I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up. I was sitting at Panera with fellow bloggers, Kate and Steph, and they were talking about how awesome Maureen Johnson was on twitter (which she is) and how awesome this book was, so on a whim I ordered from amazon. 
 Since I didn't read the back of the book I didn't know that it was ghost story. In the past I would have said that I'm not a ghost person, but now I think I am. 
 It's so creepy! And it was creepy before I realized there were ghosts involved. Rippermania has taken over in London, and people are scared, especially because there appears to be no evidence. Just the similarities between the Jack the Ripper killings and these killings was enough to creep me out. Throw in the ghosts and it was almost impossible for me to fall asleep. I don't mind being creeped out if the story is good, and The Name of the Star was worth being creeped out for. 
 Despite that it's a mystery/ghost story it's funny. Rory comes to London from Louisiana and despite the fact that she did research on British sayings and customs she was still clueless at times. "I figured "pulled a Jack the Ripper" was one of those English expressions I'd need to learn." 
 The title is genius. I don't usually pay too much attention to book titles, but this one bothered me because I just didn't get it. What was I missing? Then you get a little further in the book, and it makes perfect sense. 
 Rory was an excellent main character. She adapted fairly well with all the changes (better than I would have, that's for sure!) and didn't do anything too crazy. 
 I really enjoyed Rory and Jazza's friendship, especially how they both reacted when Boo (their new roommate) showed up. Jerome, Stephen, Callum, Alistair (I really, really liked him) and Jo were all great too. I loved reading all their back stories and how they came to be in the position that they were in. 
 The romance felt just right. It was there, but it wasn't all in your face, and they didn't get all crazy and do stupid things because "they're in love." 
 I loved the ending . It's not very often I can say that with a book when I know that there are more books coming but with The Name of the Star it's true. This also means that I am now eagerly anticipating the next book.