Title: The ArchivedAuthor: Victoria SchwabEdition: hardcoverSeries: The Archived #1Released Date: January 22nd 2013Publisher: Hyperion
Goodreads / Amazon 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.
Mac has followed in the footsteps of her grandfather, Da, who was a Keeper. He job is to find lurking Histories and force them back to where they belong. All her life has been a secret to everyone, some of her friends, her parents, and even her dead brother Ben. When she moves to a new town, she notices two things: Wesley, the cute boy, and then that more and more Histories are finding their way out. With the help of Wesley, Mac uncovers some dark secrets about the truth about the Archived.
Eerie and mysterious are two words that I would use to describe The Archived. This novel kind of sucks you in the farther you get into it. I know I definitely got caught up in the twists, turns, and suspense that are found in the pages of this novel. The world that was created by Victoria Schwab was a wonderful place to get lost in for a couple hours.
I really liked the character of Mac. The way that she dedicated everything to her job as a Keeper was inspiring. She was definitely a risk-taker and she was confident in her abilities. I really enjoyed seeing flashbacks of how she obtained her fierceness and spunk. On the contrary, I liked the hidden thoughts she had when she remembered Da and everything she learned from him. Mac was most definitely one of my favorite characters I've read in the past weeks!
Along her journey of sending Histories back to their home, Mac meets a boy named Wesley - an emo kid that has the same job as her. I really liked the friendship they created, and I can't wait to see how their budding relationship develops in the future books. Anyways, Wesley's personality was fricken amazing. He had hilarious one-liners, a deeper side, and an ease when conversing with higher authorities. The way that Wes and Mac fit together is seamless and exciting.Now for the character of Owen. He was kind of predictable when he was introduced, right up until his last scenes. When Mac was with Owen - that was the only time I ever hated Mac. She just didn't have much of a reason for doing what she was doing with him. Sure, she wanted to escape, but I think it was a crappy reasoning. I feel like Victoria Schwab could have put more meaning behind it, and could have built up their interactions a bit more. It seems like one moment they barely knew each other and the next they were all up in each other's intimate space... like WHAT?
The whole idea of the novel was definitely original. I have never read anything like this! I feel bad, because I almost marked this one as DNF within the first 50 pages or so. It was slightly confusing with the whole keys/doors/Narrows/etc. and it just went pretty darn slow. After a couple people on Twitter telling me I should read it, I decided to pull through... and DANG did I end up really liking this novel!
If you're looking for a novel that's slightly creepy, definitely mysterious, and not overpowering with romance - then The Archived is definitely the novel for you. I'm glad I stuck with this one, and now I know I have to go pick up a copy of Near Witch to read more of Victoria Schwab's wonderful work.
