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Nov 03, 2011

Tatiana rated it:

The Name of the Star is a novel with a great premise but bogged down by a very mediocre writing.

American teen Aurora (Rory) Deveaux is spending her senior year in London. Her parents work in nearby Bristol and Rory is all set to live and study at a boarding school. On the day of her arrival to London she learns that there is a brutal murderer on the loose. This murderer appears to be mimicking Jack the Ripper - his first victim was sliced and diced in exactly the same manner as the R More...

27 comments like (54 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Pam rated it:

There are several things I love about Maureen Johnson’s writing. Her ability to describe a setting in such a way that causes vivid imagery to accompany her words, and her incredibly intellectual wit that makes me laugh out loud while reading. When I read that Johnson was publishing a paranormal YA book I knew I had to read it.

Rory is a Southern girl going to school in London, I adore the way Rory sees the city and the brilliant deductions she makes about all things British. She is havi More...

1 comment like (14 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Rachel rated it:

More like 3.5, but I haven't decided if I'm on the higher or lower side of it...

If you know me at all, you know I love serial killers. I don't love them in a way that'd make me want to be one or anything, don't worry, but I think their mentality and motives are absolutely fascinating. And there is no serial killer as famous as Jack the Ripper. People have been fascinated with the Ripper since he first started killing. There were no definitive eyewitnesses, he stopped at five women, More...

4 comments like (13 people liked it)

Oct 19, 2011

Giselle rated it:

I was really intrigued and quite pleased with The Name of the Star. I read it after seeing many dazzling reviews, so my expectations were quite high and though it wasn't perfect, I was very satisfied with it.

Jack the Ripper! That is all it took to entice me. Unless you have been born and raised under a rock, you have already heard about Jack the Ripper. His case is fascinating and very mysterious. I was really curious to find out how Maureen was going to use an extremely known story More...

14 comments like (13 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2012

Jana rated it:

This is actually the first book I’ve read that’s by Maureen Johnson, so I didn’t know what to expect. Normally, I would shy from these types of things; I mean come on it IS Jack the Ripper. Are you kidding me? I’m not a big fan of horror movies, or horror books ,for that matter.

A few weeks ago before reading the book, I (foolishly) thought that this was a historical paranormal. So imagine my surprise when I started reading and found out that this was set in present day, not in the 188 More...

6 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2012

Erin aka The Flashlight Reader rated it:

Find the enhanced version of this and other reviews at: http://flashlightcommentary.blogspot.com...

It is no mistake that the first image chosen to accompany my review is that of Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore (reference to enhanced version of review). This was the only image flashing in my head over the course of my reading.It doesn’t do much credit to a story when the reader is perpetually distracted by a pop culture reference. You don’t see Heathcliff or Rochester being thrown around More...

30 comments like (11 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Mocha ღ Latte rated it:

More of my reviews at A Cupcake and a Latte:YA Reads, Reviews & More!

A London setting and a delicious mystery

Maureen Johnson's The Name of the Star is a novel that I've very much been looking forward to. With a unique premise involving a Jack the Ripper copy-cat in a modern day setting I was incredibly psyched to discover how exactly it would come together.

Maureen Johnson did not disappoint me.

The novel focuses on Rory(Aurora) Deveaux, an average t More...

11 comments like (10 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Hannah rated it:

Rating Clarification: 3.5 Stars

It appears that a Jack the Ripper clone is re-enacting his dirty deeds in present day London, and the entire city is caught up in the mania. Aurora (Rory) Deveaux, an American teen, has arrived in the city to attend school at Wexford College, a small boarding school located in Londan's east end - the heart of Jack's killing grounds over 120+ years ago. Under author Maureen Johnson's pen, readers can vicariously experience the feelings Rory has as she More...

