Meridian by Amber Kizer

I first read Meridian more than a year ago and was so enamored by the romance between Fenestra and Protector, the unique story of escorting souls to the afterlife, and the epic GvB battle I overlooked the under-whelmingly bland writing. Now that the much anticipated (to me) sophomore follow-up, Wildcat Fireflies is out, I decided to re-read the first book to bring myself up to speed on the story again. Big mistake. During my double-take, my reading pace slowed to enjoy the story as I already knew the ending. It was all the faint details in between I wanted to savor before devouring the next novel. Unfortunately, Meridian was less appetizing as seconds. (Like all my food metaphors? Thought it added a special touch)

Meridian Sozu is suddenly abandoned by her family on her sixteenth birthday with cryptic instructions to find an Aunt she’s never met a few states away. Oh, and someone may be after her. She arrives at Auntie’s hard-to-picture (becuase the descriptions are seriously lacking) Colorado cottage-mansion (and contradictory) where the mystery is unraveled at a confusing, slow, and predictable pace. The gist? Meridian is a Fenestra, an Angel-ish being with a generationally spares gift to grant souls passage to the Other Side. There’s a lot of interesting mumbo-jumbo about energy in a spiritual context that adds a rational layer to a fantastical story. Of course, if there’s an angel for the Light side, there must be a balanced minion for the Dark side. Enter the not-so-subtle Reverend Perimo. We get it, Miss Kizer, he’s the Bad Guy. don’t think you are fooling anyone. Okay, I know I read this before, but I am basing this off the inane naivity of Auntie, Meridian and Tens not to figure out his true identity in lieu of some goold, old-fashioned foreshadowing. And don’t even get me startedon the fact that even Tens refers to Meridian’s aunt as Auntie as if that’s her name. I don’t even like Auntie as a nickname. It sounds fake and pretentious. You should have stuck with “Merry” as the old namesake and Meridian as she is.

Let’s ignore the fact that the story is muddled because it is a well-enough developed concept to pass for entertainment. I can barely overlook the flat characters. Meridian arrives and Tens is vaguely rude to her. From his actions and dialogue I, the reader, didn’t grasp that he was rude, but Meridian’s inner dialogue announced it loud and clear how she interpreted their interactions, so it must be true. Then she discovers he’s her Protector (I’d say Spoiler Alert, but there isn’t much these little surprises are thinly veiled in the story, I don’t think I’m really spoiling much) and before you know it they are spouting the “L” word in typical teen fashion without so much as a first kiss. Bwah-huh?

Despite the leap in relationships, the characters are decently developed. But the writing itself is bland, Bland, BLAND. Aside from the ongoing “Fenestras are the gateways and must guide souls through the open windows” (or something like that) metaphor, Kizer fails to use imagery, metaphors, hyperboles, and any other writing flourishment I got docked on my AP History papers for using as “fluff and fillers” but my AP English teacher vividly encouraged. The dialogue is just that-lacking any fluidity or punctuated by character movement.

Overall, Meridian provided a quick respite from the rigors of everyday life when read quickly enough it blurs past all its inherent flaws. As a re-read, there is nothing more to glean from the story to hold my interest and I found myself nitpicking until the whole concept, characters and all, fell apart. There’s still Wildcat Fireflies to get through and I’m hoping it’s more developed.