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

I came across The Madness Underneath on a recent trip to the local library and had to get it!   I loved the first book in the series and just had to see what happened next.  Here is the cover and the Goodreads blurb:

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 to get back to her friends. 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.

This book definitely has the feel of a middle book.  Middle books in a trilogy have a tendency to be the book where all hell breaks loose and you want to throw the book at the wall and/or pull out all of your hair.  Really.  Everything is falling apart for Rory since the Ripper's attack.  She has a huge scar and she's a terminus.  But she can't contact Stephan, Callum or Boo.  She's stuck in Bristol at her parents' house, watching TV and feeling alone.  When she does get to go back to school, she doesn't feel the same way about Jerome as she did.  She is so far behind that it feels hopeless.  Deaths are happening near the school again and she is sure that it is ghost related.  But Stephan is keeping her at arms length.  What else can go wrong?!  Lots of things, apparently.  This book kept me reading right up to the end.  It make me laugh, made me sad for Rory and the ending made me want to set fire to the rain.  It left me wondering how much longer we have to wait for the third book.

You can click here to find the Shades of London series on Goodreads.  Maureen Johnson can be found on her website, Twitter and her blog.  The Madness Underneath earns 4 Fairies from me for being a great middle book in this series that pulls you in and ruins your day.

The Last Little Blue Envelope (Little Blue Envelopes #2) by Maureen Johnson

I read 13 Little Blue Envelopes two years ago right after my dad died of cancer.  It was one of those books that was perfect for what I was going through right then.  I was so glad to see a copy of The Last Little Blue Envelope on the shelf at my local library on a recent trip.  Here is the cover and the Goodreads blurb:

Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny's backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.

Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he's found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.

In this book Ginny learned the important life lesson that people can let you down.  They can seriously hurt you without meaning to.  She also learned not to judge a book by its cover.  I think my absolute favorite character in this book was Oliver.  He is trying so hard to be tough and immune to all the words that Keith spews at him but he is so amazing underneath.  He has two lovely scenes at the very end that are some of the best moments of the book.  Another favorite is the scene on the hill at night.  The end was heartbreaking because I was so sad that it was over!  I'd love to see more from Ginny in the future but it still ended on a positive note.  I swear, everything Maureen Johnson writes is gold.

You can click here to find the Little Blue Envelopes series on Goodreads.  Maureen Johnson can be found on her website, Twitter and her blog.  The Last Little Blue Envelope earns 5 Fairies from me for a lovely continuation of the previous book.

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!(make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


 My Teasers are from The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson:

Clearly, Jerome and I had a complicated thing going on. He told me scary Jack the Ripper facts, and I had the sudden need to make out with him until I ran out of breath.

The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1) by Maureen Johnson

I have been wanting to read this book and I was lucky enough to get a signed copy at BEA last spring.  Maureen was a delight to meet as well.  I took forensics in college right after From Hell came out and Jack the Ripper got big so I find the mystery both interesting and disturbing.

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.

This book has some amazing characters.  I really don't think you can really dislike any of them.  (Well, the murderer is pretty awful.)  Rory has lots of sass and her interactions with her fellow students are pretty funny.  I enjoyed her roommates as well.  They are each endearing in their own way.  It was interesting to see how such different people could interact.  There are just too many great characters to describe them all.  Maureen  Johnson is amazing at creating characters that you love so much that you want them to be real.  Stephan and Alistair were some of my favorites.  Jazza was the kind of roommate that I would have loved having in school.  I didn't really know what to expect from this book except that it had something to do with Jack the Ripper.  This book was a total surprise and I loved every moment of it.

You can find Name of the Star on Goodreads here.  The sequel, The Madness Underneath, will be released on February 26th- click here to add it to your Goodreads.  You can find out more about Maureen Johnson and her books on her website.  You can also follow her on Twitter.  The Name of the Star earns 4 Fairies for a great book that I can't wait to read the sequel to.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

First let me say, if I had known more about this book I might not have read it when I did- the day that we returned from my dad's funeral in my hometown.  My dad died of cancer on May 11 after fighting for years.  I might not have read the story of Ginny and her aunt, who died of cancer, and the blue envelopes that brought them together and tore them apart is I had known ahead of time but I am so glad that I did.  This book pulled me out of the nasty place where I'd been for last last month as my father declined, died and our "family" began the process of moving on from his death.  Granted, I'm still not 100% but Maureen Johnson's book got me up and moving when I was bordering on catatonic.  Thank you Maureen Johnson.

Ginny has always been more like her mom than her aunt.  Aunt Peg is artistic and habitually broke.  She is like a child in a grown woman's body who loves to go into stores and try on the most expensive things there just to try them.  Aunt Peg is a kind of a gypsy who sometimes feels compelled to move or travel.  She's nothing like Ginny, who is sensible and shy.  Ginny never does anything unexpected or exciting.  But when Aunt Peg sends Ginny on an epic journey with only a backpack and a package full of envelopes with instructions, Ginny will get to see things that she never has before and she'll learn things about life, people, herself and her aunt.

This book was great, not just because of the epic journey of self discovery that Ginny embarks on but also because of the greater purpose, in my eyes, for the journey.  Through the letters in the envelopes and the people she meets along the way, Ginny finally begins to deal with her aunt's death and her feelings towards Aunt Peg for leaving her behind.  For me, it gave me license to be mad at my dad for dying,  To be mad at my family for the way they acted after his death.  It left me with hope, even though I know that there will never be letters from beyond the grave for me.  This book is not just about a personal journey of finding yourself or the literal journey across Europe.  It is a story about the journey through grief.  I really appreciated that.  I also liked seeing Ginny begin her trip as totally focused on completing the tasks and going home then ending it with new friends and family across the globe.  Ginny really blossoms and grows as a young woman over the course of this book.  `My favorite character has to be Richard.  I don't know what it is about him but I just love him to bits.  This book is a fun read with message and I would say it is suitable for most teens.  There is plenty of "underage drinking"- Ginny is old enough to drink in most of Europe but she would not be here.  There is one scene that is pretty sexual but there is nothing too graphic.  The sequel, The Last Little Blue Envelope, came out in April so you can find it in bookstores now!  You can find out more about Maureen Johnson and her books on her website or you can follow her on Twitter!  It also sounds like Maureen will be at BEA so be on the lookout for her if you go!  (Can you tell I'm excited for BEA?!)

13 Little Blue Envelopes earns 4 Fairies for being generally awesome.