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

by Maureen Johnson

[celinenyx]

Ever wanted to read a book about boarding schools? Fancy a bit of murder in your boarding school fiction? The Name of the Star has got you covered.

Rory moves from Louisiana to the heart of London to attend a year of boarding school. As she's there, a woman is murdered, in a way that calls to mind that age-old name: Jack the Ripper. One, two, three women are killed, and the danger creeps up on Rory and her friends when they get caught up in finding out who this murderer is.

Sometimes I feel like books aren't properly mixed. You know how a dish can be in need of more stirring? The way there's too much water on this side and too many oats on the other? If only one could take a spoon and give it a good stir, the result would be fantastic. As it is, one side is too runny and the other unpalatable.

The Name of the Star is very much like that. The first half of the book reads like boarding school fiction, while the thriller elements are a mere backdrop. Time is spent on Rory attending classes, Rory making friends, Rory failing at hockey, Rory having lunch. It takes up to page eighty for anything remotely thrilling to happen. The last hundred pages, by contrast, completely abandon this setting and most of the school characters to focus on the mystery in full. In a way, the time spent building up the first setting seems like a waste if it isn't even fully incorporated in the denouement.

The paranormal/mystery aspect of the book is nice. It's decently set up (if only hints had been sprinkled throughout the book more) and I quite like the idea. The book sets up a good world for further books in the series.

The main character, Rory, on the other hand. It is a huge flaw in the story that she is someone that events happen to, rather than her actions driving the story forward. To be honest I am tired of characters simply reacting to events, never taking any initiative. Rory is painted in a sympathetic light, and I didn't necessarily dislike her, but I do dislike how the book treats her. One could imagine her staying in Louisiana and the outcome of the book being pretty much the same. The Name of the Star tries hard to convince us that Rory is essential to the story, but truly, she isn't.

Ultimately, The Name of the Star was a bit of a let-down. By tapping into that public fascination of the Jack the Ripper figure it barely keeps its story afloat, but it doesn't provide the chills and thrills it was promising.