19 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 19, 2011

Emily rated it:

The Name of the Star is the second book I've read by Maureen Johnson. I admit that I love reading her blog and her Twitter feed, but 13 Little Blue Envelopes fell a little flat for me so I always assumed I liked Maureen more than I actually liked her work. However, the premise of TNotS intrigued me (Girl moves to London and becomes tangled up in a Jack the Ripper style murder mystery) so I bought this pretty much as soon as it came out. I wasn't expecting much more than an enjoyable, entertainin More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Melissa rated it:

"The Name of the Star" is a great read, I loved it. What starts off as a fish out of water story about a girl from the Deep South coming to boarding school in London't East End turns out to be a supernatural thriller of the best possible kind. Rory is one of the most instantly likeable and realistic teen characters I've come across in ages, in fact I would happily have read about her simply going to Wexford and hooking up with some hot English boy but Maureen Johnson gives us much more More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Sam marked it as to-read

Maureen Johnson.... *Wheeze* wrote a book.... *wheeze* about Jack the Ripper. *Wheeze* my nerd meter is about to explode. Oh the countless hours of research I have done on Jack the Ripper! Maureen Johnson + Jack The Ripper = WIN. Can't wait to read it.

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Katie rated it:

This is, by far, the best book I've read in a long time.

Louisiana high school student Aurora (Rory) Deveaux arrives at boarding school in London (why do all of these YA authors make me wish I went to boarding school? I hated college dorms enough!) just as a string of murders mirroring those of Jack the Ripper's begin terrorizing the city. Rory finds herself caught up in the murders by knowing the face of the killer...and discovers a certain ability to go with it (but nothing too over More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Justin rated it:

I came from the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans with literally dozens of advance reader copies, and had the nice problem of trying to figure out which one to read first. I had a chance to meet Maureen Johnson while I was there, and she was one of the friendliest authors I had the privilege of talking to. So, I started following her Twitter feed, and if you don’t follow her, you really should. She’s manic and adorable, and I couldn't help but decide to read Name of the Star first. I’m g More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Kate (Nomalicious Reads) rated it:

More reviews can be found over at my blog: Nomalicious Reads

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson left me with a bunch of mixed feelings.

It started off really slow, for me at least, and at times I felt like I was reading a documentary. It was a slow reading for me, but I was glad that it picked up the pace, eventually.

It was strange, very strange, but it was good too - hence my mixed feelings.

One thing that royally pissed me off was the descri More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Kelly rated it:

Rory is going to spend the next year at a boarding school in London while her parents teach in Bristol. She quickly makes friends (well, two) and things couldn't be better. Until a copycat starts re-enacting the Jack the Ripper murders. This would be creepy enough until it turns out that it actually may be THE Jack the Ripper who's doing it. And for some reason, Rory can see him. Know what's worse than that? He knows she can see him.

It's not exactly a secret that I love all thi More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

A very all-American girl begins boarding school in London in this series opener... but what could be a typical "fish out of water" story takes a dark turn. Because prowling the modern London streets is a murderer who seems to be reenacting the gruesome exploits of Jack the Ripper. Or is it old Jack himself? A tense, page-turning thriller, leavened with Johnson's great gift for voicey, funny characters.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Oh dear! This one kept me awake at night! First, I didn't want to stop reading, two, it is genuinely scary - goosebump scary, not slash them up, blood and gore scary (though there is a bit of that).

Maureen Johnson is definitely one of my favourite YA writers! She sets up characters who sound like kids we know, sets up plots that are so good, you can't stop reading. LOVE it.

She also doesn't write trilogies (at least so far). There was a follow up to 13 Little Blue Envelop More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Jenn rated it:

I love Maureen Johnson's sense of humor. She is hilarious to follow on Twitter, and thankfully, that humor is fully evident in her novels. I think this may be my favorite of her novels so far for a few reasons: it has the Jack the Ripper murders in it and I am obsessed with those crimes; it is set in one of my favorite cities, London; it has humor, adventure, and a little romance; it mentions the Smiths and quotes lyrics from Morrissey. Oh, and it's extremely spooky and creepy. Besides, I really More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Anncleire rated it:

“Wait,” I said as Stephen and Callum turned to go, “one more question. If there are ghosts, does that mean there are . . . vampires? And werewolves?”

“Fear can’t hurt you,” she said. “When it washes over you, give it no power. It’s a snake with no venom. Remember that. That knowledge can save you.”

Quando ho iniziato la lettura di questo libro ero piuttosto scettica, le prime pagine non mi hanno preso per nulla e ho proseguito la lettura grazie alla mia regola delle dieci p More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Bry rated it:

I was going to start out this review with something like 'Johnson's debut novel shows her to have the poitential to be a fantastic writer with her creative storyline and accurate research'....only I just realized that this book is not Johnson's debut novel and is actually like her 9th or 10th. Mmmm. That definitly changes things. I thought she had potential but the book was still full of 'first-time' writer mistakes. Now that I know she is not a first-time writer and this is just her style I More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Hayley rated it:

The Name of the Star made it perfectly clear to me that all the world's average writers converge on the Young Adult market because there is no better place to disguise mediocre writing than in the characterisation of vapid teenagers.

