Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collections
Publication
Hyperion Books (2013), Hardcover, 336 pages
Description
"When an otherworldly library called the Archive is compromised from within, sixteen-year-old Mackenzie Bishop must prevent violent, ghost-like Histories from escaping into our world"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member JanaRose1
Once they have died, people are stored in the archive, where librarians can read their history. These Histories awaken and escape periodically, creating a need for keepers. At the age of 12, Mackenzie is introduced to the archives by her grandfather. After the death of her grandfather and brother,
I thought this was an interesting concept. It was well written and engaging. I would definitely read more. That being said, my only criticism is that the author does not refer to characters consistently. At the beginning of the book, Antoine is referred to as her father, her da and her dad. Towards the end of the book he is referred to as her grandfather. Also, Peter was referred to as her brother and then her father. This made the book particularly confusing at time.
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her family relocates to an old hotel turned apartment complex.I thought this was an interesting concept. It was well written and engaging. I would definitely read more. That being said, my only criticism is that the author does not refer to characters consistently. At the beginning of the book, Antoine is referred to as her father, her da and her dad. Towards the end of the book he is referred to as her grandfather. Also, Peter was referred to as her brother and then her father. This made the book particularly confusing at time.
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LibraryThing member TheMadHatters
This had a really interesting premise for a plot, but I just couldn't get into it.
LibraryThing member DarkFaerieTales
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: A fantastic tale that shows the history of people in a different light. Engaging and unique, readers will enjoy this phenomenal tale.
Opening Sentence: The Narrows remind me of August nights in the South.
The Review:
I fell in love with Victoria
In The Archived, the dead are called Histories, kept and cataloged in The Archives, who are managed by Librarians. Occasionally they are lost in vast spaces called The Narrows, and Keepers search for them and bring them back. For Mackenzie “Mac” Bishop, she was introduced to this life by her grandfather, Da, and at the young age of twelve. Mac’s mom has relocated them to an apartment building named the Coronado. Mac is now trying to balance her new life with her parents and with the growing list of Histories that she must find.
In an otherwise organized and efficient system, The Archives have been problems of late, or technical difficulties as one of the Librarians had said. Mac has encountered more problems within the Narrows since she relocated to the Coronado. What secrets lie deep in the Narrows and the Archives? Will it bring her danger, or even bring her to her death? And how will these problems create more problems for Mac’s normal life?
Mac is a strong person. She is young, and given everything that Schwab has thrown her way, I am surprised at how well she was structured on paper. Mac has depth, much more than a lot of protagonists that I’ve read lately. It was refreshing to see Mac in a realistic manner, despite her responsibilities, she still acted out as she should for her age. It was a little slow to warm up to her, but Mac is also closed off. You’ll understand when you start reading. Schwab was awesome with Mac.
The supporting characters within The Archived added to the reasons why I loved this book. The Librarians add a sense of solid balance, creating a backbone to the whole thing. They provided a structure that countered Mac’s personality, and it made for a fascinating arc. Mac also meets many Histories, some more memorable than others, and in the midst of all the danger, I felt for one in particular.
I want to say that The Narrows, The Archives, and even the Coronado were all characters in their own right. Schwab’s world was alive and had a lot of personality. Without these three backdrops, the story would have muddled right along. But each one had their own strengths and weaknesses, perfect for each scene.
I am a fan of Schwab’s writing. From The Near Witch to her blog posts, and now to The Archived, Schwab has a way of telling a story that will grab you. With hints of dark and eerie themes, The Archived tells a story of those forgotten and those you want to forget. Love, sorrow, and even hate play a role throughout the story, and Schwab weaves these messages really well.
I highly urge you to pick up The Archived. It’s amazing and a perfect start to a new series.
Notable Scene:
The phone goes dead. I toss it onto the bed and stare down at the faded spots on my bedroom floor.
Questions eat at me. What happened in this room? Who was the boy? And whose blood was he covered in? And maybe it’s not my job, maybe it’s an infraction to find out, a misuse of power, but every member of the Archive takes the same oath:
SERVAMUS MEMORIAM.
We protect the past. And the way I see it, that means we need to understand it.
And if neither Lyndsey’s search engines nor Mrs. Angelli are going to tell me anything, I’ll have to see for myself. I tug the ring from my finger, and before I can chicken out, I kneel, press my hands back to the floor, and reach for the past.
FTC Advisory: Hyperion provided me with a copy of The Archived. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: A fantastic tale that shows the history of people in a different light. Engaging and unique, readers will enjoy this phenomenal tale.
Opening Sentence: The Narrows remind me of August nights in the South.
The Review:
I fell in love with Victoria
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Schwab’s writing in her debut, The Near Witch. Schwab has this beautiful and poetic way when writing hauntingly eerie stories. For her next novel, The Archived, that talent is present, loud and clear. The premise of The Archived is a fantastic one – people were histories, stored in an archived library, maintained and cared for by the select few. The Archived is riveting and kept me on the edge of my seat, making it a perfect read for this winter.In The Archived, the dead are called Histories, kept and cataloged in The Archives, who are managed by Librarians. Occasionally they are lost in vast spaces called The Narrows, and Keepers search for them and bring them back. For Mackenzie “Mac” Bishop, she was introduced to this life by her grandfather, Da, and at the young age of twelve. Mac’s mom has relocated them to an apartment building named the Coronado. Mac is now trying to balance her new life with her parents and with the growing list of Histories that she must find.
In an otherwise organized and efficient system, The Archives have been problems of late, or technical difficulties as one of the Librarians had said. Mac has encountered more problems within the Narrows since she relocated to the Coronado. What secrets lie deep in the Narrows and the Archives? Will it bring her danger, or even bring her to her death? And how will these problems create more problems for Mac’s normal life?
Mac is a strong person. She is young, and given everything that Schwab has thrown her way, I am surprised at how well she was structured on paper. Mac has depth, much more than a lot of protagonists that I’ve read lately. It was refreshing to see Mac in a realistic manner, despite her responsibilities, she still acted out as she should for her age. It was a little slow to warm up to her, but Mac is also closed off. You’ll understand when you start reading. Schwab was awesome with Mac.
The supporting characters within The Archived added to the reasons why I loved this book. The Librarians add a sense of solid balance, creating a backbone to the whole thing. They provided a structure that countered Mac’s personality, and it made for a fascinating arc. Mac also meets many Histories, some more memorable than others, and in the midst of all the danger, I felt for one in particular.
I want to say that The Narrows, The Archives, and even the Coronado were all characters in their own right. Schwab’s world was alive and had a lot of personality. Without these three backdrops, the story would have muddled right along. But each one had their own strengths and weaknesses, perfect for each scene.
I am a fan of Schwab’s writing. From The Near Witch to her blog posts, and now to The Archived, Schwab has a way of telling a story that will grab you. With hints of dark and eerie themes, The Archived tells a story of those forgotten and those you want to forget. Love, sorrow, and even hate play a role throughout the story, and Schwab weaves these messages really well.
I highly urge you to pick up The Archived. It’s amazing and a perfect start to a new series.
