Since I am patiently waiting until I can go home in order to get my copy of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, I am trying to occupy myself by reading other books in the mean time. Don’t worry, I should get the book by next weekend and I will finally get to read it. While I wait for that, I have finished Maureen Johnson’s most recent book, The Name of the Star. This was one of the books that I got free from ALAN, and I must say it was a very good read. It was different and exciting. And I enjoyed it.
The Name of the Star follows a girl named Rory, who is moving from Louisiana to London because her parents are teaching at a University there. The day Rory arrives in London a murder takes place, one mimicking the work of Jack the Ripper in 1888. Soon all of London is taken by this modern day Jack the Ripper and fear grips the city. The police have no leads and no witnesses. Until Rory spots a man on the night of one of the murders. But no one else saw this mysterious man. So who is he? And what is he going to do about Rory? Rory is taken on a journey she never expected, and learns the truth about a secret police force that most people don’t know exists and about her own abilities.
Not only is this book an awesome psychological thriller, it’s also somewhat educational. Before reading The Name of the Star I didn’t know that much about Jack the Ripper. Sure I’ve heard the name and everything, but since it’s something that happened in London and didn’t really effect people in the United States, I haven’t heard that much about it. But Maureen Johnson packs her novel full of facts and such about Jack the Ripper that really explained the whole situation really well. I think she showed the panic that would have ensued his return really well. And also educated me at the same time.
I also liked this whole secret ghost police thing that Johnson created. It was different from your average ghost hunter novel. Usually ghost novels have something creepy going on somewhere, usually in a small town, and a whole team gets together with various technology to find out what’s going on. There’s usually someone that can see ghosts in the team, and they end up finding the ghost in the end. But this ghost story was different. Johnson created this whole different ghost world, and I found that I really liked it. It was refreshing and new, and I enjoyed every moment of it. And I can’t wait until the next one.
Until I can get my hands on my copy of The Fault in Our Stars, I will be reading I Will Save You by Matt de la Peña. Until then, happy reading!