Meridian by Amber Kizer

Meridian by Amber Kizer
Release Date: August 11, 2009
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 320
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Sixteen-year-old Meridian has been surrounded by death ever since she can remember. As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders would burrow into her bedclothes and die. At her elementary school, she was blamed for a classmate’s tragic accident. And on her sixteenth birthday, a car crashes in front of her family home—and Meridian’s body explodes in pain.

Before she can fully recover, Meridian is told that she’s a danger to her family and hustled off to her great-aunt’s house in Revelation, Colorado. It’s there that she learns that she is a Fenestra—the half-angel, half-human link between the living and the dead. But Meridian and her sworn protector and love, Tens, face great danger from the Aternocti, a band of dark forces who capture vulnerable souls on the brink of death and cause chaos.

I loved the characters! They were all well developed and a pleasure to read about. Each contributed to the novel in a different way. The main character, Meridian, had to be my favorite of them all. She was relatable and definitely had my sympathy when she was forced to leave her family behind. She was also strong-willed and a great listener. Tens was fantastic too! He was sarcastic--which I love--and hilarious, which is good too. He was almost the exact opposite of Meridian and they balanced each other out perfectly. The romance between the two was refreshing.

The novel was surprisingly fast-paced and the plot was just genius. I thought the duty of a Fenestra was awesome--helping the dead move on to Heaven. It sounded like a cool job, but kind of scary.

One thing I found distasteful was the lack of explanation in some parts. I found myself confused every once once in a while. Another thing was that I actually got bored. Even though that was a rarity, it was still present, and it lessened my interest in the novel.

Meridian was an exciting read and kept me on my toes for the majority of the time. I'm anxious to see what Amber Kizer will write next.

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