**REVIEW** 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.

Release Date: August 11, 2009

Published By:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Review Copy: Hardcover, 320 pages

*purchased 

Review

  So this cover totally reminded me of Miranda from Ghost Whisperer for some reason.  So seeing I love the show I figured I would at least enjoy the book.  Yes I let my inner self decide to purchase a book based on its cover.  This is me are you really surprised?  What I did end up getting with this cover was a deliciously, addictive and smoothly written read.  Honestly I was sucked right into its unique story, fantastic characters and a wonderfully crafted world.

  The story as I said just a sentence ago is unique but it's unique in so many ways.  Yes I was hooked by the cover and was bound to buy this read but one word had me worried: Angel.  Though the fact that it mentions she has always been surrounded by death cancelled that out.  The girl has honestly always been surrounded by death, starting with ants when her parents brought her home.  This only got worse as she got older, the animals got larger and the more of an outcast Meridian became.  When she turns 16 everything changes and Meridian becomes a part of a world she never knew existed, the world that makes her feel more normal and like she belongs.

  There really isn't anything that I didn't like about Meridian.  She was dealt a kind of crappy hand but she deals with it.  Her entire life people (even her parents) looked at her strange and yet when her brother comes along she does nothing but try and make him feel normal, even when she realizes that he is normal she doesn't hold it against him but continues to love him.  When thrust into an unknown world with people she has never gotten more than a card and a quilt from, she adapts.  Well she asks a lot of questions that seem to go unanswered but she doesn't give up.  There were moments that she seemed to accept things a little too easily but really when things have died around you or come to you to die for 16 years I guess you have an open mind.

  Auntie and Tens were also essential to this story.  Auntie because she is a  Fenestra herself and only has so much time to teach Meridian the things she needs to know to protect herself and help others.  She also explains that they are simply a window for the dead, a way for them to move on past this life.  When you meet Auntie you meet Tens and well I kind of fell a little for him.  Tens role isn't given up right away.  Actually it's awhile before it is really outlined but you get a vibe, a feel for who he is and who is supposed to be in the story.  Tens seems to dislike Meridian for whatever reason for awhile but he does what he is told by Auntie and helps Meridian to learn. 

  The one and only thing that ate away at me a little was the neat way people appeared when they were needed without a real reason.  Very small thing but it bugged at me and really it was closer to the end and it  took me a moment to clue into who the people really were.  Rather than this one minor thing I really enjoyed every moment.  I loved the growth of the characters, the way the world was built and the reasons behind everything.  This was a good start to a series and I look forward to reading more of  Amber Kizer's smooth and exciting writing.

Quotes

"I don't mean I'm gorgeous, but you avoid me.  It's not contagious."  I stopped, temporarily flummoxed by the idea.  "Oh my God, is it contagious?"  The shock in my voice must have distressed Tens, because he came and sat next to me.

If this was my first dead person, it was also my first corpse by a Christmas tree.  The tree sparkled with lights, and candy canes hung from every branch. There was a scent in the air I couldn't place, and I wondered if the dead smelled that quickly.

"What's God-fearing look like?" I asked Tens."Probably not SpongeBob," he answered with a smile and a nod at my pj's before grabbing an apple and leaving the kitchen.

"I know how to shoot.  I've hunted for years.  A gun is more efficient than a bow and arrow, especially when you're hungry.  Would I pull the trigger to protect you?  Absolutely.  Would I let you pull the trigger to protect me? Hell, yes...."