Notable Scene:
The phone goes dead. I toss it onto the bed and stare down at the faded spots on my bedroom floor.
Questions eat at me. What happened in this room? Who was the boy? And whose blood was he covered in? And maybe it’s not my job, maybe it’s an infraction to find out, a misuse of power, but every member of the Archive takes the same oath:
SERVAMUS MEMORIAM.
We protect the past. And the way I see it, that means we need to understand it.
And if neither Lyndsey’s search engines nor Mrs. Angelli are going to tell me anything, I’ll have to see for myself. I tug the ring from my finger, and before I can chicken out, I kneel, press my hands back to the floor, and reach for the past.
FTC Advisory: Hyperion provided me with a copy of The Archived. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
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LibraryThing member FlyleafHeather
** This is an ARC review. Any quotes or excerpts included are subject to change before the final print**
Opening Line
The Narrows remind me of August nights in the South.
My Take On It
So the word of the day is ORIGINAL when it comes to describing The Archived by Victoria Schwab. The concept of storing
Schwab has created an intricate world, and thankfully, does a great job of explaining and detailing this world as the story progresses. In a nutshell, Mackenzie (Mac), our protagonist, has inherited a secret legacy from her grandfather (Da) who passed on some years earlier. More about Da in a moment. Da was a Keeper, a human trained to keep Histories from escaping back into the real world. What is a History? A History is a record of a person. Not a ghost, or even a soul, but a personified record of every experience and memory a person can hold.
When Mac was a young girl it became clear that she had inherited her grandfather's abilities. Shortly thereafter he began to secretly train her for her future role as a Keeper, explaining to her the shadowy world of the Archive and the Narrows. Here the world is divided into three areas:
"The Outer, the the normal world, and the only one most people know about.
The Narrows, a nightmarish place, all stained corridors and distant whispers, doors and darkness thick like grime, a buffer between the Outer and the Archive.
And the Archive, a library of the dead. Vast and warm, wood and stone and colored glass, and all throughout sense of peace."
Sometimes a History breaks free of the Archive, and escapes into The Narrows. Confused and disoriented, they wander the corridors, not knowing that they are no longer living, and it is the Keeper's job to send them back, Return them to the Archive. As a Keeper, Mac has been trained to Return Histories before they can escape into the Outer (and wreak all kinds of havoc.) Sometimes returning a History is easy. A little manipulation and soothing words is all that is required. But the older the History is (the age the person was when they died), and the longer they have been wandering the Narrows, makes them more volatile and dangerous. The only way to Return those type of Histories is with force, so Mac is kind of a bad ass fighter as well.
I loved everything about this imaginary world. Much of Mac's time is spent in the shadowy maze of The Narrows listening and hunting down Histories. I love how that place is described: dark hallways with endless doors lining them, doors that open into the Outer world and doors that are used to Return Histories to The Archive. I love the way she is given her "assignments", her orders to find an escaped History, orders that show up as a name and age that appear on a piece of paper Mac always keeps in her pocket. I love that all Keepers wear rings, rings that keep all the "noise" of the living, their emotions, their memories, from overpowering the Keepers' senses. And I love that Keepers are assigned keys that unlock doors between the worlds.
I also love the views we get into the Archive, which is definitely like a library, with librarians around cataloguing the dead, making sure that people stay out of the restricted sections and such. And it also reminds me of a church sanctuary, with it's stained glass and silence. But there is definitely a creepy factor as well. Histories are kept like books on shelves, but they can also be "pulled out" like "drawers", which reminds me of pulling out bodies in a morgue.
And as cool as I found Mac's job as a Keeper to be, I also found myself feeling sorry for these escaped Histories who have no idea that they are dead and only want to find a way home. Mac often has to lie to them to keep them calm as she searches for a Return door. She has been trained to be unsympathetic to them, to do her duty as a Keeper and move on. But the lies and manipulations clearly wear on Mac and bother her as much as they bothered me.
Now that this world has been explained let's go back to the story. Because The Archived not only features a mystery but it is also a story about grief and mourning. Not only did Mac lose her Da, her younger brother Ben was killed in an accident not long ago, and Mac and her parents aren't handling the loss every well. Mac in particular is having difficulty coping. Because she cannot tell anyone about her other life as a Keeper, no one understands how hard it is for her to work so closely with the dead and it is not helping her come to terms with her brother's untimely death. Mac constantly tries to gain access to Ben's shelved History, always hoping to have one more look at his "sleeping" form. This part of the story is very sad, and it's the part that really fleshes out Mac's character in my opinion.
So let's move on to characters. Mac is a great protagonist, if not a little remote. She distances herself from everyone in her life. In fact, because of her extra sensory abilities she has a very difficult time having any sort of physical contact with the living. The "noise" they make is so overpowering it physically disables her. But because of her grief over the loss of her brother, and her fond flashbacks to her time spent training and learning with her Da, who she also misses terribly, the reader is allowed insight into Mac.
Mac is the star of the show but there are other characters that I really loved. The one that resonated with me most was Roland, a librarian and "father figure" to Mac. Roland, and all the librarians, are a very mysterious lot. Their exact roles are revealed gradually throughout the story. I love Roland because even though he can be a bit formal and stiff, it is clear that he cares very much for Mac, and he stands by her throughout the book.
I also loved Wesley, the boy that Mac meets when her family moves to the Coronado, a hotel converted into an apartment building. Wesley harbors a few secrets, but he is the perfect match for Mac. Mac, always serious and somber can't help but gravitate towards the lighter and more playful Wes. Plus he is described as punk in appearance, with spiky hair and GUYLINER. Gosh, I love those boys that wear guyliner:)
So yes, there is a spark between Mac and Wes romantically speaking but that angle is very subtle and not heavily focused on. I think we'll see more as the series progresses.
There is another boy in The Archive who is the most mysterious character of all. His name is Owen and I honestly can say NOTHING more because it will be too spoilery. I liked his character a whole lot though, and loved trying to figure him out.
Mac's parents are not totally discounted. But Schwab keeps them out of the main action of the story. They are unaware of Mac's secret life for one thing and they are each caught up in their own grief over losing Ben. It was interesting to see how each family member handles his death. Mac's mom throws herself into new hobbies and goals and her father retreats inside himself and checks out. It felt realistic to me in some ways, because it's true that everyone handles grief differently. It also broke me a little because no one was working together as a family to get through the loss, each was separate in their grief, isolated. And this isolation is most evident in Mac who has so many secrets she must keep.
As noted earlier, there is a mystery storyline written to The Archived. And it is one of those plot lines that is more than it appears, playing a larger role than I expected. The mystery is solved, in part, but seems to ask more questions than it answers, questions that I am sure will be addressed in later installments of the series.
Lastly, I have to talk about Victoria Schwab's beautiful writing. I have not read her debut, The Near Witch, so I cannot compare the two, but if you read this blog then you know that I am a total sucker for pretty, descriptive writing. And Ms. Schwab's skills grabbed me right from the start. Some examples:
"The storm drags it's stomach over the city, swelling to fill the spaces between buildings."
and here, when Mac remembers her Da and her coming into her abilities:
"Next summer it will be different, and I will hear the hum and I will reach inside and I will see something, and you will be proud and sad and tired at the same time and the summer after that you will get me a ring just like yours, but newer, and the summer after that you'll be dead and I'll have your key as well as your secrets."
