Book Review: The Name of the Star

Title: The Name of The Star by Maureen Johnson

Release Date: Sept. 29, 2011
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 372 pages
Genre: Paranormal, Thriller
Source: Library

Goodreads Summary: 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 more paranormal thrillers I read, the more I love them and The Name of the Star is a really good paranormal thriller! Maureen Johnson puts a southern American girl in modern London and successfully manages to invoke all the gothic creepiness you would expect from a story about Jack the Ripper.

Rory is a great character, a girl from Louisiana who is attending an elite London boarding school for her senior year. Rory is quirky and her descriptions of her family and hometown are funny and entertaining. I love the secondary characters, especially Rory’s friends Jazza, Jerome, Boo, Stephen and Callum. I also love Johnson’s descriptions of London and especially Boo’s cockney accent. I wish I were better about audio books, I would have loved to hear this story through a narrator.

The first portion of the book deals with Rory getting settled into her new school and making friends while Ripper terror reigns over London. There is a turning point in the novel where the paranormal elements take over and the book becomes vastly different. The twist in the story works very well.   

While there is romance in the book, it is not the central focus and more of a side story. I love this because when I read this, I was in the mood for a thriller (not a paranormal romance) and thriller is what I got. Thankfully, The Name of the Star also lacks most of the other juvenile high school drama that boarding school books are known for.

The Name of the Star is a really well written story. It is creepy, fast paced and thrilling. When I finished the book, I wanted to spend more time in this world with these characters, so I am happy that this is the first book in a series. The Name of the Star also throws a huge twist at the end that has me anxious to get my hands on the next book! 

Content: Kissing, underage drinking, some gory descriptions and violence.

My Rating: Really Good!

Review of Hereafter

Author: Tara Hudson
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 416 pages
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Source: ARC from publisher through NetGalley

Can there truly be love after death? Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive. Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

If you are in the mood for a spooky paranormal romance, Hereafter may be the book for you. Amelia’s existence is really sad. She is achingly lonely, scared and confused about who she is and even how long she has been dead. When she rescues Joshua from drowning, for the first time in her ghostly existence, she feels something and the two of them form a bond. She is immediately drawn to him and he becomes her anchor in the living world.

Amelia and Joshua’s romance is very sweet. He helps her find out more about herself and her past, which is also sad. Hereafter is a romance, but it also has themes of the loss and emptiness left behind when a loved one dies.

This book has some dark elements to it including demon possession and some trips to a chilling netherworld with wraith like creatures and a portal that seemingly leads to hell. We see hints that Amelia is more special than your average ghost, but the book ends before we really find out why she seems to have extra abilities.  

Hereafter does not end with a cliffhanger, but with a promise of a deeper story to come. I have lots of questions and hope that they will be explored in upcoming books in the series.

Content: Kissing, violence

Review of Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach

Release Date: March 31, 2011
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 306 pages
Author Website: http://lisacach.com/
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Source: Purchased

Goodreads Summary: A haunted castle, a handsome young man dead for four hundred years, one heck of a scary portrait of a witch, and a treasure hunt -- not to mention a princess for a roommate! -- all await 15 year old American girl Caitlyn Monahan when she earns a scholarship to a French boarding school.

There are secrets behind the stone walls of Chateau de la Fortune, buried for centuries along with the mystery of who killed Raphael, the charming ghost who visits Caitlyn at night. But as Caitlyn unearths the history of the castle, nothing scares her as badly as the secret she learns about herself, and the reason she was chosen to come to the Fortune School. And nothing breaks her heart as badly as falling in love with a dead guy.

Review: In Wake Unto Me, we meet Caitlyn Monahan, a 15-year-old girl who knows she is different from everyone else and always feels misunderstood and alone. She has very vivid, frightening dreams that feel very real to her but in the past, when she told her father and stepmother about them, they thought she was going crazy. Caitlyn is desperate to get away from her small Oregon town and when she gets an unsolicited and fully paid offer to attend an exclusive private school in France, she jumps at the chance for a new start.

Wake Unto Me has a little bit of everything. Mixed in the unique paranormal elements are bits of European history, some real, some created by the talented author and a gorgeous castle setting in rural France. This story is not what I expected. It starts a little slow, but the mystery behind it keeps you reading and it does pick-up. I don’t want to give too much away, the novel’s mysteries are best discovered layer by layer.

Something that bothered me was how depressed Caitlyn got. She felt so unloved in Oregon and even though she does not have a very emotional relationship with her father, her stepmother and friends were very affectionate but Caitlyn made no effort to reciprocate. It seems like she chose to be lonely. It’s hard for me to read that a 15-year-old decides to give up on her (loving) family and prefers to use some tarot cards her dead mother deals her in a dream to guide her through her life instead. She also gets very depressed toward the end of the book as well, not healthy behavior.

Wake Unto Me is a haunting, well written story with a satisfying ending. I am not sure if there will be a sequel, but it works as a standalone book. I am giving this book away, so stay tuned, I will be announcing the winner of the Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Blog Hop!

Content: Profanity (in French), Caitlyn uses someone else’s prescription drugs to help her fall asleep and induce dreams.