Review: Meridian by Amber Kizer

Title: Meridian
Author: Amber Kizer
Publisher: Delacorte
Pub. Date: 2009
Genre: YA
Main Themes: Angels, Death, Love, Family, Supernatural
Pages: 305
Plot (from book jacket):"Half human, half angel, Meridian Sozu has a dark responsibility.
Meridian has always been an outcast. It seems that wherever she goes, death and grief follow. On her sixteenth birthday, a car crashes in front of her home - and though she's untouched, Meridian's body explodes in pain.
Before she can fully recover, Meridian is told that she's in danger to her family and is hustled off to her great-aunt's house in Revelation, Colorado. There she learns the secret her parents have been hiding for her entire life: Meridian is a Fenestra, the half-angel, half-human link between the living and the dead.
It's crucial that Meridian learn how to transition human souls to the afterlife - how to help people die. Only then can she help preserve the balance between good and evil on earth. But before she can do that, Meridian must come to terms with her ability, outsmart the charismatic preacher who's taken over Revelation, and maybe - if she can accept her sworn protector, Tens for who he is - fall in love. Meridian and Tens face grave danger from the Aternocti, a band of dark forces who capture vulnerable souls on the brink of death and cause chaos. But together, they have the power to outsmart evil."

Meridian was a an interesting take on death and the after life, with a well written love story interwoven.

When I first saw the cover art for Meridian a few months before it was released, I was immediately drawn to the book. I loved the dark color scheme and the fact that it was quite clearly had some type of supernatural element.

When I was younger I was deathly (no pun intended) afraid of dying. I would lay awake at freaking out about what it would be like to lose a family member or pet. I think that having read Meridian back then might have helped assauge some of those fears. The ideas about death and the after life presented in this book make death seem not quite as scary or final.

I really enjoyed the romance and relationship that developed between Meridian and Tens. I'm a sucker for the protective guys, like Tens, but he was refreshing in that he still let Meridian learn for herself and believed she was a strong individual. He loved and cared for her, but gave her room to grow and learn as well. I really appreciated the fact that Tens and Meridian didn't immediately fall for one another, they actually disliked each other quite strongly at the beginning of the novel. I liked the chase and tension before they admitted their feelings to one another.

Ratings (Out of 10):
Plot: 10
Characters: 10
Writing Style: 10
Romance: 10
Originality: 10

Total: 50/50 (A!)

I definitely recommend Meridian - it was a great supernatural debut for Amber Kizer, author of One Butt Cheek at a Time. I look forward to (hopefully) reading more about the world of Meridian!