The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Published by: Hyperion
Published on January 22, 2013
321 Pages
Genre: young adult, fantasy
Summary
Mackenzie Bishop, has a secret life, she is a Keeper of the dead. The dead ae kept in the archive to preserve their memories and sometimes the dead awake and escape to a place called the narrows. It is up to Mackenzie and others like her to return them to the archive before they escape into the outer work (our world).
After a very tragic death of her younger brother, her family moves to a new city. Mackenzie is not a fan of this move but since moving there she has been kept busy by an influx of histories escaping. Someone in the archive has been waking the dead on purpose. Mackenzie must find out who is behind this before it all crumbles.
Overall
The Archived by Victoria Schwab was quite an enjoyable read. I found myself engrossed in the book and was able to finish it quickly. This world that Victoria Schwab created was well done. I could just picture everything so clear in my mind. I have to say the atmosphere had me creeped out at times.
Even though the world building was well done I do feel a little confused by somethings about this world. I wanted to know what the importance of the histories are. Why is it so important the memories to be kept and what happens to our world if they weren’t kept in a library of sorts? What effects would it have on our world if the archive was destroyed? I also found the book predictable and was surprised that Mackenzie didn’t realize what was going on sooner, when it seemed so obvious.
Other than those little nitpicks I did enjoy this book because as a book lover I appreciated the bookish terms related to libraries. I thought it was an original concept and was done well.
Characters
Mackenzie is a strong female character that can kick some serious butt when it comes to returning histories. I personally like reading about girls who can kick some butt because I only wish I could do that. I felt for her with the losses that she goes through in this book. It made me feel emotionally connected with the character.
I have to say that Wes was my favourite character. I found him to be witty and charming. I was hoping for a romance to develop between the two but alas that didn’t quite happen but maybe in the second book. A girl can only hope.
Writing
Victoria Schwa writing was really easy to read, everything was clear and concise. I wasn’t left feeling overly confused, which I think is a talent because when you are introducing a new world sometimes things can be hard to convey what is in the authors head to what they are writing on the page.
The use of the flashbacks with Mackenzie’s grandfather, training her to be a keeper helped to develop the intricacies of the world. The relationship between them was sweet and like reading those parts when they came up.
I didn’t mind the pacing of the book, it was a bit slower in the beginning which is to be expected since we are being introduced to a new world and characters. It does start to pick up towards the end as Mackenzie tries to uncover who is behind all the mysterious things happening.
I look forward to reading the second book in the serious The Unbound. When I return this book to the library I will be definitely picking up the second. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes young adult novels and or like a strong female lead. I rated this book a 4 out of 5 stars.
