...in books

Review
The Name of the Star
by Maureen Johnson

First sentence:

The eyes of London were watching Claire Jenkins.

Summary:

The day that Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London to start a new life at boarding school is also the day a series of brutal murders breaks out over the city, killings mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper spree of more than a century ago. Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him--the only one who can see him. And now Rory has become his next target. In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

source: Goodreads

My opinion:

Maureen Johnson – the queen of stares and awesome YA books – did it again! Set in today’s London, the Name of the Star takes up one of the most peculiar murder mysteries of all time – Jack the Ripper!

Jack the Ripper is an all time present character in London’s history and I really enjoyed this new, different approach that Maureen took. The original murders were cruel and kept the city in a state of shock from August 31^st until November 9^th 1888.

The storyline revolves around the Jack the Ripper inspired murders but goes much deeper than that. It also includes a gorgeous boy, new found friendship and quite different paranormal elements.

Rory, the main character, is a wonderful girl. She moves from America to the UK and enrolls in a boarding school. So not only did she move continent, she also has to make new friends and gets comfortable at a new school but she also is a witness to one of the new Ripper-murders and gets sucked into the investigations. Rory is a strong character who has to deal with a lot of things during her first months in London but does never really get desperate or wants to leave.

Jazza, Rory’s roommate and friend is awesome too. She is supportive and tries to help Rory as best as she can even when Rory secludes herself from Jazza.

The paranormal aspects of The Name of the Star is a pretty different one of all those I encountered in literature before. I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t tell you much about it but I really enjoyed it.

All in all I loved the first book in the Shades of London series and can’t wait to get my hands on the next one to see how the story progresses.

The books in the Shades of London series are:

• The Name of the Star
• The Madness Underneath – will be published the 28^th of March 2013

For more information about Maureen Johnson visit her Homepage, her Blog and her Facebook or Twitter page.