Review: Meridian by Amber Kizer

Meridian
by Amber KizerDelacorte Press
ISBN: 9780385736688
http://www.amberkizer.com
http://www.meridiansozu.com
Release Date: August 11, 2009

from the author's site:

Sixteen-year-old Meridian has always been surrounded by death. As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders burrowed into her bedclothes to die. As she grew, the animals got bigger, and soon they were finding her at school to die in her presence. Meridian became an outcast, labeled by her classmates as Reaper, Gravedigger, and Witch. Each death she witnesses weakens her body, and loneliness weakens her spirit.

On her sixteenth birthday, she witnesses a deadly car crash. Though she’s untouched, Meridian's body explodes with the victims’ pain.

Before she can fully recover, Meridian is told that she's a danger to her family and rushed to her great-aunt's house in Revelation, Colorado. It's there that she learns the secret her mother has been hiding her entire life: that she is a Fenestra, the half-angel, half-human link between the living and the dead. It's crucial that she learn how to transition human souls to the afterlife and preserve the balance between good and evil on earth. 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. Dark, lovely, and lushly romantic, MERIDIAN introduces a powerful heroine who will entrance readers.

my thoughts:

Every time I picked up Meridian I was completely absorbed into her world. Amber Kizer crafted a wonderful tale that sucked me right in. Meridian is a very likable character, as are Auntie, Tens, and of course Custos.

I like that initially we get a little bit of background into Meridian's life and then immediately the action picks up. Meridian finds herself thrust into a world she knew nothing about and despite some reluctance at first, she manages to survive and thrive. Auntie and Tens are a wonderful supporting cast; they are exactly what Meridian needed. I love the inclusion of Custos the wolf because I always have a soft-spot for animals.

I love the hopeful ending of the book and I can't wait to see where Meridian and Tens go from here. I anxiously await their next adventure; it can't come too soon.