Meridian by Amber Kizer

Meridian

Amber Kizer

Grade: B-

Description from goodreads.com:

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.

My thoughts on the book:

Meridian was okay. Kizer came up with an interesting idea, but her execution was a bit shaky. The prologue is amazingly written, and I was immediately drawn into Meridian's story. I felt a connection with her right away, but as the novel continued, my connection seemed to deteriorate. Kizer did a lot of telling and not much showing. Furthermore, Meridian's relationship with Tens seemed forced. One minute he was being an abrasive jerk and the next, Meridian is in love with him. No transition at all. I didn't feel that their relationship grew to the point of a deep like, much less love. 

Meridian is a good character. She's not the most interesting character I've ever read, but she's a decent person and wants to do well. Tens is the typical Byronic hero, but without a tortured past as far as I can tell. He seems to just be a jerk for no reason. He becomes nicer as the story goes on though. However, I just didn't feel the connection with them at all. Auntie was a sweet old lady, but I don't get why the whole town called her Auntie. She is Meridian's aunt, not the aunt of the entire town. I don't know if she introduced herself as Auntie or what, but whatever. 

I didn't feel any emotions as I read the book. I didn't really care what happened to the characters. The plot was interesting enough that I finished the novel, but when bad things would happen to a character that I knew I should care about, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I have a feeling that if Kizer had done more showing and less telling of emotions and circumstances, then I would have been much more attached to the characters. 

The novel didn't lack description, however. Kizer overly described many things. I skimmed over half of the descriptions because it was just too much. Add that to every ounce of information being given in dialogue, and the story goes from exciting to blase almost immediately. If Kizer had kept up the style of writing she used in the prologue, then the novel would have been much better. 

The ending of the book sets the story up for a sequel, and I'm going to read it simply because the story drew me in. I'll check it out from the library, though.

Over all, I'd recommend this book if you're bored and have nothing else to read. I'd check it out from the library. The idea is new. A half-angel, half-human conduit for the dead is a different take on the paranormal, for sure, but the writing is a bit lackluster. 

Want to buy Meridian?

Amazon

Barnes and Noble