The Archived book review

The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Series: The Archived #1
Published by Hyperion on January 22, 2013
Pages: 327
Goodreads

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

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures 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 that 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 may 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.

I was so excited for The Archived. As you might have guessed from some of the previous book reviews on this blog I LOVE Victoria Schwab and her writing style. She writes such amazing books and her characters are always rich and well developed. Well, imagine my surprise when I realised that there was not only a book but a series that I wasn’t even aware of. So when I saw the first book in my local library I jumped at the chance to read it, and for a little while I thought it was going to be the very first Schwab book that I would DNF. I struggled to connect with the story and I didn’t feel as though her writing style was as strong as her other works. Although the beginning was a little rough going but by the end I was sold.

I think my biggest problem with the beginning of The Archived would have to be the characters. I didn’t connect with Mackenzie, I thought her descriptions of things and the world around her was a little stunted and I found it hard to really understand what was going on around her. I’m still not sure who Da was in relation to her and I might be wrong and it could have been explained but it didn’t make an impact. I think I would have preferred for this book to have been written in third person.

The best bit of The Archived for me had to be the concept, I loved the idea that drove the book forward. I loved the way the Library and the Librarians were presented. I think Roland was my favourite character all the way through, I loved the way he held himself and the relationship he had with Mackenzie, it brightened the whole book for me. I also quite enjoyed the fact that there was a returns room and it was set up exactly how you would expect a library to be, regardless of being filled with dead people. It was really well executed.

Usually I don’t have any worst bits about Schwab’s writing, or if I do they seem to be inconsequential but it was different with The Archived. I had a huge issue with the romance in this book, I still have no idea where it came from or why it happened. I also don’t think it was built on anything solid, every time it happened it annoyed me. It kinda ruined the book for me. Also we are led on a trail with notes but never find out what they were for, it was just a little bit of a open ending which I wasn’t expecting.

This might surprise you, but yes I would recommend The Archived, I loved the concept and I actually can’t wait to read the second book in the series, I’m hoping it might be a little bit more developed and hit the nail on the head a little more. We can only hope!

Are you a big fan of Schwab? What’s your favourite series? Let me know in the comments!