The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Book: The Name of the Star
Author: Maureen Johnson
# of Pages: 207 (ebook)
Rating: 1 star

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.

My Thoughts: I was really excited about this book. I love ghost stories. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. I read many reviews saying that this was a good scary story, but I found it to be a bit boring. There is just WAY too much description/talk and not enough action. There is one point in the story where Rory goes into painful detail about the differences between the girls' and boys' dorms (Is it really that important for us to know that the girls keep plants on their windowsills?). 

The characters in the story were pretty plain. Sure Rory has a "gift," but even so… As for Rory's love interest, Jerome, we hardly learn anything about him. We find out that he's a prefect and is obsessed with Jack the Ripper and that's it. I'm not even sure why Rory likes him. The only character that really stood out for me was Alistair. He plays a very minor role in the story, but maybe we will see more of him in the next book?

This is an okay ghost story, but once again I think it would have been better with more action scenes.