I know that I will definitely be checking out The Near Witch very soon because Victoria Schwab has an uncanny way with words.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Archived. I feel like there is so much more to learn about, both with the world of the Archive and with the characters themselves. I am hoping to learn more about Mac, outside of the grief that defines her. I think she is just one of many complex characters that Schwab has only scratched the surface of and I'm very curious to see where this story goes next.
Opening Line
The Narrows remind me of August nights in the South.
My Take On It
So the word of the day is ORIGINAL when it comes to describing The Archived by Victoria Schwab. The concept of storing
Show More
departed souls and all the memories and experiences they formed while living in a library of sorts, tended to by librarians of sorts is what first attracted me to this book. I imagine it is what attracted MOST people to this book, because hey, we are all readers here, and who doesn't love a library? And as far as I know, this is a wholly original idea. I could be wrong, but I have never come across anything like this before in my reading. And this unique idea, as well as the atmospheric writing of Victoria Schwab, is what makes this book stand out. Schwab has created an intricate world, and thankfully, does a great job of explaining and detailing this world as the story progresses. In a nutshell, Mackenzie (Mac), our protagonist, has inherited a secret legacy from her grandfather (Da) who passed on some years earlier. More about Da in a moment. Da was a Keeper, a human trained to keep Histories from escaping back into the real world. What is a History? A History is a record of a person. Not a ghost, or even a soul, but a personified record of every experience and memory a person can hold.
When Mac was a young girl it became clear that she had inherited her grandfather's abilities. Shortly thereafter he began to secretly train her for her future role as a Keeper, explaining to her the shadowy world of the Archive and the Narrows. Here the world is divided into three areas:
"The Outer, the the normal world, and the only one most people know about.
The Narrows, a nightmarish place, all stained corridors and distant whispers, doors and darkness thick like grime, a buffer between the Outer and the Archive.
And the Archive, a library of the dead. Vast and warm, wood and stone and colored glass, and all throughout sense of peace."
Sometimes a History breaks free of the Archive, and escapes into The Narrows. Confused and disoriented, they wander the corridors, not knowing that they are no longer living, and it is the Keeper's job to send them back, Return them to the Archive. As a Keeper, Mac has been trained to Return Histories before they can escape into the Outer (and wreak all kinds of havoc.) Sometimes returning a History is easy. A little manipulation and soothing words is all that is required. But the older the History is (the age the person was when they died), and the longer they have been wandering the Narrows, makes them more volatile and dangerous. The only way to Return those type of Histories is with force, so Mac is kind of a bad ass fighter as well.
I loved everything about this imaginary world. Much of Mac's time is spent in the shadowy maze of The Narrows listening and hunting down Histories. I love how that place is described: dark hallways with endless doors lining them, doors that open into the Outer world and doors that are used to Return Histories to The Archive. I love the way she is given her "assignments", her orders to find an escaped History, orders that show up as a name and age that appear on a piece of paper Mac always keeps in her pocket. I love that all Keepers wear rings, rings that keep all the "noise" of the living, their emotions, their memories, from overpowering the Keepers' senses. And I love that Keepers are assigned keys that unlock doors between the worlds.
I also love the views we get into the Archive, which is definitely like a library, with librarians around cataloguing the dead, making sure that people stay out of the restricted sections and such. And it also reminds me of a church sanctuary, with it's stained glass and silence. But there is definitely a creepy factor as well. Histories are kept like books on shelves, but they can also be "pulled out" like "drawers", which reminds me of pulling out bodies in a morgue.
And as cool as I found Mac's job as a Keeper to be, I also found myself feeling sorry for these escaped Histories who have no idea that they are dead and only want to find a way home. Mac often has to lie to them to keep them calm as she searches for a Return door. She has been trained to be unsympathetic to them, to do her duty as a Keeper and move on. But the lies and manipulations clearly wear on Mac and bother her as much as they bothered me.
Now that this world has been explained let's go back to the story. Because The Archived not only features a mystery but it is also a story about grief and mourning. Not only did Mac lose her Da, her younger brother Ben was killed in an accident not long ago, and Mac and her parents aren't handling the loss every well. Mac in particular is having difficulty coping. Because she cannot tell anyone about her other life as a Keeper, no one understands how hard it is for her to work so closely with the dead and it is not helping her come to terms with her brother's untimely death. Mac constantly tries to gain access to Ben's shelved History, always hoping to have one more look at his "sleeping" form. This part of the story is very sad, and it's the part that really fleshes out Mac's character in my opinion.
So let's move on to characters. Mac is a great protagonist, if not a little remote. She distances herself from everyone in her life. In fact, because of her extra sensory abilities she has a very difficult time having any sort of physical contact with the living. The "noise" they make is so overpowering it physically disables her. But because of her grief over the loss of her brother, and her fond flashbacks to her time spent training and learning with her Da, who she also misses terribly, the reader is allowed insight into Mac.
Mac is the star of the show but there are other characters that I really loved. The one that resonated with me most was Roland, a librarian and "father figure" to Mac. Roland, and all the librarians, are a very mysterious lot. Their exact roles are revealed gradually throughout the story. I love Roland because even though he can be a bit formal and stiff, it is clear that he cares very much for Mac, and he stands by her throughout the book.
I also loved Wesley, the boy that Mac meets when her family moves to the Coronado, a hotel converted into an apartment building. Wesley harbors a few secrets, but he is the perfect match for Mac. Mac, always serious and somber can't help but gravitate towards the lighter and more playful Wes. Plus he is described as punk in appearance, with spiky hair and GUYLINER. Gosh, I love those boys that wear guyliner:)
So yes, there is a spark between Mac and Wes romantically speaking but that angle is very subtle and not heavily focused on. I think we'll see more as the series progresses.
There is another boy in The Archive who is the most mysterious character of all. His name is Owen and I honestly can say NOTHING more because it will be too spoilery. I liked his character a whole lot though, and loved trying to figure him out.
Mac's parents are not totally discounted. But Schwab keeps them out of the main action of the story. They are unaware of Mac's secret life for one thing and they are each caught up in their own grief over losing Ben. It was interesting to see how each family member handles his death. Mac's mom throws herself into new hobbies and goals and her father retreats inside himself and checks out. It felt realistic to me in some ways, because it's true that everyone handles grief differently. It also broke me a little because no one was working together as a family to get through the loss, each was separate in their grief, isolated. And this isolation is most evident in Mac who has so many secrets she must keep.
As noted earlier, there is a mystery storyline written to The Archived. And it is one of those plot lines that is more than it appears, playing a larger role than I expected. The mystery is solved, in part, but seems to ask more questions than it answers, questions that I am sure will be addressed in later installments of the series.