Rory, The Name of the Star's protagonist, lacks any substantial depth and, in fact, is the kind of person you'd want to slap in the face if you found yourself forced to share a dorm room with her. She had the potential to be interesting but the author's laz More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Kaye rated it:

Except for the whole arriving in London just for the killing spree of the century, Rory's pretty much living the life any Anglophile would die for - living it up in a posh boarding school, a cool roommate, and the possibility of having her head chopped off by the Ripper himself.

Ahem. Yes, I'd take it all except for the last part.

Though I follow her religiously on Twitter, this was the first of Maureen Johnson's books I actually finished (started Suite Scarlett back in sen More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Dark Readers rated it:

“The Name of the star” Hmm where do I begin to describe “The Name of the star”. As a East London girl myself When I first received this novel I was a bit apprehensive about the fact it was set in my area and written by someone who doesn't live here, and maybe they wouldn't of got the places right when describing them BUT Maureen Johnson was spot on.

The way she has made East London an atmospheric spooky place is brilliant! The first line, first sentence and first paragraph had More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Jake rated it:

When I heard that Maureen Johnson was deviating from her usual type of book (funny contemporary novel) and doing a mystery with GHOSTS IN IT, I was a little nervous. It's hard to be hilarious when a Jack the Ripper copycat is chopping people up. And her hilariousness is one of the things I love about MJ.

So I went into this book with reservations. They disappeared somewhere around the second paragraph.

We've come to expect funny observations, realistic interpersonal re More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 19, 2011

Lauren rated it:

Originally reviewed at Nose in a Book.

I’m honestly not sure what drew me to this book. I’ve tried to read some of Maureen Johnson’s books before and I was not a fan…at all. Add to that an ugly cover? I think the main thing I was looking forward to was a Southern girl displaced in London unexpectedly. Somewhat reminiscent of Anna, n’est pas? I’m pretty happy that I gave it a shot though. I was honestly surprised at how much I enjoyed the novel. Contrary to her other YA novels, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 19, 2011

Bella rated it:

This book was amazing. It's one of my favourites of this year so far, definitely. I loved everything about it. It was SO GOOD.
Rory Deveaux has moved to a boarding school in London, but the day she arrives, a series of brutal murders breaks out across the city of London, murders which are similar in method and time and place to the killings of Jack the Ripper. However, Rory thinks she's safe in her school, that is, until she happens to see a mysterious man on campus that nobody else has see More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Savannah (Books With Bite) rated it:

I can't begin to express how much I love it when an author takes a classic story and makes it into something I never thought of before. I have also been a big fan of Jack the Ripper. The stories itself have always intrigued me in who this man is. And why he committed the murders he committed? What was the purpose? With Ms. Johnson amazing writing style, I, the reader, am taken back to a place I have never been before, and see things new.

I really enjoyed the plot. If anything the plot g More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 08, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Originally posted at Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me

The Name of the Star absolutely blew me away. While very excited to read this, I was slightly worried about what was in store for me because I could not imagine this murder mystery as a young adult novel. I was shocked and elated to find that this novel was fun, and that if you took out the murders it would still be an amazing story about discovering yourself in a foreign place, making new friends and more! The characters are so realist More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Penelope rated it:

Maureen Johnson sure knows how to tell one heck of a ghost story. Her descriptions of modern London, coupled with the historical aspects of Jack the Ripper were fantastically chilling. I read this book so quickly, I could hardly keep up with myself...which wasn't very good for my brain at 3:00 in the morning, but whatevs. This book was cool!

For some reason, I didn't catch that it is set in modern London until I began reading. It says so in the description, but no matter how many times More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 13, 2011

Katie(babs) rated it:

The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1) is the first book I’ve picked up by Maureen Johnson. When I heard Maureen wrote a supernatural take on Jack the Ripper in present day London, England, I picked it up. Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me and I ended up DNFing half way through. One of the reasons is because the build up to the action is very slow and full of unneeded information. At times I felt like I was reading a tourist guide’s how to book on the spooky underbelly of London, i More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)