The Archived
by Victoria Schwab
Series: The Archived #1
Published on January 29th 2013
by Disney Hyperion
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
Also by this author: Vicious, A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity, #1), Our Dark Duet (Monsters of Verity, #2)
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.</p><br /> <p>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
Wow. I just have no words. I’ve been sitting here for a few minutes, thinking about what I was going to say in my review. Still have nothing, so I’m just going to ramble a bit and sometimes these kinds of reviews are the most fun to read. But I did love this book. A lot. And it might just have a place in my top 14 of this year already.
First of all, this is such an original story. I’m not going to give a summary because of what I just said. My thoughts are all jumbled up and I can’t get them straight so. But the main character is pretty cool. The story is cool and the idea of The Archive is so original. I was sucked in from the first page and I just read it pretty much in one sitting (with some breaks here and there). There are two kinds of narrations, both Mackenzie. One is just the present and the other is I think the past. It’s like her diary to her dead grandfather who learned her all about the Archive and all that stuff. It was pretty cool and it wasn’t annoying, it really helped the story along. There is a bit of a romance, but it’s secondary and I loved that. And it wasn’t really a big romance. It was nice because there was a lot going on for Mackenzie and she has more important stuff to do.
I really liked the characters in this book. They were all important to the story and I wanted to know more about them. I just… I was sucked into that world with those people and the mystery in it all. Mackenzie is a great main character. I loved her. And I felt for her. I also loved Wesley, he’s cool and awesome. I’m not going to say to much about the other ones, but they were all great and I loved them all. There is something wrong in the Archive and it’s someone in the inside that does bad things and I suspected someone the whole time but in the end I was wrong and I like that. It wasn’t predictable. God I’m really jumping from one thing to another here.
I’ll sum it all up by just saying that it’s really good, I’m going to buy the hardback copy of it next month because it’s just that great (and duhh, cover love!) and I can’t wait to read the sequel. I’d recommend this book to people who loved Anna Dressed in Blood or even the TV-show Supernatural (first season). It’s really original and definitely a must-read for fans of the YA Paranormal genre. Schwab, you’ve got a new fan!
About Victoria Schwab
I am the product of a British mother, a Beverly Hills father, and a southern upbringing. Because of this, I have been known to say “tom-ah-toes”, “like”, and “y’all”. I also suffer from a wicked case of wanderlust, made worse by the fact that wandering is a good way to stir up stories. When I’m not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, I’m usually tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters.
My first YA novel, THE NEAR WITCH, a dark original fairy tale, debuted with Disney*Hyperion in August 2011, and is now out in paperback.
My next YA novel, THE ARCHIVED, is the first book in a new supernatural series about a world where the dead are shelved like books, and it hits stores January 2013, also with Disney*Hyperion.
My first adult novel, VICIOUS, about two brilliant and highly disturbed pre-med students who set out to generate their own superpowers and end up mortal enemies, is out in hardcover from Tor September 2013.
I have more books coming out in 2014, but I’ll get to those later.
These days, when someone asks me what I do when I’m NOT writing, I just kind of laugh nervously. But in truth, on the odd occasion I’m not typing away, I’m probably baking cookies, or watching BBC shows, or wandering. (See how we came full circle, there?)
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I am not always a huge fan of fantasy but it sounds like the world was done so well that I would really love this one as well.
Fabulous review Kim! Bieke!
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
Thanks Tina!
Glad you loved it, Bieke. I want to read this one so bad, I might have to add it to my reading challenge. I’m really fascinated by the two kinds of narrations you mention are both Mackenzie’s. I really like the sound if that, and it sounds so unique. Great review 🙂
Thank you! It really is a great book! Can’t wait to read the sequel and I’m going to buy the hardback soon (hopefully).