Lastly, I have to talk about Victoria Schwab's beautiful writing. I have not read her debut, The Near Witch, so I cannot compare the two, but if you read this blog then you know that I am a total sucker for pretty, descriptive writing. And Ms. Schwab's skills grabbed me right from the start. Some examples:
"The storm drags it's stomach over the city, swelling to fill the spaces between buildings."
and here, when Mac remembers her Da and her coming into her abilities:
"Next summer it will be different, and I will hear the hum and I will reach inside and I will see something, and you will be proud and sad and tired at the same time and the summer after that you will get me a ring just like yours, but newer, and the summer after that you'll be dead and I'll have your key as well as your secrets."
I know that I will definitely be checking out The Near Witch very soon because Victoria Schwab has an uncanny way with words.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Archived. I feel like there is so much more to learn about, both with the world of the Archive and with the characters themselves. I am hoping to learn more about Mac, outside of the grief that defines her. I think she is just one of many complex characters that Schwab has only scratched the surface of and I'm very curious to see where this story goes next.
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LibraryThing member breakingdownslowly
Victoria Schwab is a woman who knows how to write a book.
First of all, I have to talk about how absolutely astounding the writing is. It's beautiful and almost lyrical, very haunting. Victoria Schwab has such an incredible way with words and using them to create perfect images in your head or pull
Then Mac? Mac is so awesome. She changes and develops so much from a pretty kick ass girl to a semi-ultimate bad ass (we have to leave room for her to become ULTIMATE bad ass in the sequels, yeah?). I loved that she was strong, physically and emotionally, and dedicated. She was loyal, but not necessarily blindly. She wasn't a model Keeper because she was too curious and man can I relate to that.
And then there's the other characters, all of them crafted extraordinarily well. Mac's Da, her parents, the boys she meets, the Librarians. They have so much detail and so much life. Each one is incredibly important to the story and so very real and wonderful. These characters had depth to them, even if they weren't in the story often or didn't seem super important. And you can tell that Victoria knows so much more about them that we might get to learn in the sequels.
The story itself is this immense mystery and I never saw it coming. I was so swept up in the prose and the characters that I couldn't even try to imagine how it was going to be told or how it would end. It was very intricately woven, little hints you don't really see until the very end. Thinking about it makes me want to go and reread and take notes on how to properly do a mystery like this.
Guys, seriously. Not picking up this book would be a mistake. I'm so head over heels in love with this book, it's ridiculous. I think The Archived is enough to put Victoria on my insta-buy list forever and ever. I know the year's just started, but this is already on my Best of 2013 list, without a doubt (which, admittedly, is already a bit lengthy. But...we'll talk about that later). Run, drive, train, bus, hijack a jet, do something to get your hands on this book.
First of all, I have to talk about how absolutely astounding the writing is. It's beautiful and almost lyrical, very haunting. Victoria Schwab has such an incredible way with words and using them to create perfect images in your head or pull
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on your heart strings as the occasion requires. She's definitely one of the most talented writers I've ever had the pleasure of reading.Then Mac? Mac is so awesome. She changes and develops so much from a pretty kick ass girl to a semi-ultimate bad ass (we have to leave room for her to become ULTIMATE bad ass in the sequels, yeah?). I loved that she was strong, physically and emotionally, and dedicated. She was loyal, but not necessarily blindly. She wasn't a model Keeper because she was too curious and man can I relate to that.
And then there's the other characters, all of them crafted extraordinarily well. Mac's Da, her parents, the boys she meets, the Librarians. They have so much detail and so much life. Each one is incredibly important to the story and so very real and wonderful. These characters had depth to them, even if they weren't in the story often or didn't seem super important. And you can tell that Victoria knows so much more about them that we might get to learn in the sequels.
The story itself is this immense mystery and I never saw it coming. I was so swept up in the prose and the characters that I couldn't even try to imagine how it was going to be told or how it would end. It was very intricately woven, little hints you don't really see until the very end. Thinking about it makes me want to go and reread and take notes on how to properly do a mystery like this.
Guys, seriously. Not picking up this book would be a mistake. I'm so head over heels in love with this book, it's ridiculous. I think The Archived is enough to put Victoria on my insta-buy list forever and ever. I know the year's just started, but this is already on my Best of 2013 list, without a doubt (which, admittedly, is already a bit lengthy. But...we'll talk about that later). Run, drive, train, bus, hijack a jet, do something to get your hands on this book.
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LibraryThing member AyleeArgh
In short: With an entirely unique and exciting concept, The Archived by Victoria Schwab is a refreshing read with an excellent mystery and vivd writing.
Just when you think there are no more truly original ideas left for books, Victoria Schwab comes back swinging with an entirely unique concept in
The Archived was my first exposure to Victoria Schwab's writing and I was totally impressed - not only with the beauty and emotion of her prose, but also with how she handled the more practical aspects of the story, like the execution of the world building and the set up of the mystery. I can honestly say that I was left guessing right up to the end. There was also rarely a dull moment - the pacing was swift and the action scenes were numerous. Some of the spirits that Mackenzie has to hunt down are quite violent and this lends itself to some truly thrilling scenes. And this makes me especially excited as to the potential for this series.
There may have been a few times when my largely left-brained mind had trouble fully buying every aspect of the world building, leaving me with some niggling questions, but I think to dwell on them too much would be a bit too nitpicky and unfair of me. Ultimately, The Archived was a compulsively readable novel due to its enigmatic mystery, its thrilling action, and Victoria Schwab's vivid writing. Most significantly, The Archived has a wholly original premise and that is so refreshing and rare in books these days. Very much recommended!
Just when you think there are no more truly original ideas left for books, Victoria Schwab comes back swinging with an entirely unique concept in
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her sophomore novel, The Archived. Mackenzie, the novel's easily likeable and sympathetic protagonist, is a Keeper, charged with the purpose of hunting down and returning restless spirits that escape from their shelves in The Archive. That's just the beginning of the premise, but I'll stop there to preserve the story's enigmatic plot. It's a fairly complex concept and Victoria Schwab nails the execution of it, ensuring that we are never confused, only intrigued.The Archived was my first exposure to Victoria Schwab's writing and I was totally impressed - not only with the beauty and emotion of her prose, but also with how she handled the more practical aspects of the story, like the execution of the world building and the set up of the mystery. I can honestly say that I was left guessing right up to the end. There was also rarely a dull moment - the pacing was swift and the action scenes were numerous. Some of the spirits that Mackenzie has to hunt down are quite violent and this lends itself to some truly thrilling scenes. And this makes me especially excited as to the potential for this series.
There may have been a few times when my largely left-brained mind had trouble fully buying every aspect of the world building, leaving me with some niggling questions, but I think to dwell on them too much would be a bit too nitpicky and unfair of me. Ultimately, The Archived was a compulsively readable novel due to its enigmatic mystery, its thrilling action, and Victoria Schwab's vivid writing. Most significantly, The Archived has a wholly original premise and that is so refreshing and rare in books these days. Very much recommended!
