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Dec 06, 2011

Bry rated it:

All those other YA books that claimed to be dark were sadly lacking (I'm looking at you Fallenand Hush, Hush), but this book - this is dark and delicious in every sense of the words.

Meridian is a Fenestra, a being who helps guide the souls of the dead into the afterlife so that they are not reincarnated and are able to meet up with their loved ones again on the other side. This is a family trait that passes down through the bloodlines but is not present in every generation. Her 16 More...

14 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jan 08, 2009

Amber rated it:

Jacket info with chapters to come under Amber's profile:

MERIDIAN
Release date: August 11, 2009
Delacorte Press

My name is Meridian Sozu. I am a Fenestra. I have always shared my world with the dead and the dying. But I really didn't understand what that meant until I turned sixteen and glimpsed my own mortality. . .

Sixteen-year-old Meridian has always been surrounded by death. As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders burrowed into her bedclothes t More...

6 comments like (8 people liked it)

Sep 26, 2011

Bonnie rated it:

2.5 stars

You can’t help but be intrigued by the summary: “As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders would burrow into her bedclothes and die.” Whaaaaatt??? Creepy right? I totally loved the introduction into the story, loved learning about her childhood and all that she had to endure as her parents never fully understood her.

On her sixteenth birthday when she witnesses a tragic car accident right in front of her house, her parents proceed to tell her that she must leave More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 23, 2010

Kim rated it:

I'm frowning... I liked about 3/4 of this book. Towards the end it all went way too fast and everything just... worked out somehow. They needed person A and poof there he was. Then they needed person B and lucky for Meridian the mother of person B already had a dream about Meridian needing their help, so they were already near where it all went down. But not without the help of a tame wolf who decided playing dead on the middle of a deserted road was the best approach to making them stop their c More...

18 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

~Tina~ rated it:

(2.5-3Stars)

Death finds her for as long as she can remember. It was a way of life for Meridian, always finding dead animals scattered around. This was her normal. This was her life. For as long as she could remember death has followed her, always...

I wanted to like this one, really I did, but sadly I couldn't.
Meridian starts off with a mad rush pulling in the readers to it's wild storyline but I think that it was to fast and all at once. It ended to easily making it More...

10 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 02, 2010

Nicola rated it:

Reason for Reading: I was attracted to the angel aspect of the story as I enjoy paranormals involving angels.

When Meridian turns sixteen her family has planned for her to be whisked away to live with "Auntie" for an undermined amount of time. It is here that she learns that she is only half-human, the other half is angel. In fact she is a Fenestra, a window to the 'other side' that the dead seek out, if she is near, to make their passing easier. Auntie is also a Fenestra an More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 07, 2010

Trish rated it:

I'm not going to re-cap the events of the book, everybody else has already done it. Let me start off by saying this wasn't a bad book. I thought the premise was original and very interesting.

My problem was that I never actually connected to it and I'm not sure why. It felt like I was listening to the story, but not LIVING IN the story (if that makes sense). My favorite books are the ones that I fall completely into, where the world of the story becomes MY world while I'm reading, a More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Hyde rated it:

If it wasn't because it was a fast read and not boring, I would have given this book two stars.
I liked the idea of the story, but I felt that the characters were too two dimensional.

I didn't feel a connection with any of the characters. Meridian was too whiny and cowardly. She acted like she was just finding out about her powers. She knew things died around her, so when she found out why that was happening she should have tried embracing her powers (or at the very least cooperate More...

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Nov 01, 2011

Colleen rated it:

Meridian is a half human, half-angel. Otherwise known as a fenestra, Meridian’s life has been nothing but sickness and death. This is because Meridian helps souls travel to the other side, however, when a soul tries to use her to transition it causes her to have a violent reaction leaving her sick for days. On her 16th birthday, her parents finally reveal to Meridian her true nature. On the day that she learns this truth, her parents hastily send her to her Aunt’s home in Revelation, CO. Meridia More...

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Aug 04, 2011

Amanda rated it:

For as long as Meridian can remember, things seem to die around her for no explainable reason. After barely surviving a car crash on her sixteenth birthday, Meridian's life is suddenly changed forever. Her family is forced to go into hiding and Meridian is sent to live with her eccentic Aunt in middle-of-nowhere Colorado. Meridian soon learns the truth of her strange life -she is what they call a Fenestra, a half-human, half-angel who is meant to help the dying get to heaven. Armed with this new More...

