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 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.
I was looking forward to this book from reading the description. It sounded really cool. Also, one of my commenters said they liked it. Well...I didn't. I continued reading this book through to the end only for the sake of reviewing it.
First off, most of the chapters ended at weird places in the dialogue. I felt that the chapter wasn't really finished before it started the next.
Secondly, the philosophy of the book I definitely didn't agree with. I understand that it's fantasy and not reality, but some aspects of the book were pertaining to current events. The author insinuated that neither prayer or creationism belongs in the school, and that it was a shame that Jesus Christ was replacing Santa Claus as the symbol for Christmas (Jesus is the meaning for Christmas, hence the CHRIST in Christmas). I'm trying really hard not to go into a political/religious spiel in this post, but the point I want to make is that Kizer was insulting my religion in places throughout the book, and I was offended. I am definitely not saying that I agree with some of the things the Nocti pastor was saying and doing. But I feel that if a person (young adult or adult) were reading this book and they have never stepped into a church, they would most likely not after reading this book. Perimo was made into a manipulative, awful person, and readers might think that is what all pastors are like. They're not.
Thirdly, I didn't get involved in the characters' lives. This was mostly because I didn't understand them, especially Tens. He was a very complex character, going from one emotion to the next in rapid fire. I couldn't understand why he was angry and spouting off at Meridian, and toward the end of the book he was happy and calm. Usually when I read a book, I can understand the characters and empathize with them. In Meridian, I couldn't.
Fourthly, the Fenestra history part of the book was very confusing, especially when Kizer packs it all into small conversations.
However, despite the negatives, I felt that the plot was interesting and that's why I'm giving Meridian two stars.
