Tori's Review: The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1) by Maureen Johnson

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Series: Shades of London #1
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery
Rating: ★★★★
Pages: 372
Published by Putnam Juvenile on September 29, 2011
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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.

The plot (no spoilers): Rory gets to London. Rory is chastised for being a silly American. Rory meets a cute English boy. Rory is in London when Jack the Ripper style murders go on. Rory meets a ghost. Rory meets some other people that can see ghosts. Rory makes friends. Rory is hunted.

Despite the fact that the plot seems very simplistic...okay, well the plot in The Name of the Star is very simplistic. But it's a good simplistic! Johnson's writing is very short and to the point, and I like that about it. It's no nonsense writing. There's only one thing I'd complain about when it comes to Johnson's writing, and I had the same issue with Libba Bray's writing in The Diviners, and that's the fact that yes, Johnson did research on London, and yes Johnson made it seem real (wait. What would I know? I've never been to London. Oh, well), but no Johnson did not have to show me every. single. thing that she learned.

It wasn't as bad as Bray though, who just had to tell me all about the 1920's when I could've cared less. But still. In the beginning, I had a little History Class Taught by Rory about the school's history. Yeah, I really didn't care. I kind of glazed in that part. But after you get past the first hundred pages (for me, it's really easy to get past the first 100 pages in most books. Notice how I say most books and not all books), the plot really picks up and the book takes off.

I really liked the characters in this book. They might not have seemed really real to me and they might not have stood out among other characters I've read before, but I still really liked them. Stephen, particularly. (Except when he told Rory his life story. I like story time and all, but I hate hearing people's back stories. I know that they're necessary though.) Anyway, I wasn't too fond of Jerome though. I know that he was the love interest, but I really just didn't like him all that much. He seemed a bit flaky at times and suspicious as well as reckless.

(Like, no. You do not go to the bar where a body was just found and a murderer is still out there. You just...don't.)

But other than Jerome, I was fine with the other characters. Even Charlotte. She reminded me of people that I know and (would) love (to castrate and/or stab repeatedly). Boo was meh. She was fun and all, but I feel like she was only added to spice up the book a bit, which is fine, but still.

As far as murder/mystery goes, I really don't think this was a mystery. I consider a mystery to be like Bones (the TV program) or CSI or other crime shows like that. Or even Find Me by Romily Bernard where even though the killer may or may not be blatantly obvious, you still have to guess as to who the killer is. In this book, it's just kind of thrown at you. I doubt the author chose the genres, but if you want a whodunit mystery, this isn't it. It's still worth the read though! Creepy enough in some parts, especially when explaining Jack the Ripper's fourth (or was it fifth?) murder.

Overall, I really liked this book and its plot. It was really interesting to me. It took me a while to get around to reading it (I bought it in September '13), but that's fine. I'm glad I did decide to pick it up randomly. I really enjoyed it. I'll be buying the next book really soon.

On a final note, I'm so glad that book three comes out this year. I heard the cliffhanger at the end of book two is killer.

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Review: Let it Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle

Let it Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myrcale

Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Short Stories
Rating: ★
Pages: 352
Published by Speak on October 2, 2008
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.

Let it Snow is a story of romance, strangely realistic main characters, festive festivities, and slightly irritating writing. This short story compilation contains three stories written by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle respectively.

When I say slightly irritating writing, I don't mean anything hateful toward the authors whatsoever. In fact, I happen to like all of three of those authors just fine (okay, I haven't actually read anything of Myracle's writing, but I won't hold her short story to her. In fact, I really want to read The Infinite Moment of Us by her). It's just that I didn't really like the characters that they created, and they ultimately seemed to get on my nerves. I know I said that they were realistic in the first paragraph, and they are. But they're realistic in the sense that they're annoying.

And just so I don't leave you hanging, I'll tell you why I thought they were annoying. Okay, well Maureen Johnson's character Jubilee didn't annoy me. It was mostly Tobin and Addie. Tobin just discovers that he was all of a sudden in love with his best friend who's been around forever just by one look? It just seems like a cliche male character thought, to be honest. I thought that it was shallow and annoying, if not boring. I love John Green's writing to bits, and I have to admit that I'm really bummed that I didn't particularly enjoy this short story of his. I didn't hate it, but it was really slow at first. Slow beginnings turn me off instantly. Always. But in Green's beginning, the first seven chapters were literally Tobin and his friends either talking about cheerleaders or getting themselves stuck in idiotic situations like being stuck in a snow drift.

You didn't want to be stuck in a snow drift? Oh, well, here's an idea: don't take your parents' car out in the dead of winter because your friend said that there were cheerleaders.

But Tobin wasn't even that annoying compared to Addie. It wasn't even the writing that got me for Myracle's short story, it was her character. Throughout the entire short story, Addie is being told that she only thinks of herself. At first, I didn't see it. But then one of Addie's friends specifically asked her to do something for her, and Addie said yes. But then...she just doesn't do it. She forgets. She forgets. I'm sorry, but if you promise you're going to do something for someone, especially your best friend, do it. Don't make up excuses. When Addie realized that she forgot, she was about to take her break at Starbucks from her job when the water pipes break. Addie screws up yet again, and the water squirts all over behind the counter. She calls her other best friend, trying to tell her all about her horrible day all the while the other best friend is asking if Addie had done that thing their mutual friend asked her to do.

She hadn't. And yet she still tried to continue on with her story...about herself.

In all, I just wasn't really impressed with the stories or the characters. Jubilee was the least annoying if she could even be considered annoying at all, but she still wasn't that memorable. It's her name that's so memorable.

I hate giving it one star, because I usually give one star to unfinished books or books I wish I ever read, but I can't give this book two stars either because I had to force myself to finish the third story. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't amazing either. I don't really know how to make this a nice review without distorting my version of the truth, aka what I really thought about this book.

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