Book Review: ‘The Name of the Star’ by Maureen Johnson

Sometimes when a need a little more convincing to a buy a book, I read the praising blurbs on the front or back cover. The Name of the Star had three of these blurbs, all from authors I am familiar with, and all saying how I (the reader) would like to move to London after reading this book. I thought that was cool and bought the book. Now, I don’t know if this is just me, but… If there’s a crazed serial killer on the loose and he’s specifically targeting woman, would I want to be in the city that he’s terrorizing? Uh, no, I wouldn’t. But despite those odd blurbs, The Name of the Star is a well-written and interesting ghost story.

The book is a modern day mystery about a man re-committing the same kind of murders Jack the Ripper had in the late 1880s. Rory, an American girl, had just moved London to attend boarding school. One night when sneaking out, she inadvertently meets the murderer and becomes involved in a quite unbelievable mystery.

Although I had read the blurbs, I didn’t read the whole book jacket synopsis and missed out on an important keyword: ghost. But the thing is that it didn’t really matter because I figured out that this was a ghost story long before ghosts were actually introduced. That both satisfies and annoys me. It satisfies me because I was clever enough to figure everything out before it was handed to me. But it annoys me because I was expecting the author to be even cleverer and surprise me. There were several things I was able to figure out right away. To the author’s credit, they aren’t obvious. But as an avid reader, when reading a mystery, I assume every mundane detail or action has a purpose for being there.  Because of all that, I found it hard to really get into the story. Mysteries are supposed to really absorb you, and The Name of the Star didn’t really do that until two thirds into the book.

What I instantly loved was the voice of the story, Rory. Rory is funny, slightly quirky and interesting. She brought a lot of life into the book. This is where I applaud the author on bringing a real teen voice to a story like this. Rory is what kept me reading because I liked the way she thought and explained things to herself. Getting caught up in an entire supernatural mystery, she was still Rory. Character transformation is great when it’s believable, and I find that I have read many YA stories that start off with one character and a completely different one at the end. I love that Rory stays Rory. She may be a more enlightened Rory, but not some badass, terminus wielding, ghost hunting chick.

Despite my diss at the blurbs, I will say that this is a very atmospheric story that paints a vivid look at London. I’ve never been to London, but after reading this, I did feel more familiar with the town. The Name of the Star is a good first novel of a series. The ending left me going “Okay. Wow.” And because I love Rory so much, I want to see what happens to her and the Shades of London next. For what it’s worth, I think you should give The Name of the Star a chance because I have a feeling that the payoff will definitely come in the second book (which comes out sometime in late 2012).

The Name of the Star is available to purchase in our TYF Store! Support our site & buy the book there.

Book Info:

Publisher: G. P. Putnam Sons (Division of Penguin Young Readers Group)

Pages: 372

Source: Hardcover, 1^st edition

Advertisement