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LibraryThing member ltcl
It seemed like I have been waiting to read the entire book for months since Disney/Hyperion so wisely only gave us an early snippet - so worth the wait! The Archived is a cross between a Dean Koontz Odd Thomas ghost story and Hunger Games. The story revolves around Mackenzie Bishop, otherwise known
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as Mac, in her new apartment home that was once a hotel and the other world she tends that houses the histories. Librarians read and watch over the histories (life stories of the dead) in the Archives which is only available to a few key people named Keepers as they help keep the histories contained safely in the Archive and not wandering lost in the Outerworld. The Archive is reached by hidden doorways using a key that all the keepers have and it is a secret position. Mac's family is in turmoil after Ben, Mackenzie's little brother is killed by a hit and run driver. Dad tries to keep it together, mom reinvents her career every few months and Da, Mackenzie's grandfather who was a keeper and passed on the position to Mac, has since passed on. Mackenzie has violent run ins with escapees and is in danger of blurring her lives in both the real world and the one she must keep secret but finds a friend in Wes who is also a keeper and has family in the apartment where the Bishops live. Beautifully crafted, this tale has a historic charm and unearthly feel to it as well as terrifying moments and a mystery that will convince you to stay up all night trying to finish the book in one sitting. Mackenzie's grief over her brother's senseless death while helping to guide the newly awakened dead back to where they need to be plays havoc with her sense of reality. This book will get a big buzz from teens and adults alike. It will be out for everyone on January 22nd. Show Less
LibraryThing member hrose2931
I never read The Near Witch. I still have it on a special shelf, sitting there signed by Victoria Schwab who I met soon after it came out and yet there it sits. I just haven't gotten to it. I'm going to get to it soon. I don't know how to say in words what I want to say about The Archived. It is an
I have to laugh at myself and say I had the world totally wrong in my head. I was thinking that Mac lived at a place called the Library where they keep the histories and she patrolled the hallways during the day looking for escaped histories and then she neatly tucked them back in their books, maybe a little tussle or two, but nothing dangerous and then at the end of the day she goes home to her comfy bed. HA! HA-ha! Now that would have been a boring book. And yeah, I don't want to read it either. But that isn't what Mac does. Mac has to sneak in a place called "The Narrows" on the sly without being seen, catch the "runaway history", shove it through the right door, and then get back out of "the Narrows" somewhere close to her home. It isn't quite as complicated as it sounds but it probably sounded that way the first time her Da explained it to Mac. And the older the history that escapes, let's just say, the harder they fall!
Mac is trying to put some painful memories behind her. Her little brother Ben died in a hit and run accident and she can't let it go. She wants so desperately to see him in the Archives, but she knows it's not allowed. And she can get no comfort from a hug from her parents because she feels everything they feel and think when they touch her, they are too loud for her. It comes with being a Keeper and even though she tried, she never learned how to shut out the noise of someone else's touch. Her parents have no idea what she is or what she does. They didn't know what Da was either. It's about keeping secrets and telling lies so they don't find out. Da taught her well, but she took over when she was only 12, the youngest Keeper yet. And Mac is so lonely. Her best friend is back home, even though she couldn't tell her what she does, but at least she was familiar. Ben is gone. And her mother and father are inaccessible to her. Mac was trained to fight, to keep herself safe, but she always had Da to talk to.
The people of the Coronado are the kind that keep to themselves. As readers we meet very few of them. There is Jill and her cousin Wes who just happens to be Mac's age. And bonus, he's cute and funny! Then there is Ms. Angelli and Nix. Mac takes baked goods to Nix because he's blind, wheelchair bound and on the topmost floor. Ms. Angelli is curt and short with Mac. She doesn't like Mac prying into the history of the building. But Wes, he shows her the wonders of the building, the overgrown courtyard with it's stone benches and literary quotes. There's a lot more to Wes than meets the eye and Mac learns a lot, if not the most from him.
So, we have a young girl, still reeling from the loss of her brother, no comfort from anyone, vulnerable and suggestible chasing histories that have escaped from the archives. There is also this really cute guy that hangs out at her building a lot even though he doesn't live there and his motives are unknown. Mom and Dad are on auto pilot with the barest register of realizing they have a daughter. And then KA-BLAM something big happens in the Archives and Mac is working to figure it out. All kinds of mysteries are stacking up and you will never ever guess who she turns to for comfort and help. I'm thinking that the Archive could do with a therapist or maybe a psychiatrist for their Keepers after what they have to deal with. At least they'd have someone to talk to! I kind of thought this was a series, I'm not sure, but I would love to see another book with these characters in it. It was full of suspense and questions and you didn't know who to trust or whether someone would get killed. It was great! (You might want to have a tissue or two on hand, just in case).
As a lover of the hardbound hold in my hand book, I'd like to describe to you just how beautiful this book is. The cover is that newish kind where it isn't slick but it's not papery, kind of a velvety feel to it. You see the front above, but on the back is a picture I think of The Coronado, the hotel/apartment building because I can see the gargoyles at the top (yes the place has gargoyles all over the top on the roof). But then, you open it up and the end papers are silver and dark blue and have this very rich elegant feel to it, what I imagine The Coronado once felt like in it's hey day. But even the next page is gray and cream with the same elegant design. I love that the beauty of the book matches both inside and out.
Thank you for the beautiful book Ms Schwab!
Heathe
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emotional story, and those emotions are so ordinary,but with Victoria Schwab writing them, she took ordinary and dissected it to make it extraordinary. I almost felt like I was Mac going through this with her, as her. I understood her completely, didn't blame her a bit for anything she did. Victoria Schwab's writing isn't fancy words and images. It's in the every day things that she makes you feel. "The silliest things shatter you. A T-shirt discovered behind the washing machine. A toy that rolled under a cabinet in the garage, forgotten until someone drops something and goes to fetch it, and suddenly they're on the concrete floor sobbing into a dusty baseball mitt."(p.4) Just everyday words, but it punches you right in the emotional gut because you know exactly what she's saying. The writing is simple but "the sum is more than it's parts."I have to laugh at myself and say I had the world totally wrong in my head. I was thinking that Mac lived at a place called the Library where they keep the histories and she patrolled the hallways during the day looking for escaped histories and then she neatly tucked them back in their books, maybe a little tussle or two, but nothing dangerous and then at the end of the day she goes home to her comfy bed. HA! HA-ha! Now that would have been a boring book. And yeah, I don't want to read it either. But that isn't what Mac does. Mac has to sneak in a place called "The Narrows" on the sly without being seen, catch the "runaway history", shove it through the right door, and then get back out of "the Narrows" somewhere close to her home. It isn't quite as complicated as it sounds but it probably sounded that way the first time her Da explained it to Mac. And the older the history that escapes, let's just say, the harder they fall!
Mac is trying to put some painful memories behind her. Her little brother Ben died in a hit and run accident and she can't let it go. She wants so desperately to see him in the Archives, but she knows it's not allowed. And she can get no comfort from a hug from her parents because she feels everything they feel and think when they touch her, they are too loud for her. It comes with being a Keeper and even though she tried, she never learned how to shut out the noise of someone else's touch. Her parents have no idea what she is or what she does. They didn't know what Da was either. It's about keeping secrets and telling lies so they don't find out. Da taught her well, but she took over when she was only 12, the youngest Keeper yet. And Mac is so lonely. Her best friend is back home, even though she couldn't tell her what she does, but at least she was familiar. Ben is gone. And her mother and father are inaccessible to her. Mac was trained to fight, to keep herself safe, but she always had Da to talk to.
