Meridian by Amber Kizer

16 year-old Meridian Sozu is a Fenestra. She has always known she was different from the rest of the girls her age - for one, she has always been sickly, feeling ill and tired.. then there's her main problem, ever since she can remember - tiny animals (rodents, insects, etc.) have made their way around her... to die. Her parents and her younger brother have always gone out of their way to make her feel normal - but all that quickly changes when she witnesses a terrbile accident and unexplicably her body is wracked with pain.

Her parents quickly pack her up and send her off to live with her 106 year-old Auntie, in Revelation, CO, while they pick up all their belongings and try to make new lives for themselves. Leaving Meridian with instructions to never look back, that Auntie will explain everything and only the hope that one day they will meet again.

With the help of Auntie and her protector, Tens, Meridian discovers that she is a Fenestra - part-human, part-angel, who are born to assist souls into heaven. Yet she has very little time to learn exactly what she is, for Auntie, the town residents, and even Meridian herself, are all threatened by the presence of a sinister pastor who has transformed the idyllic town into a place of mistrust, intolerance and fanaticism.

I truly enjoyed this. I loved Meridian's innocence. She was such a likeable character. You felt for her and wanted to be there for her. Auntie, Tens and even their wolf friend, Custos - are all well developed and you quickly feel like part of their makeshift family. Tens has this dry sense of humor that I immediately felt drawn to and quickly brought a smile to my face. His witty banter back and forth with Meridian was a treat to read. This was a very unique story. It is dark and, it mostly revolves around death, but I thought Ms. Kizer did a fantastic job with it.

I will forewarn that it did start a bit slow for me, but about 50 or so pages in I became hooked and had a hard time putting it down. I thought it was well-written, evenly-paced and with a protagonist that you quickly fall for. Although I think Meridian could be a stand-alone novel, it seems a series might be in the works, not to mention the ending gives you the feel that there is more to come. I will definitely be on the lookout for the next installment.