***The Starry-Eyed Revue***: shades of london

Title: The Name of the Star
Author: Maureen Johnson
Series: Shades of London
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publication Date: September 29, 2011
Source: purchased
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Rating:

From Goodreads:

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux 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 Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

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 one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

Review:

So, I wasn’t really expecting much from this novel. Maureen Johnson usually writes contemporary novels, and if you know me at all, you know that those aren’t really my thing. However, I was intrigued by the Ripper lore, and when I realized ghosts were involved, well, that changed everything.

There are some pretty common trends featured in this book that have a habit of making appearances in YA novels. First up, boarding school. Yep, we all fantasize about going away to school and being swept off our feet by a boy with an accent. So, I’ll forgive this particular development. Another inclination in YA novels is to have the entire story devoid of parental figures in order to allow the characters less limitations in their personal lives. So be it. I am the product of a very strict upbringing, and I would have done anything to escape that. Especially boarding school…unless it was an all-girls school. No thank you. As I said, I can forgive these tendencies, since I myself have daydreamed of both scenarios, and, well, I like my novels to be a form of escape, not an echo of reality.

My favorite element of this novel was Rory. It’s not often that I can say the heroine is my favorite part, even though it’s probably supposed to be. I really enjoyed the fact that Rory was just a normal girl who couldn’t overcome insane situations just because she was the protagonist. She needed help and had to make sacrifices for the people she cared about. The situations in the book were not made easy for her, and yet she still persevered. Oh, and she’s sarcastic. I love that in my protagonists, since I, too, resort to sarcasm, even in the most dire of situations.

Once I started reading this novel, I found I couldn’t put it down. For one thing, it gave me yet another reason to read in my English accent. Love that. But the story itself was strong, as were the supporting characters. Rory made friends with normal people and crushed on an average guy. She snuck out when the situation warranted and had fun in the meantime. Rory also hit the books. Like I said, normal girl. And I was so happy that the romance was in the background of the story. It wasn’t unimportant, but Rory’s gift needed to be addressed more than a possibly trivial relationship.

The Ripper-lore…gah, it had me drooling. I don’t know much about that horrific period, but what I was exposed to in this novel left me aching to research it further. I’m a geek, admittedly, but that kind of thing is just fascinating to me. I did an entire research paper on the JFK assassination in high school. Maybe my fascination is a bit morbid, but can you honestly say that your curiosity wasn’t peaked by the idea of Jack the Ripper, or a copy-cat, striking again?

Anyway, let’s go out on a positive note. My favorite line from the book: “…but that only reminded me that lambs are famous for being led to slaughter, or sometimes hanging out with lions in ill-advised relationships.” BURN!

Labels: ghosts, maureen johnson, reviews, shades of london

TGIF is hosted by Ginger at GReads! In this weekly feature, Ginger poses a question to her followers and then asks everyone to link up at the end of the post, sharing their responses.

This Friday's Question:

Spooktacular Reads: Which books do you consider festive Halloween reads? Which stories have chilled you to the bone?

Hmmm...I don't read many ghost stories or scary stories period these days, but I read Anna Dressed in Blood earlier this year, and it actually, really, honestly gave me nightmares. I don't think I've ever read a ghost story that truly gave me the chills...until Anna that is. In real life, I totally believe in ghosts and the supernatural. But when it comes to reading, it takes a lot to convince me a ghost is really scary. So, I was very surprised when I read Anna...and I've been recommending it to everyone ever since, including you. Check out my review if you don't believe me.

But before discovering Anna, I used to read Goosebumps and The Haunting of Cabin 13. Yes, these are meant for a younger reader, but I loved them way back when, and I still get a kick out of them now.

The Name of the Star (Shades of London, #1)

I'm not much for haunted houses and such these days...it's more about trick-or-treating with the kiddo and carving pumpkins now. But I still love a good scary story. Too bad they're so hard to come by, at least for me. Got any you'd like to recommend? I'm talking give-you-nightmares, sleep-with-the-lights-on, what-was-that-noise kind of scary. Yeah, got any of those?

I do, however, have The Name of the Star up next on my TBR pile. I've heard great things and can't wait to start it!