The people of the Coronado are the kind that keep to themselves. As readers we meet very few of them. There is Jill and her cousin Wes who just happens to be Mac's age. And bonus, he's cute and funny! Then there is Ms. Angelli and Nix. Mac takes baked goods to Nix because he's blind, wheelchair bound and on the topmost floor. Ms. Angelli is curt and short with Mac. She doesn't like Mac prying into the history of the building. But Wes, he shows her the wonders of the building, the overgrown courtyard with it's stone benches and literary quotes. There's a lot more to Wes than meets the eye and Mac learns a lot, if not the most from him.
So, we have a young girl, still reeling from the loss of her brother, no comfort from anyone, vulnerable and suggestible chasing histories that have escaped from the archives. There is also this really cute guy that hangs out at her building a lot even though he doesn't live there and his motives are unknown. Mom and Dad are on auto pilot with the barest register of realizing they have a daughter. And then KA-BLAM something big happens in the Archives and Mac is working to figure it out. All kinds of mysteries are stacking up and you will never ever guess who she turns to for comfort and help. I'm thinking that the Archive could do with a therapist or maybe a psychiatrist for their Keepers after what they have to deal with. At least they'd have someone to talk to! I kind of thought this was a series, I'm not sure, but I would love to see another book with these characters in it. It was full of suspense and questions and you didn't know who to trust or whether someone would get killed. It was great! (You might want to have a tissue or two on hand, just in case).
As a lover of the hardbound hold in my hand book, I'd like to describe to you just how beautiful this book is. The cover is that newish kind where it isn't slick but it's not papery, kind of a velvety feel to it. You see the front above, but on the back is a picture I think of The Coronado, the hotel/apartment building because I can see the gargoyles at the top (yes the place has gargoyles all over the top on the roof). But then, you open it up and the end papers are silver and dark blue and have this very rich elegant feel to it, what I imagine The Coronado once felt like in it's hey day. But even the next page is gray and cream with the same elegant design. I love that the beauty of the book matches both inside and out.
Thank you for the beautiful book Ms Schwab!
Heathe
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LibraryThing member Annabelle86
Sometimes the past contains secrets that were never meant to be discovered.
In her riveting young adult novel, The Archived, author Victoria Schwab introduces readers to the secretive world of the Archive, a special library where librarians collect and “read” the dead, known as Histories.
Sixteen-year-old Mackenzie Bishop is a Keeper, given the dangerous job at a young age by her grandfather, Da. Although Mackenzie has always appreciated the job that Da has passed down to her, she begins to question the integrity of the Archive when she discovers that someone has been deliberately trying to erase the past. As she tries to sort through the mysteries and lies, Mackenzie suddenly finds herself in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy with no one to trust.
Packed with mystery, The Archived is an intriguing story that contains elements of love, trust, loss, and pain. Schwab’s elegant yet pulsating writing style will leave readers thirsty for more at the turn of every page. By the end, readers will find themselves yearning for Book 2, scheduled to be released in 2014. Overall, The Archived is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a fresh, imaginative storyline.
In her riveting young adult novel, The Archived, author Victoria Schwab introduces readers to the secretive world of the Archive, a special library where librarians collect and “read” the dead, known as Histories.
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Sometimes, however, Histories awaken and escape into the Narrows, the place between the Archive and our world. It is then a Keeper’s job to hunt down the loose Histories and return them before they break through into our world and cause chaos. Sixteen-year-old Mackenzie Bishop is a Keeper, given the dangerous job at a young age by her grandfather, Da. Although Mackenzie has always appreciated the job that Da has passed down to her, she begins to question the integrity of the Archive when she discovers that someone has been deliberately trying to erase the past. As she tries to sort through the mysteries and lies, Mackenzie suddenly finds herself in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy with no one to trust.
Packed with mystery, The Archived is an intriguing story that contains elements of love, trust, loss, and pain. Schwab’s elegant yet pulsating writing style will leave readers thirsty for more at the turn of every page. By the end, readers will find themselves yearning for Book 2, scheduled to be released in 2014. Overall, The Archived is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a fresh, imaginative storyline.
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LibraryThing member Beamis12
Very original concept novel, dead bodies are stored and are the owners of their own histories. Coronado hotel with its own ghosts and past happenings, librarians and keepers whose jobs it is to read the bodies and keep history from escaping. Love the characters of McKenzie, her mom and dad, and
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love the touch of mystery that surrounds everything. Young adult book that is different, but fun and mysterious to read. Will look for more from this author. Show Less
LibraryThing member booktwirps
Mackenzie (Mac) has just moved to New Orleans to with her parents to “start over” after her younger brother died. Her parents seem to want to move on, but Mac doesn’t. She wants Ben back, but she knows better than anyone that isn’t possible. Mackenzie is a Keeper, someone who has the
The hotel turned apartments where Mac and her parents now live is rife with secrets, and Mackenzie finds herself busier than normal. Her returns list keeps filling up, and she’s finding it more and more difficult to hide her job from her parents. Then there’s the cute, guyliner wearing, quick-witted, Wesley who has grabbed Mac’s attention. Mac doesn’t really have time for a boyfriend — especially now that she’s learned that someone, or something, is deliberately setting Histories free. This person (or thing) will stop at nothing to bring down The Archive, and unless Mac can step up her game, she may find herself lining a shelf next to her brother.
In the beginning of the book, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Mackenzie. She felt a little too head-strong and unreasonable, but as the story progressed I finally “got” her. She’s very determined, but also vulnerable. The grief she felt over the loss of her brother, Ben, and her grandfather (Da, who was also a Keeper and trained Mac for the job) was very palpable. By the end of the book I was completely on her side.
The rest of the characters were just as well-developed. I really liked Wesley. At first he came across as kind of cocky, but he totally grew on me. I think my favorite character was Roland, a librarian in The Archives who is kind of a mentor to Mac.
Ms. Schwab is a very talented writer. She managed to create an immersive supernatural world, blending it perfectly with ours and making it feel real. Her prose is colorful without weighing down the text, and while there were a few slow spots, the pace felt almost perfect for the book. The only thing that bothered me (and honestly, this is probably my own fault), is that I had a hard time getting the gist of The Narrows. I know they are the “hallways” between the living world and The Archive, but I didn’t understand the marks on the floor and how Mac decided which History was to be returned behind which door. I’m sure I probably glazed over this in the beginning, and I was too lazy to go back and search for it again.
A perfect blend of paranormal creepiness and real emotion, The Archived is perfect for fans of creepy mysteries. It’s haunting without being too scary, which should make it appeal to a wide range of readers. I highly recommend this for the prose and the world-building alone. I will definitely be checking out The Unbound next January.
