Madly In Love With "Meridian"

Title:  Meridian (Fenestra #1)
Author:  Amber Kizer
Format:  Audible Audiobook
Length:  8hrs. 4mins.
Publisher:  Audible Inc.
Age Range:  Late Teen/Adult
Rating:  4.5 Stars


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.

     This books is a welcome breath of fresh air in the realm of Angelic YA.  Meridian is such an easy character to love and the injustice of her plight as "teen reaper walking" just ties one's heart-strings in knots.
      The author does such a good job in presenting Meridian as "the relative/girl out back" that by the time she is sent away; readers are almost grateful for the change and bursting with hope that she will find that companionship and answers that she needs.

Show Me the Light
"Auntie" Meridian is too cool for words.  She may be 106, but that doesn't mean that this angel won't spit fire if you get in her way.  She is the heart of this story.  She is the antithesis of the "absent parent" dynamic that is a thorn in the side of YA.  She is there to guide and support our unlikely heroine through many of the life changing moments of this novel.

"Tens" is too cool. Major kudos to Ms. Kizer for leaving their blossoming relationship to simmer in the background, while more important relationships were allowed to take center-stage.  His role as protector allows him to be the strong male, without undermining Meridian's girl power.

"Costus" is Tens assistant in fur although this wolf seems to spend more time getting Meridian out of the dire situations that pepper her existence.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sozu" the last people on the love list.  There was so mush more that they could have done to make Meridian more comfortable in her own skin.  It seems that instead they took the "we prayed that it would never come to this approach."  They loved her from a distance; hence the "relative out back" reference.  

Hiding In the Dark
"The Aternocti" are the anti-Fenestra.  Where the Fenstra usher souls into the light.  The Aternocti steal souls for hell.  To top it off, they would like nothing better than to see all Fenestra dead.

Reverand Perimo is an Aternocti in the guise of a minister to a small Christianesque sect known as "The Church of Forging Purity".  This is no church.  This is just a way for him and his henchmen to control the minds of the town and use the people to fight Meridian and her cause.

Thoughts
This book is about so much more than good vs. evil.  It is about the enduring and transformative power of love. Whether it be the love of family, community, a mate, or a wolf; love has the power to build courage, create purpose, and transcend death.  Though this is a YA read, the subject matter is very serious and could have been very emotionally draining if it were not for the superlative conveyance of respect for life in all of it's stages that resounds throughout this story.

Audiobook Review
Khristine Hvam delivers a wonderful performance in this heart-tugging read.  She did a wonderful job in bringing all of the characters to life and her vocal interpretations of each persona were original and distinct.  Here again is a rising star in the realm of audiobooks.

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