Dusty Reads #5. Meridian (Fenestra, #1) by Amber Kizer

Meridian (Fenestra #1) by Amber Kizer

Publishers: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Published Date: August 11th 2009
From: Bought
My rating: 4 out of 5

Dusty Reads is a weekly meme hosted by Giselle at Xpresso Reads where we spotlight a book sitting in our TBR pile. My twist is that I actually, finally, read them!

Synopsis:
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.

Review:
After 18 months I scooped Meridian off my shelf to finally read. The top was coated in dust but the pages inside were perfect, still untouched. I should have read it sooner. The sequel is now out and the third one is available as an ARC. The time was right to give it a go. Finally!

For starters the story is simple. We don't get bogged down with lots of characters. The tension is throughout and the main character Meridian is extremely likable. The enemy is known from about the middle of the book and there are many surprises that come at Meridian from the start.

Auntie and Tens are an unusual combination. Tens is Auntie's man-Friday. As Auntie is 106 years old it surprised me how capable she still is, but as she shares Meridians angelness she becomes an excellent teacher of all things worldly, and not just with the otherworldly stuff. Tens comes over as stubborn and intense. Meridian is unsure if he likes her, even as a friend. But soon they share adventures that draw them together as much more.

And there's nothing better than an evil Church cult coming to town. The cult convince the townsfolk that Auntie is to blame for the bad things that have happened in their lives. Pretty soon Auntie is being shunned from her normal society and things turn really hairy when the leader starts intimidating Meridian. Only a few people come to the rescue but they are worthy.

While all this evil is happening Meridian is learning about her gift, her craft. She's a window that allows souls to pass through to the other side. Its tricky, and she doesn't get it right in the beginning. But Tens is there to help her through it.

I loved the freshness of this story. It's not like anything I've read before and I really enjoyed it. Even Tens, who I couldn't like in the beginning, changed my mind. Auntie is wonderful too.
The ending leads us on a path to the next book and I'm excited for the start of this series!
-CBx

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