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, entertaining read, but I was pleasantly surprised.

First thing you need to know: this book is funny. Yes, there's blood, mad murderers on the loose and many creepy encounters, but Maureen makes sure the reader has something to grin about every few pages. Which was awesome, because it probably would've been a bit of a downer of a book otherwise.

The second thing you need to know: it's a clever book. Maureen doesn't condescend to her readers and she doesn't beat them over the head with all the answers. She shows amazing control over the pace of the story, and I think that is one of the things that makes this novel work so well.

The climax was nicely executed. At first I thought it was just going to be a huge info dump, but it wasn't at all. There was a great twist that I didn't see coming, which is something I always appreciate. (view spoiler)[Jo - she's such a hero! (hide spoiler)]

Did I mention it's funny? It is! It's also quite scary in some parts (I know I was feeling a bit spooked as I read it late at night), but I am also the kind of person who can't watch movies that are even slightly scary because I'm a huge chicken. So, I wouldn't be too worried about that.

I'm keen to see where Maureen takes this series. Bring on The Madness Underneath!