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ability to walk The Narrows, the space between the living and The Archive, where the dead are called Histories and “line shelves like books”. It’s Mac’s job to help wayward souls find their way back to their resting place before they can find their way into our world.The hotel turned apartments where Mac and her parents now live is rife with secrets, and Mackenzie finds herself busier than normal. Her returns list keeps filling up, and she’s finding it more and more difficult to hide her job from her parents. Then there’s the cute, guyliner wearing, quick-witted, Wesley who has grabbed Mac’s attention. Mac doesn’t really have time for a boyfriend — especially now that she’s learned that someone, or something, is deliberately setting Histories free. This person (or thing) will stop at nothing to bring down The Archive, and unless Mac can step up her game, she may find herself lining a shelf next to her brother.
In the beginning of the book, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Mackenzie. She felt a little too head-strong and unreasonable, but as the story progressed I finally “got” her. She’s very determined, but also vulnerable. The grief she felt over the loss of her brother, Ben, and her grandfather (Da, who was also a Keeper and trained Mac for the job) was very palpable. By the end of the book I was completely on her side.
The rest of the characters were just as well-developed. I really liked Wesley. At first he came across as kind of cocky, but he totally grew on me. I think my favorite character was Roland, a librarian in The Archives who is kind of a mentor to Mac.
Ms. Schwab is a very talented writer. She managed to create an immersive supernatural world, blending it perfectly with ours and making it feel real. Her prose is colorful without weighing down the text, and while there were a few slow spots, the pace felt almost perfect for the book. The only thing that bothered me (and honestly, this is probably my own fault), is that I had a hard time getting the gist of The Narrows. I know they are the “hallways” between the living world and The Archive, but I didn’t understand the marks on the floor and how Mac decided which History was to be returned behind which door. I’m sure I probably glazed over this in the beginning, and I was too lazy to go back and search for it again.
A perfect blend of paranormal creepiness and real emotion, The Archived is perfect for fans of creepy mysteries. It’s haunting without being too scary, which should make it appeal to a wide range of readers. I highly recommend this for the prose and the world-building alone. I will definitely be checking out The Unbound next January.
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LibraryThing member A_Reader_of_Fictions
Sometimes a book can be perfectly well done, and unique, and clever, but still fail to work for a particular reader. I mean, I like The Archived, but I do not have hugely strong feelings for it. On some levels, I'm really not sure where the book lost me, but I'll try to explain as best I can. Keep
The whole concept of the Archive makes me so curious. Even now I have a million questions about what's going on with that, which presumably are why there will be more books set in this universe. The Archive stores Histories, all of the memories and pasts of individuals in a container that looks like their body when they were alive. A whole organization keeps everything running smoothly. Librarians watch over the Histories and process new arrivals. Keepers return any Histories that have awakened. If a Histories do manage to get outside, the Crew catches them and returns them.
Mackenzie inherits her talent as a Keeper from her grandfather. Because of her devotion to her grandfather, she commits herself to the task wholeheartedly, even becoming the youngest Keeper ever. Being a Keeper requires Mackenzie to have fighting skills, and also means that she's not at all your average YA heroine so far as mindset goes. For one thing, she hates touching people or animals, because her powers can hear all the "noise" from their thoughts and feelings.
Cool as that is, some of the practicalities really concern me. Mackenzie spends a lot of time doing this, with seemingly no clue how long she is spending in the Narrows or the Archive at any given time. How does she deal with that during the school year? The Histories get rowdier the longer they're left untended, so she cannot just sit around and wait until school lets out to go. The book is set during summer break, but I really want to know how she will handle that in the next book.
Also, Keepers (and Crew) are not allowed to tell anyone about the Archive. In other words, her parents do not know. Despite both being there, her parents are surprisingly absent. They don't even seem like bad parents, but they never notice that their daughter is gone constantly. There role does not fit their characters and feels forced by necessity.
At times, it seems like the Archive is going to venture into a touching story of overcoming the grief of Mackenzie's brother's death. Instead, Ben is a plot point, an excuse for her to be constantly in the Archive and to make some stupid decisions. The novel would benefit from a larger focus on the issues in Mackenzie's life.
Speaking of Mackenzie's life, I would like her and the other characters a lot better if they really had lives. The characterization remains pretty static all the way through. All I know about Mackenzie is that she's a Keeper and that she misses her brother Ben. Wesley (aka Guyliner) is my favorite character, but the reader learns nothing about him aside from what a good friend and Keeper he is. The character with the most depth is actually the antagonist.
As a departure from the norm, one of the aspects of the novel I like best is the romance. First of all, romance is not front and center in the plot. There's some teasing banter between Mac and Wesley, but they're not all over each other, nor do they have a super romantic vibe. Mackenzie actually uses physical connection as an escape mechanism as she gets more stressed out, which is not something I've seen too much in YA fiction.
Schwab makes an odd narrative choice in The Archived. Interspersed throughout the current story are flashbacks to Mackenzie's Da (grandfather) training her to be a Keeper. That, in and of itself, is not weird. However, these sections are written with Mackenzie referring to Da as "you," so you read things like this: "You unbutton your cuffs and roll your sleeves up to the elbows as you speak, and I notice for the first time how many scars you have." They are also very confusing in the beginning, since it's unclear who she is referring to for a while. While this might work for some people, I was thrown out of the story every time I hit one of these snippets.
I will say, though, that the conclusion is pretty dang stunning. There's a lot of action, and I really like the way the Schwab took things there at the end. Of course, it didn't hurt that there were less flashbacks as the story went along, either, allowing the plot to really gain forward momentum. Schwab had me flipping pages with a swiftness to find out how things would go down there at the end.
Yet again, a three star review has come across really negative. Despite all of those criticisms, The Archived held my interest and I am curious enough about the world I might even continue on in the series. All of my friends who have read this already REALLY liked it, so perhaps The Archived and I merely met at the wrong time.
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in mind as you read that this is a good book, even if it's not as much of a "me" book as I expected.The whole concept of the Archive makes me so curious. Even now I have a million questions about what's going on with that, which presumably are why there will be more books set in this universe. The Archive stores Histories, all of the memories and pasts of individuals in a container that looks like their body when they were alive. A whole organization keeps everything running smoothly. Librarians watch over the Histories and process new arrivals. Keepers return any Histories that have awakened. If a Histories do manage to get outside, the Crew catches them and returns them.
Mackenzie inherits her talent as a Keeper from her grandfather. Because of her devotion to her grandfather, she commits herself to the task wholeheartedly, even becoming the youngest Keeper ever. Being a Keeper requires Mackenzie to have fighting skills, and also means that she's not at all your average YA heroine so far as mindset goes. For one thing, she hates touching people or animals, because her powers can hear all the "noise" from their thoughts and feelings.
Cool as that is, some of the practicalities really concern me. Mackenzie spends a lot of time doing this, with seemingly no clue how long she is spending in the Narrows or the Archive at any given time. How does she deal with that during the school year? The Histories get rowdier the longer they're left untended, so she cannot just sit around and wait until school lets out to go. The book is set during summer break, but I really want to know how she will handle that in the next book.
Also, Keepers (and Crew) are not allowed to tell anyone about the Archive. In other words, her parents do not know. Despite both being there, her parents are surprisingly absent. They don't even seem like bad parents, but they never notice that their daughter is gone constantly. There role does not fit their characters and feels forced by necessity.