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Jun 20, 2011

Anna rated it:

When I first picked up Meridian I avoided it, in fact I returned it twice before I actually took a second look at the thing. I am no fan of death, its cruel, neccessary I suppose but cruel for the loved ones left behind. It causes pain, and destruction of innocents, so however neccessary death may be in the grand design I have trouble accepting it.

Meridian was at some places rather dull, it starts out with a normal teenager attending a private school only when a bus full of he fellow More...

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Jun 19, 2011

Lalaine ( Ficbookreviews ) rated it:

Meridian grew up surrounded by death and grief, that she thinks she causes deaths around her and feels pain inside her that she didn't know where it came from. when she turned sixteen, it is time.....an accident happened in front of their house, suddenly shed seen life of each person flashes through her mind and felt unbearable pain. her mother had been afraid to tell her whats happening to her and their running out of time,She needed to be away to her family and set off to find someone, the onl More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 07, 2011

Melanie rated it:

I enjoyed this book a lot, it wasnt action packed or full of romance but more of a girl trying to learn about her gift before her only teacher, her auntie passes on. I dont really want to say too much about it because it is an unusual gift that Meridian has and for the 1st 16 years of her life wasnt aware of in the right way. When her life is put into danger she is separated from all she has ever knew and made to go stay with her Aunt and her helper Tens who then put her on a crash course to mas More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 03, 2011

Tracy rated it:

I was intrigued by Amber Kizer's story Meridian because the main character was so unexpected. This is a paranormal book the likes of which I had not seen before.

Meridian spends most of her life surrounded by death. From the time she was a baby to the present, insects and animals have come to her to die. Not knowing why and feeling like an outcast at home as well as at school, she tries to lead as normal a life as possible. After a car accident kills several kids right in front of her More...

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Mar 18, 2011

Alan rated it:

ATOS Book Level: 4.0
Interest Level: Upper Grades (UG 9-12)
AR Points: 9.0
Lexil: HL590L
Word Count: 64984

For me the romance in this story works but little else does. Ok so you've got these Fenestra,they are 1/2 angel and 1/2 human. The Fenestra are needed in order for a soul to successfully be transported to "the light" or heaven or whatever, and if there's not one around the person's "energy" just get's reincarnated, unless one of the Atern More...

1 comment like

Mar 17, 2011

Christina rated it:

Meridian has been surrounded by death since she was born. At first it was tiny bugs that seemed to seek her out to die in her crib. As she got older, the creatures became bigger until she reaches her 16th birthday. An accident happens outside her home and she feels the pain of those who die rip through her. It is with this event that her parents send her away to her namesake, her Great-Aunt. It is there that she learns that she is a Fenestra - the light and the window that helps the dying souls More...

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Feb 21, 2011

Maria rated it:

Meridian.
This book really surprised me; for some reason I thought it was not gonna be.. the way it turned out, which is awesome. I like how it gave us a background story, on how all her life animals died around her. But it also explained why in the later chapters. I didn't think there was gonna be a lot of action, but again i was pleasently surprised. The car crash, the Cecilia search, the train crash, they were all there but in the mean time, they had to deal with their close-minded smal More...

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Feb 07, 2011

Kelly rated it:

Another Teenage Angel book. This one had some really different concepts and the writing was good, so I gave it four stars since I can't give it 3.5. Unfortunately I have angel fatigue, a variant strain of vampire fatigue syndrome.

Meridian wakes every morning to find dead things near her. She thinks that she's causing things to die, but she's really a fenestra, an angelic human being whose soul can open a window to the light and allow souls to pass into heaven instead of their energy More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 30, 2010

Karissa rated it:

I got this as an ARC (advanced reading copy) through the Amazon vine program. I was really excited when this was offered to me because I had it on my wish list already. Overall it was a very good book. It seems to be more of an opening to a series than a stand alone book, but all in all it was creative and a good read.

All her life Meridian has been surrounded by dead things; they seem drawn to her. After being involved in a fatal car crash she is sent off by her parents to her Aunt's More...

2 comments like

Oct 05, 2010

Charlene rated it:

The Good
- Meridian and Tens
- Um, being a Fenestra would be really weird. I don't think I would sleep at night.

The Bad
- So, Meridian was there to learn about becoming a Fenestra but there really weren't a lot of learning happening. Lots of hot cocoa, though.
- Weird, cultlike people trying to do a modern day witch hunt was a bit much.
- So... what happened to the Sangre?

The bottomline
I liked Meridian, it was fun to read. I thought it made More...

