The Unbound book review
The Unbound by Victoria Schwab Series: The Archived #2
Published by Hyperion on January 28, 2014
Pages: 360
Goodreads
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.
Last summer, Mackenzie Bishop, a Keeper tasked with stopping violent Histories from escaping the Archive, almost lost her life to one. Now, as she starts her junior year at Hyde School, she's struggling to get her life back. But moving on isn't easy -- not when her dreams are haunted by what happened. She knows the past is past, knows it cannot hurt her, but it feels so real, and when her nightmares begin to creep into her waking hours, she starts to wonder if she's really safe.
Meanwhile, people are vanishing without a trace, and the only thing they seem to have in common is Mackenzie. She's sure the Archive knows more than they are letting on, but before she can prove it, she becomes the prime suspect. And unless Mac can track down the real culprit, she'll lose everything, not only her role as Keeper, but her memories, and even her life. Can Mackenzie untangle the mystery before she herself unravels?
With stunning prose and a captivating mixture of action, romance, and horror, The Unbound delves into a richly imagined world where no choice is easy and love and loss feel like two sides of the same coin.
I am a huge fan of Victoria Schwab and everything she writes, she’s one of my absolute favourite authors and I love all of the series she’s put together but it has taken me so long to get to these books. I finished off the duology with The Unbound and I think this is the first time I have ever said this but the sequel was actually better than the first one. I think this one had more of a plot that wasn’t necessarily overshadowed by romance or unnecessary angst. I enjoyed learning about the voids and the world that Mackenzie finds herself left with. There was a lot more information all the way through this book, and I think that’s what makes this book so much better than the first!
The Unbound focuses on Mackenzie’s life after Owen. I wasn’t really sure I liked her in The Archived, but she really becomes a human throughout the plotline. We see her struggle with her life and having dealt with a lot of trauma, and it was nice to see the facade crumble a little. It lets me connect with her on a better level and I actually began to root for her and hope that she made it through. I also loved the introduction of “The Court”, I just wished we would have spent more time with them as a whole. I think seeing Wesley in a totally different environment was the highlight of this book, I do wish we had learnt more about his family life and why he hated it so much.
The best bit of this book was definitely seeing Mackenzie deal with everything The Archive threw at her. I loved seeing her struggle against their rules and constraints whilst also dealing with the trauma and nightmares that came after Owen. Plus this book would not have been as enjoyable without Wesley and watching him desperately try to support her through all of it without really knowing what was going on, it was really endearing. I mean I already loved him but this cemented it for me. I think they made the perfect pair and that was without us having the romance thrown in!
I don’t know whether this would count as being the worst bit but it was more an observation. I think that The Unbound feels like the second book in a series rather than a finale. There are definite questions raised and characters introduced that don’t get fully explored. I got to the end and although it ended with a bow it just seemed to have a lot more of the story to tell and a lot of characters were left half-finished. I kinda hope that there is another book on the way, one that will wrap things up!
I would definitely recommend this series. I really loved the mythology that takes place all the way through the two books. I think The Unbound is where this series really shines, the characters become better and well rounded. I really do hope there’s another book coming!
Are you a fan of Victoria Schwab? What’s your favourite book or series of hers? Let me know!
