TheBooky

This be a review.

After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Devereaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance. But Rory’s brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she’s become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades—the city’s secret ghost-fighting police—are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it’s too late.

In this follow-up to the Edgar Award-nominated The Name of the Star, Maureen Johnson adds another layer of spectacularly gruesome details to the streets of London that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Summary from Goodreads

This review will be spoiler free.

maureenjohnsonbooks:

Some of you may remember that when The Name of the Star came out, I did a thing where anyone who PRE-ORDERED the book from a certain store got a SIGNED book and a PRESENT. Well, this year, I am doing that again for The Madness Underneath. Except BETTER. Because it isn’t just ONE store. You’ll…

On Tuesday October 30 at 7 p.m., join Maureen Johnson (The Name of the Star),Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children), and Kami Garcia (co-author of the Beautiful Creatures series) for a chat about crafting creepy, scary stories!

Click here for the details!

And click here to enter for a chance to win six signed books (by Maureen J)!

maureenjohnsonbooks:

Here is a list of PLACES where I can be ENCOUNTERED in the next two weeks.

I am giving away a MADNESS UNDERNEATH to ONE RANDOM PERSON who reblogs this info. SO GO NUTS.

THIS WEEKEND, THE TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL, AUSTIN

Saturday, October 27th

10:00am: SIGNING in the Penguin/Book People booth…

All right, so thanks to missatomictermini, I found out about this:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/89104091/Penguin-Teen-Spring-2013-Preview

It’s Penguin’s teen Spring 2013 preview. It included excerpts from:

The Art of Wishing by Linda Ribar

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

The Madness Underneath (Shades of London book 2) by Maureen Johnson***

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

And

17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma

I thought I’d share, because if I was totally clueless about this I figured that other people might be too. Or not, you know. It could be just me. But in case it isn’t: there you have it!

***My review for book 1: http://thebooky.tumblr.com/post/15413241512/the-name-of-the-star-by-maureen-johnson-the-day 

An interview with Maureen Johnson, the author of The Name of the Star.

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson.

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.

Summary from Goodreads.

Let’s get on with it, shall we?

Cons:

• I do not want Jerome (or whatever his name is—to be the love interest). I want Stephen to be the love interest. SORRY. I will spoil nothing more. Still, I’m just sayin’.

• The romance…why was it even there, honestly? Unless it’s Stephen, I don’t care. It didn’t really feel like it had a place in the story (which is actually pretty cool and I’ll get to it in a second).
• Rory, oh Rory. Aurora, actually. Anyway, as a main character I can sympathize with her and I actually like her. The one thing, though? She’s a bit clueless. Just a bit. I mean, I so totally knew what was going to happen way, way before she did.
  
• The bad guy actually has a bad guy speech. I bet if he had had a mustache, he would’ve twirled it and been like, “Muhaha!” I couldn’t take him seriously, even though the bad guy’s abilities make him scary.
  

Pros:

• This is a really cool idea for a story. Secret ghost police? Fuck yeah. Anyway, since there are ghosts running around (and I wasn’t going to say anything but the summary mentions it) the story gets creepy, sometimes. I was scared, like, twice, I think. Which is not bad. I like scary. But if you don’t like ghosts, then this book probably isn’t for you.
• I enjoyed that the story is set in London and in a boarding school. I have the travel bug, even though I’ve never physically been anywhere (I know! I know, it kills me too) and so reading this story is pretty awesome. Lots of facts are thrown in about the city, and Rory gets to run around a couple of times, which was nice. 
• All of the characters have something going for them except Jerome and the evil girl Charlotte. I wish they hadn’t been in the book. Anyway, I really liked Jazza. She was sweet and a great addition to the book, even though she didn’t contribute much. 
• AND the book deals with murders, which I liked. Ick, that sounds morbid and wrong. Still, it was interesting. You’ll see if you read the book.

This is also the first book I’ve read by Maureen Johnson. I really like her as a person (because I follow her on Twitter) and I was worried that it was going to be like the Sisters Red/Jackson Pearce fiasco, but it wasn’t. Maureen is actually pretty funny, and I could deal with her writing. It was nice. AND, if you read the acknowledgements you will see that she’s friends with John Green and Cassandra Clare. EEEEE!

Anyway, should go you read this book? It’s not a bad read or anything. Yes, it’s fairly basic and all, but there’s nothing really wrong with it (and I mean wrong as in claw-your-eyes-out/can’t-keep-reading-OMG kind of wrong).

Sure, why not?

noseinabook:

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

It’s the night before Christmas and Gracetown is hit by a snowstorm. Jubilee is sent to her Grandparent’s house in Florida when her parents are arrested at a sale for pieces of a Christmas village. When the snowstorm causes Jubilee’s train to break down, she takes refuge at a waffle house with other passengers, and ends up spending Christmas with the perfect stranger. Tobin and his friends intended to spend Christmas Eve watching James Bond movies, but instead rush to the waffle house for the chance to spend the snowstorm with some stranded cheerleaders. Meanwhile, Addie just wants to get back together with her ex-boyfriend Jeb but finds herself searching town for a friend’s teacup pig. When the world becomes a winter wonderland, new love and second chances seem to be in the air.

I read this book in March and it’s still fairly fresh in my mind, so that should tell you something. I love Maureen Johnson, John Green, Christmas and snow, so I had to check out this book. The stories were sweet and light, centring around romance and new beginnings. This book is composed of three short stories by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle. Johnson’s story had all of her usual charm and sense of humour, and you have to love the quirky Jubilee. I loved the mini-adventure in John Green’s story and the romance that Tobin finds was my favourite in Let it Snow. The first two stories captured what I love about the holidays and put me in the Christmas spirit (in March.) Lauren Myracle’s story was the final part of the book, and I don’t think she did a good job of tying the three story lines together. At the time, I’d never even heard of Lauren Myracle and this story made me not want to read anything by her again. However, since then I have read Shine, which was excellent. I think Myracle is a good writer, although maybe short stories aren’t her thing. Her story is called “The Patron Saint of Pigs,” and I honestly couldn’t tolerate Addie, let alone like her. The plot wasn’t engaging at all and was easily forgettable. The book ends with all the different characters meeting in a Starbucks. It felt awkward and didn’t do credit to the rest of the book. Although it ended on a bad note, I still enjoyed Let it Snow as a whole.

If I had to describe this book in two words it would be “winter fluff.” It was a quick read full of cuteness and winter romance. If you are a fan of any of these three authors and are looking for a fun read this Christmas, then it’s worth checking out. There were some flaws, but I think it’s a nice book to read on a snowy night.

3.5/5

“Something about me has always liked the drama and inconvenience of bad weather. The worse the better, really.”

crystalldejesus:

My review of Maureen Johnson’s The Name of the Star.

http://www.examiner.com/young-adult-fiction-in-atlantic-city/the-name-of-the-star-is-what-you-fear-review