Review: Meridian

Book: Meridian
Author: Amber Kizer
Pages: 320
Published: August 11th 2009 by Delacorte
Source: Bought

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.

I really liked this book! I'd heard mixed things about it, so I was a little worried starting this one, but luckily I thoroughly enjoyed it. The premise of Meridian was really what interested me at first, but I was doubtful of whether the book would live up to the standard that the summary set for it. It did.

Meridian (besides having an awesome name) was an interesting character. I liked how she developed from a slight immature teenager to a young adult. She was kind of forced to grow up, with all the weird crap that happened to her. My favorite scenes were the ones with her and Tens, who was extremely swoony. He was always trying to do the right thing and kept Meridian's best interests in mind -- their conversations struck me as humorous and sarcastic. Their relationship had a certain dynamic to it that I really enjoyed reading about.

The plot was fairly quick and filled with adventure. Amber Kizer presents a new type of supernatural power: the Fenestras and their evil counterpart, the Aternocti. It was extremely original and I loved Kizer's idea. The only complaint I have about the book is the fact that some things seemed too coincidental, too unrealistic. Things just seemed to happen just in time way too often, though that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story.

I was really impressed with Meridian and I will definitely be reading the sequel, which as of now is titled Wildcat Fireflies, to be released by Delacorte Press/Random House in fall 2011.

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

Cover: I like this cover! The girl on it looks absolutely nothing like Meridian in the book (um, hello, publishers? You got the hair wrong.) but I liked the expression she has on her face and the pattern around the sides. Very interesting and this would definitely catch my eye in a bookstore.