselling American-born author of YA sci-fi literature. He was born in the Texas and now lives in Sydney and New York City. In 2001, Westerfeld married fellow author Justine Larbalestier.
His book Evolution's Darling was a New York Times Notable Book, and won a Special Citation for the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award. So Yesterday won a Victorian Premier's Award and...more

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Trivia About The Last Days

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Quotes from The Last Days

“Ring around the rosie.
A pocket full of posie.
Ashes ashes, we all fall down.
Some people say that this poem is about the Black Death, the fourteenth-century plague that killed 100-million people...
Sadly, though, most experts think this is nonsense...
How can I be so sure about this rhyme when all the experts disagree?
Because I ate the kid who made it up.” — 113 people liked it

“I'd watched too many schoolmates graduate into mental institutions, into group homes and jails, and I knew that locking people up was paranormal - against normal, not beside it. Locks didn't cure; they strangled.” — 73 people liked it

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The Last Days (Peeps #2)

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