In Which Leah Reviews... Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

 The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London, it's the start of a new life at a 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 Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Hardcover, 372 pages

Published September 29th 2011

The name of the star by Maureen Johnson

The first thing that got my attention from this book was the words: “Jack the Ripper returns…” I am, of course, a huge Jack the Ripper fanatic; his story very inspirational to me as a writer even though he was a ruthless murderer.

In this novel the reader travels to modern day London and follows the story of Aurora, who prefers to be called Rory. She was an interesting character to put in this story. She is an American that came from the swamp lands of Louisiana and is now in rainy London. She is the ‘weirdo’ in her new English academy but luckily she makes good friends while she is there.

Everyone knows the story about Jack the Ripper; the killer who has never been caught even today, nobody knows who he was or why he attacked and killed those women in the ways he did. In this story the people of London get a reminder of the Ripper when they discover bodies of women that have been murdered just like the first victims all those years ago.

The reader doesn’t only follow the panic and fear from Rory’s side of London life in the school but also from the adults the story turns to who are investigating the crimes and trying to find out who this new Ripper could be.

Another thing that made this mystery even more interesting was its supernatural aspects. Rory meets a group of people, basically children trying to find this killer but they know who he could possibly be, why no cameras have seen him or why there aren’t any witnesses except for Rory…

I really want to give some spoilers in this review but I’ll hold back for those who still are going to read this book. At first only the cover of it grabbed my attention. The beginning of the story starts out slowly and somewhat boring.

I almost gave up on it but I kept reading so I could write this review and I’m so glad that I did. Turns out this story left me wanting more. There are twists and turns that made me stay up late trying to see what happens next. It ended in a huge cliffhanger and I am going to read the sequel when it comes out one day.

It was very well written, I could see the places and people even though I haven’t been to London at all. The author is very talented and I was glad I finished her book.

The one thing, being a writer myself, that authors want I believe is for the readers to want more of their work and Maureen Johnson has done just that. I enjoyed this book, especially towards the end of it, and can’t wait to see more from this author.