Dec 10, 2012

{Review} of The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Archived by Victoria Schwab
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

GENRE: YA Fantasy
THEME: Ghost/Romance/Mystery
RECEIVED: ALA
BLOG: http://seeingnight.blogspot.com/

BLURB:
Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous-it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da's death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

REVIEW:
Finally a book that really surprised me, in not only the wonderfully original plot that kept me hooked, but also the detail of this whole world behind life and death that was created. The Archived by Victoria Schwab is one of those stories that you may have to read again because there is so much to learn about this world and you just want to get lost in the story because it’s that good.

The Archive follows Mackenzie Bishop, she and her family move into a very old apartment building that was once a hotel. For some people this would be no big deal, but Mac isn’t your average person, she a Keeper. It’s her job to take Histories (aka the dead/ghost) back to the Archive where they will rest in piece. Her knew home is keeping her busy with Histories wondering like crazy, but this isn’t right and something is happening in the Archive that’s disturbing the Histories and Mac needs to stop it before everything falls apart.

Mac is a girl who has a secret life and she has also lost two people that she was closest to, her brother and grandfather. She can’t tell anyone the she is a Keeper as it’s apart of the rules but she wanted to follow in her grandfather footsteps. Through out the story it jumps back to the past with Mac and her grandfather discussing situations and task that Keepers deal with. It took me a bit to get use to this but you see how much Mac has learned from such a young age to now about her job as a Keeper. And how much her grandfather taught her and trusted her to take over. Her parents don’t know about her life and only think she’s mourning her brother still, which she is, but I feel that they will eventually catch on. She’s a strong and emotional character that gets down and dirty to solve the mystery and to do her job.

Wesley is a fun and spunky guy who likes to flirt and crack jokes with Mac. But he too is like her and really is excited about what he does and meeting a fellow Keeper. He also tries to get Mac to let him in, she very closed to people knowing her and I think Wes is the person who is finally going to brake down that wall she has up. I liked how these two worked together, every scene was exciting, emotional and really made me love these two together. We get to know a bit about his background but there is still a lot to learn about him that I cant wait for in the next book.

The Archive, there is a ton to learn; The Archive itself is a character. There are Librarians who remain there, never age and keep tabs on the Histories, The Crew who are like Keepers but work in pairs and go beyond what Keepers are allowed to do and Keepers who make sure to get Histories back without leaving the Archive or the Narrows. The readers will be sucked into this world and everything there is to learn and love about it.

Overall I loved this story, as I’ve already said the characters, plot and originality of this book was fantastic. There are villains, and I have to say wow! But I don’t want to give much more than that. This is a must read for anyone and everyone, Victoria Schwab knock this story out of the park, it’s a major favorite of mine.


RECOMMENDATION:
This is a young adult novel that is a must read. Fans of Jennifer Armentrouts Covenat series and Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone will love The Archived by Victoria Schwab.

View all my reviews

3 comments:

  1. ooh this does sound interesting but I'm not a fan of flashbacks. I am also not a fan of books that have too much detailed so I'm not sure about this one. However the way you portray Mac and Wesley's relationship makes me want to pick it up!

    great review,

    - Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf

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  2. Thanks for the comment :) It does have a lot of detail but for this type of story I felt it was a good thing so the readers could understand the world and the people. The flashbacks Im not a fan of either but the reader gets to learn the connection between Mac and her grandfather and how she learned to be a keeper :)

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  3. This sounds one of the most inventive plots I've heard in years. I'm sure a lo of fun could be had with this.
    It's not often a book can pull me in but your excellent review portrays it just right.

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