Title: The Archived

Author: Victoria Schwab

Release Date: January 22, 2013

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 336

Format: ARC

Source: Southern Book Bloggers ARC Tour

Goodreads Description:

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.

My Thoughts:

Every once and a while you read a book that is unique and original and completely catches you off guard, The Archived was one of those books for me. I went into the book unsure as to what I would get. I was intrigued by the idea of a people becoming Histories and then being stored in a library but what I got was such much more than what I was expecting.

The Archived alternates between the past and present. We are told the story from Mac’s perspective but get flashbacks of her life before becoming a Keeper. I really liked how it was done and felt that it kept the story suspenseful. I wanted to know more about Mac’s past and how her life had gotten to that point. I was especially interested in her relationships with her brother and Da.

Mac was an interesting character. I really liked her but I did find myself frustrated with some of her decisions. I didn’t understand why she felt she couldn’t trust Wes. On one hand I guess I do get it, she had hidden this huge part of her life from everyone for years. Then all of sudden there’s this guy that she could share it with if only there wasn’t this new secret within her secret world that she’s scared to tell anyone. Did you get all that? Yeah, it’s a little complicated. Read the book then maybe you’ll understand.

I loved the mystery element to The Archived. Mac understands that she has to solve the puzzle before time runs out. The more she learns, the more questions she has, and the more distrust she has with everyone working in the Archive. She doesn’t know who she can trust and who she can’t.

The setting was phenomenal. I loved the Archive, the Narrows, and the Coronado. They all had such rich histories, that it was impossible to know it all. As far as worlds go, the one in The Archived is top notch. You can’t get much better than it.

I already have The Archived as one of my favorite books for 2013. I know it’s still early in the year but Victoria Schwab has set the bar high so everyone else better bring it!