Review: The Archived by Victoria Schwab

 Grade: 4 Butterflies
Series: The Archived #1
Author: Victoria Schwab
Publisher: Hyperion

Goodreads Summary

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.

I've heard some amazing things about this one. It seems that everyone whose read this one seems to love it! So, I was very curious about this one, not only because of the reviews but also because the plot sounded really cool. This book did not disappoint, it was such an amazing read!!!

First off I will say that there were some minor problems I had with this book, it wasn't completely outstanding. However, the good definitely outweighed the bad in this cause.

One of the best things about this one was the writing. This woman is an outstanding author!! She has such a way with words; it's just so beautiful to read! She was also able to take two completely different genres and then mash them together to make this book. This book had both contemporary themes, like handling with grief, and also very paranormal aspects, like the Archived. This author perfectly blended these two themes. Even though at times one dominated over the other they still worked perfectly with one another.

The world was also an amazing aspect in this one! This author built this world up wonderfully!! She took her time with giving us information without info dumping us and that just made the book all the more better. We got to see the world built slowly and expertly around us as we going farther into this one. The world was also so interesting and inventive! I loved reading about it and seeing it! It was just so cool!

However, even though the world building was amazing, one of the minor problems I had with this book was the relationship between the plot and world-building. The first half of this book the plot isn't really there. It is all basically introducing the characters, explaining the world, and setting up the plot for the last half. Even though we got wonderful world building and character set-up, we didn't get much story. The plot was like a very think string in the first half. The author gave us enough to make sure we were interested, but not a lot. The only reason I didn't put this one down during the first 100 or so pages was because of my interest in the world and the beautiful writing. While I was a little bored in the first half, in the end I was fine with this fact. I'm glad the author took her time with the world, even if the plot kind of suffered for it in the first half.

However, this book did have a shift in dominance. The first half the world-building was the dominate aspect. Although, the farther the book got in the story, the more dominate the plot became. It was like the thin piece of string gradually got wider and thicker the more the story progressed and the world-building slowly went to the back set.  However, don't think the plot wasn't good when it took off. When it finally became a main focus in the book it was amazing!! It captivated me and kept me on the edge of my seat even though I guessed who the bad guy was.

The only other kind of bad part of this book was the characters. The characters were solid, believable characters that had a good amount of depth. However, I never connected with them. I rooted for them, I felt for them, I just didn't connect with them. I didn't feel close to the MC or anyone else for that matter. So, when the end came I was on the edge of my seat because I wanted to see how it played out, not because I was afraid for the characters.

Overall this was one great book!! It had outstanding writing that was just so beautiful!! Along with a world that was brilliantly written and so unique and amazing! The plot started off a little slow but really took off in the last half of the book. This was just an all around great, enjoyable book!

This book got....

 4 Butterflies

Beloved, This is a really good book.

Happy reading