Saturday, March 10, 2012

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson


Summary 

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveauz arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London Boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city—gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific work of Jack the Ripper in the autumn of 1888.

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 on who saw. Even her roommate, who was with her at the time, didn’t notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, what is he planning to do about her?

Number of pages: 372

Review 

I’m not exactly sure how I feel about sleeping in my very dark, spacious room tonight. Not after reading this book.

And I’ll let you know why. This book is all about a series of murders that resemble the murders taken place in 1888. And let me tell you, none of them were pretty. The victims were mutilated in a series of ways that is pretty gory. I wouldn’t say the book is completely graphic, but when it came down to it some parts were pretty nasty to read about. But don’t let that freak you out! No, what is freakier than that is the invisible killer doing all of these murders. Yea . . . invisible killer.

This book was a good read. I had some issues with it at the beginning. I’d have to say that the book didn’t really pick up speed until 150 pages or so into the book, I thought. It went by meticulously slow at the set up of the store while Rory settled into her new school and you were caught up to speed on Jack the Ripper’s murders. It got more enjoyable near the second half of the book. That was where the more suspenseful side of the story kicked in. The plot was a good one. Definitely one that was planned out in all of it’s complexity. The main character was all right. I found her kind of tedious to follow sometimes, but she did well when push came to shove. Now the ending of the book was great. That really was a good ending for it over all. Now, it kind of leaves the reader with a new revelation. I’m not sure if that is supposed to signify the start of a new book, or just a way to close the curtains with a bang. I gets we will just have to wait and see. From 1-10? I’d give The Name of the Star a good solid 5.
Cover Close Up: The cover is really quite beautiful and interesting, but it has nothing to do with the story. At all. I hate when that happens . . .
(This is irrelevant, but when my room door is slightly ajar it sometimes closes by itself . . .  and it just closed for no reas

No comments:

Post a Comment