0 comments like

Sep 11, 2010

YA Reads rated it:

On Meridian’s sixteenth birthday, life takes an unexpected change. Imagine waking up only to be told that you’re not normal – not even human, in fact. Fenestra is not a word that she’s familiar with, but when she learns what they are, things suddenly start making a whole lot of sense. She’s like the window to the other world, people (and things) need the Fenestra in order to pass from this life into the next.

So that’s why things have always died around her… she’d always thought that th More...

0 comments like

Aug 12, 2010

Emma rated it:

Absolutely loved it! Normally, I have a few key blogger I listen to about what they are reading and if they say they enjoyed something I check it out or if they say that something wasn't quiet their cup of tea.. Well, I get curious and check that out too. While I had heard from a friend (one of those bloggers) that she felt it was on okay book but not quiet her thing, I was worried. I though I might not enjoy it or I might find something missing. Just the opposite! I LOVED it! It had everything More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 27, 2010

Sensitivemuse rated it:

Meridian Sozu is different. Very different. She’s a Fenestra, a half human, half angel whose job is to guide people over to the ‘other side’ once they pass on. Since she was a young girl, she’s had animals come to her and die. Meridian has always been surrounded by death. When a large car crash happens outside her home, she is sent to live with her Aunt and a mysterious boy named Tens. Meridian finds out who she is and learns she has to battle the Aternocti a group where they capture souls to ca More...

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Jul 02, 2010

- rated it:

There is nothing i love more than a story that jumps right into action. So naturally Meridian instantly caught my attention. Not ten pages in did i have to wait for the action to start.
Meridian isn't a slow passed book, but not entirely fast passed either (i suppose it's balanced) but i found the speed just right. Fast enough to keep you turning the pages as fast as you can and slow enough that you understand everything and you don't have to re-read a paragraph to make sure you understood More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 03, 2010

Literary Cravings rated it:

This story intrigued me with the new twist on death and how the main character Meridian dealt with it being a major part of her life and her strange powers. I liked how from the start of the story to the end there was no dull moments with us being force fed loads and loads of the history of her origin, but that we learned who Meridian really was with her. I loved Meridian's mentor and name sake, her great aunt which she called auntie. I loved how caring and strong she was helping as much as sh More...

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Jan 23, 2010

Jenny rated it:

First things first, this book was simply one word; AMAZING. I literally could not put this book down. All her life Meridian Sozu has been an outcast and loser. Why do people think she is strange? Animals have always died around her. She never knew why, but they did. She just grew up assuming there is something wrong with her and that she is a freak. Her whole life changes on her sixteenth birthday. After a major accident her parents, knowing she is a danger to herself as well as them, put her on More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 14, 2010

Susan rated it:

A reader's ability to tolerate this is going to depend on a certain amount of tolerance for ill-logic and bland characters, plus not minding that the villain quotes the Bible and uses Christianity as a weapon.

Fenestras are half-angel beings that transport souls to heaven. Nocti transport souls to hell. If neither a Fenestra nor a Nocti are around when a person dies, the person reincarnates. The heaven/hell/reincarnation thing is pure chance, depending on proximity and timing. Kizer More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Huiling_mei rated it:

Meridian by Amber Kizer is not about some normal teenager's life. It's about a totally different sort of dark and secretive life. Meridian is a Fenestra, a Fenestra is sent by god to help the dead pass through. The dead would go through her and move onto heaven. She learns this secret when she moves to Chicago to her great aunt. She had to escape from her love ones because of the danger the Aternocti would bring. Aternocti are the dark forces who seeks out to kill or turn Fenestra to their side More...

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Nov 04, 2009

Katie rated it:

Meridian Sozu can’t seem to escape from the dead, literally. All of her life, insects, animals, even humans have died around her. On her 16th birthday, she witnesses a horrible car accident and her body falls victim to terrible pain. Then, Meridian’s family seemingly abandons her and sends her off to Auntie without any explanation. But it turns out that Meridian’s history is complicated and that Auntie is the only one who will be able to help her, and to protect her.

I really liked the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 03, 2009

Meagan rated it:

Meridian Sozu has spent her entire life surrounded by death. Insects and small animals seem to search her out before dying in her presence, and on top of that she always seems to feel achy and ill. Her parents and brother treat her as if she were (nearly) normal her entire life, until suddenly on her 16th birthday she is nearly killed in a hit-and-run. Her parents seem strangely unsurprised by this turn of events, and have actually planned an elaborate route to ship her to a mysterious aunt i More...

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