Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Slow paced didn’t balance the world building, and just wasn’t for me.

Opening Sentence: What if a young woman was both a girl to the living and a portal to the dying?

The Review:

Speed of Light is the third book in the Fenestra series by Amber Kizer. In the long list of paranormal young adult stories, Speed of Light was a good addition. Angels, the battle versus good and evil, and a romance fill the pages of this story. Unfortunately, it was hard for me to connect to the story. By the end of the book, it just wasn’t for me.

Many people adored this book, as well as the series. But before you agree with me, let me tell you a few things so you can try to formulate your own opinion. What doesn’t work for me doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t work for you.

The beginning of Speed of Light took a while for me to get into. I had to reread the first chapter twice before I could get the momentum going. The beginning had a good recap of the previous two books, but I think that ruined it a little for me. There were a lot of details, and I felt it slowed the pacing. But on the other side, there were moments were it was filled with action and fast-paced. To me, there wasn’t a good balance to absorb and comprehend the story, taking it all in to appreciate.

The protagonist, Meridian, was someone that I loved and disliked. It was hard to get past her personality to love her intelligence, ability, and power. I wanted to fall in love with her with as much gumption as she deserves, but at times I just couldn’t connect with her. She grew so much, but there was still something that I couldn’t get with. Juliet is the one she saved, and I didn’t have a relationship with her at all. Her personality was off-putting and her voice wasn’t something that I could stand behind. I felt she was strong in previous books, but a weak link in Speed of Light.

What I did love about this story was exploring the world of the Fenestras. The culture, the lore, the history was something that I always wanted to know about and I got it. There were pleasant surprises which definitely piqued my interest. Kizer showed me the grand scheme of things, and showed the importance of it all. I was much more interested in the macro versus the micro.

Overall, Speed of Light was just okay for me. There were a few things that I didn’t care for, in terms of reading preferences.

Notable Scene:

Someone cracked the door. “Juliet?” Meridian whispered.

I pretended I was already sleeping. She turned on a night- light and crept back out, flicking off the main fixture.

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, thinking about DG. About my task, my choices. Are there more kids out there? Anyone who escaped and made it out of her

grasp? Can I shield those around me? No matter what I do, nothing good comes to people who spend time with me. My parents. The patients at DG. Kirian. No one and

nothing. I don’t know what to do. “Tell me what to do,” I whispered against Mini’s throat, but she stayed silent.

FTC Advisory: Random House/Delacorte Press provided me with a copy of Speed of Light. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

This was the SLOWEST MOVING BOOK EVER. And that's kind of sad because even though it was the slowest book in the history of all book-kind, it still was better than book two in this trilogy. The plot wasn't that interesting, and the characters annoyed me. I'm not a big Nascar fan either, so I didn't feel the Indy 500 battle. Overall, I'm just not impressed with this entire series. I kept hoping this last book would redeem the series for me, but the entire trilogy just fell flat.

Meridian and Tens were kind of obnoxious. Their romance wasn't steamy at all. There was just no chemistry there, in my opinion. Everything was just dragged out and a bit ridiculous. It really didn't seem like they were anything more than friends for most of the book... other than Meridian's obnoxious thoughts, that is. So it was like she had a 5th grade crush on one of her friends for most of the book. I guess that'd be more accurate. Anyway, moving on... Juliet was super annoying, too. She was all emo, whiny, and angsty. Apparently she's the only person in the history of the world to have ever had a bad childhood. And her protector, Fara, was also obnoxious. Her personality just sucked. Yea, wasn't feeling the characters. It seemed like Kizer tried too hard to make each character unique and was so caught up on individual quirks that the characters lacked depth and personality.

The plot itself was just a drag. Same stuff different book. I have no idea why this book dragged on for over 500 pages. And THEN, somehow the ending actually felt rushed. 90% of the middle part could have been taken out and the ending could have been extended. That would have vastly improved this book. Also, I could have done without Juliet's POV, so that also could have eliminated some pages. The ending was wrapped up nicely, and the series came to a solid conclusion, but this entire book was just BORING.

Overall, I'd recommend this book only to those who have read the first two and must know what happens in the end. To everyone else, avoid this series. Trust me. ( )

After picking up the first book Meridian, I was really intrigued by the series so I decided to continue reading on. Speed Of Light is that this book presents a little bit more than what he gave you in the first or second book.

The reader is able to to get into the book easier because of course the plot has already been built up, the characters are all where they need to be in order for them to make the final steps that they need to make in this journey. It was a little slow in the beginning because the author went ahead and did a little background history so if someone were to happen to pick up the book and hadn't read the first two you wouldn't get confused. Meridian is searching for others like her and I like that the plot had several plot twists. Even new characters came about really gave the plot the extra umph that it needed.

Now what I enjoyed about the love interest between Meridian and Tens. Their relationship has intensified altogether. It is not as innocent as it was in the beginning. They pretty much has spent there are their whole relationship on the run so it's really based a lot of trust and a lot on their friendship. The small sentimental moments that they steal to be with each other is what I think is most precious about the book. They are so busy helping others that I really like it when they take time out to themselves. Even if it's just sit down and just to cuddle and be together. It's amazing to see what has grown between them :)

Speed Of Light is an awesome story. Overall the story is really good with a fantastic plot. It showcases everything at the characters have been going through and also gives the reader a new insight of of how they are now.The plot driven with lots of actions and it never veers away from engaging the reader.
Speed Of Light is entertaining and a strong piece of action. ( )