Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Name of the Star (Maureen Johnson)

Title: The Name of the Star
Author: Maureen Johnson
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penquin)
Length: 372 pages
Rating: 4.5/5

Rory Deveaux is spending her senior year of high school in a London boarding school instead of her Louisiana hometown. She finds London a pretty great city until a Jack the Ripper copycat starts murdering people right near her school. The police are baffled until Rory spots the killer at the crime scene. But she’s the only one to see him, and he definitely sees her. Why can only Rory see this man? And can she survive his haunting threats?



Normally I don’t like “scary” books. But Maureen Johnson hyped the heck out of this book on Twitter (follow her, she’s hilarious: @maureenjohnson) and so I read it, and therefore loved it!

You’ll love this book if you love:
1.      London (or England in general). If you’ve ever spent time in London, this book will make you miss it like WOAH. If you ever want to go to London, you’ll want to go even more after reading.
2.      Mysteries/thrillers. Also, the idea of overcoming your own fear.
3.      Not being able to put a book down.
4.      Romance in the book, but not the main focus. Sure, Rory gets her snogging on, but it’s really about #5
5.      Ghost stories. I love that Rory is presented with the supernatural/impossible, and sure, she’s doubtful, but she accepts it soon thereafter. You know I hate books where the main character can’t accept the premise of the book.
6.      Strong female characters. Even better, a strong female, contemporary character. Rory is awesome- I want to be friends with her. 

If you want to read something different and awesome, this is the book for you!

PS There are still a few plot points I don’t understand. Sadly, I’m no Sherlock Holmes. (Mostly the book was brilliantly put together. I put this here so that if you’ve read it, you’ll write something in the comments so that we can discuss it. My question is about page 313…)


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