Review: Meridian by Amber Kizer

Meridian by Amber Kizer

Half-human, half-angel, Meridian Sozu has a dark responsibility.

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.

Review:

Paranormal novels are some of my favorites and while Meridian hasn’t made my 5-star list, it was certainly a solid and unique paranormal debut.

Meridian’s life has never been normal. Ever since she was little dead animals have found her. She never knew why they came to her to die or why she was so different from everyone else. Until her sixteenth birthday when her family sends her off to live with her Auntie in Colorado. From Auntie Meridian learns the truth- she is a Fenestra. A link between the living and the dead. Soon Meridian is uncovering more and more about her ability and the history of other Fenestras. She also learns that the dangerous Alternocti are after her and Auntie and she must do what she can to protect both herself and those around her.

The plot was definitely fast paced and we learn a lot about the Fenestras in what seemed, to me, a not very detailed way. I really wished that Meridian’s power was better explained and I wanted to know more about the Fenestras and the history behind them all. There was a lot of action though and plot twists that kept the story moving. I liked the secondary characters a lot. From Custos to Auntie to Tens, each of them played a vital role in the story and helped Meridian a lot. There were several other characters introduced, but none stuck out to me in the way those three did.

Our protagonist, Meridian, was a very complex girl. She had to understand a lot about herself and her powers very fast, and she was forced to make some hard choices. While Meridian was an intriguing character, I didn’t always connect with her. Her bravery shown throughout though and she did help a lot of people find the peace they needed, even though I didn’t always understand why the dead needed Fenestras. Tens relationship with Meridian was another thing I liked. It developed over the course of the whole story and wasn’t rushed at all. He was such a strong, independent guy and they never were fake around each other.

Meridian’s concept was something fresh and different and Fenestras are certainly something new. While I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I had hoped, it was still a promising start to a series, so I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for Tens and Meridian in Wildcat Fireflies.

Overall: 3.5 out of 5 stars

August 11, 2009/Delacorte BFYR/305 Pages/Young Adult/Book One

Source: Bought

Other books in the series: Wildcat Fireflies