The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Review of The Archived

Title & Author:
The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Publisher:
Disney Hyperion
Publication Date:
January 22, 2013
Pages:
336
Source:
ARC Tour

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. – Goodreads

I don’t even know where to begin talking about The Archived by Victoria Schwab. I am head over heels for The Archived. If you thought The Near Witch was amazing, you are just going to be blown away by The Archived.

I mean, for one thing – the story. I loved the world Victoria Schwab created in The Archived. There are so many elements to the world of The Archived, like the Narrows and the Histories and the Librarians and the Outer and the Archives and I just can’t with how beautiful it all was. I want to eat whatever Victoria Schwab is eating for breakfast because she’s got some legit creativity.

I loved Mac without a doubt. She’s ballsy and real and more than a little bit heartbroken and I felt all the things for her. I have a feeling she’s going to be a protagonist that sticks with me for a very long time.

And, of course, there’s unexpected bonus swoon. I don’t know why, but from reading the summary I just didn’t really expect there to be a romantic subplot in The Archived but there was totally was and I am totally a fan.

There’s a lot of flashbacks between Mac and her Da and they really helped to build the story up, I think. It was a great way to learn more about the world of The Archived without having information jammed down our throat.

Basically, get to a bookstore and preorder a copy of The Archived by Victoria Schwab. Because The Archived is a truly amazing story. Victoria Schwab’s second book is just amazing (and even more so, I think – if possible) than her first, and you don’t want to be the lame-o who misses out!

Other Books by Victoria Schwab

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

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