At times, it seems like the Archive is going to venture into a touching story of overcoming the grief of Mackenzie's brother's death. Instead, Ben is a plot point, an excuse for her to be constantly in the Archive and to make some stupid decisions. The novel would benefit from a larger focus on the issues in Mackenzie's life.
Speaking of Mackenzie's life, I would like her and the other characters a lot better if they really had lives. The characterization remains pretty static all the way through. All I know about Mackenzie is that she's a Keeper and that she misses her brother Ben. Wesley (aka Guyliner) is my favorite character, but the reader learns nothing about him aside from what a good friend and Keeper he is. The character with the most depth is actually the antagonist.
As a departure from the norm, one of the aspects of the novel I like best is the romance. First of all, romance is not front and center in the plot. There's some teasing banter between Mac and Wesley, but they're not all over each other, nor do they have a super romantic vibe. Mackenzie actually uses physical connection as an escape mechanism as she gets more stressed out, which is not something I've seen too much in YA fiction.
Schwab makes an odd narrative choice in The Archived. Interspersed throughout the current story are flashbacks to Mackenzie's Da (grandfather) training her to be a Keeper. That, in and of itself, is not weird. However, these sections are written with Mackenzie referring to Da as "you," so you read things like this: "You unbutton your cuffs and roll your sleeves up to the elbows as you speak, and I notice for the first time how many scars you have." They are also very confusing in the beginning, since it's unclear who she is referring to for a while. While this might work for some people, I was thrown out of the story every time I hit one of these snippets.
I will say, though, that the conclusion is pretty dang stunning. There's a lot of action, and I really like the way the Schwab took things there at the end. Of course, it didn't hurt that there were less flashbacks as the story went along, either, allowing the plot to really gain forward momentum. Schwab had me flipping pages with a swiftness to find out how things would go down there at the end.
Yet again, a three star review has come across really negative. Despite all of those criticisms, The Archived held my interest and I am curious enough about the world I might even continue on in the series. All of my friends who have read this already REALLY liked it, so perhaps The Archived and I merely met at the wrong time.
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LibraryThing member What_Katie_Read
Don’t hesitate to read this! If you like gothic fiction or mysteries featuring beautiful prose and a unique premise, snatch up a copy at your library or bookstore. I mean it—go, now!! This is a detailed and fascinating world and there’s a sequel. If you need a little romance in your YA,
I loved this book and can't wait to start the sequel.
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don’t worry—there’s some romance here as well. Also, you have to admit, the cover of this story is intriguing—a face, smoke, and a key. Even the endpapers of the hardback are gorgeous. I loved this book and can't wait to start the sequel.
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LibraryThing member yearningtoread
The Archived by Victoria Schwab (#1)
Pages: 336
Release Date: January 22nd, 2013
Date Read: 2012, September 1st-10th
Received: ARC
Rating: 3/5 stars
Recommended to: 14+
SUMMARY -
Mackenzie Bishop has a secret. She has inherited this secret from her grandfather: she is a keeper, one who returns the waking
MY THOUGHTS -
This was a very interesting read. Not the greatest, but not bad at all. I was intrigued for the most part, definitely interested in what came next. But there were things I didn't like...
For one, this often felt like "just another dystopian". Personally, I'm getting sick of that feeling. Make it great and original, or not at all. You catch my drift? So yeah. On top of that, the story had no actual plot for the first half. It didn't even feel like a setup, just wandering around. Interesting but aimless. And the last half was good, but I could name a few books it felt like a copy of.
I liked the characters...mostly. Wes was awesome the last half, and Owen and Regina struck me was extremely fascinating. Patrick...he was AWESOME. Mackenzie herself was neat, but a bit unrelateable. But she definitely brought a feel to the story that I liked.
Also, the fight scenes seemed a bit short...easy... Did anyone else who has read this feel this way? Besides that, I did enjoy Victoria Schwab's writing!
So overall, I recommend The Archive, but I just warn: it might not be all that you imagined.
This book reminds me of...
The Hotel Del
Long, dim hallways
Bakeries
Guyliner
Slow-moving romances...but with random makeout sessions! LOL
Really cool red converse
Antiques
For the Parents -
Some brief strong language (GD one time); some violence, not too gory. Some people have bouts of insanity that could be creepy, but I wasn't too bothered. A couple passionate (but not explicit) kisses. Recommended 14+
Pages: 336
Release Date: January 22nd, 2013
Date Read: 2012, September 1st-10th
Received: ARC
Rating: 3/5 stars
Recommended to: 14+
SUMMARY -
Mackenzie Bishop has a secret. She has inherited this secret from her grandfather: she is a keeper, one who returns the waking
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and escaped Histories, the dead, to the Archive. Her job is fragile, virtually unknown by the outside world, and she must protect this secret with her life. But with a move to an old hotel-turned-apartment building and memories of her dead brother surfacing painfully, her secret is harder to keep. And what about the secrets within the Archive, and the boy who visits the Coronado often? When she can't get closer to the truth or the people around her, where will Mackenzie stand?MY THOUGHTS -
This was a very interesting read. Not the greatest, but not bad at all. I was intrigued for the most part, definitely interested in what came next. But there were things I didn't like...
For one, this often felt like "just another dystopian". Personally, I'm getting sick of that feeling. Make it great and original, or not at all. You catch my drift? So yeah. On top of that, the story had no actual plot for the first half. It didn't even feel like a setup, just wandering around. Interesting but aimless. And the last half was good, but I could name a few books it felt like a copy of.
I liked the characters...mostly. Wes was awesome the last half, and Owen and Regina struck me was extremely fascinating. Patrick...he was AWESOME. Mackenzie herself was neat, but a bit unrelateable. But she definitely brought a feel to the story that I liked.
Also, the fight scenes seemed a bit short...easy... Did anyone else who has read this feel this way? Besides that, I did enjoy Victoria Schwab's writing!
So overall, I recommend The Archive, but I just warn: it might not be all that you imagined.
This book reminds me of...
The Hotel Del
Long, dim hallways
Bakeries
Guyliner
Slow-moving romances...but with random makeout sessions! LOL
Really cool red converse
Antiques
For the Parents -
Some brief strong language (GD one time); some violence, not too gory. Some people have bouts of insanity that could be creepy, but I wasn't too bothered. A couple passionate (but not explicit) kisses. Recommended 14+
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LibraryThing member lizziewrites
Probably one of the most unique plots I've read in quite a while! One of my favorite reads of the year so far.
LibraryThing member literaryvalerie
Mackenzie (Mac) Bishop and her family are starting over in an old hotel in New Orleans. While her Mother is excited, Mackenzie knows she is only running away from the tragic death of her brother Ben. Even though she would give anything to have her brother back, she knows that it's impossible. Mac
The job is certainly dangerous and Mac is constantly lying to everyone she loves. When more and more dangerous Histories start showing up in the Narrows and she meets a wayward soul who seems more than just a ghost Mac faces some big decisions. Will she make the right choice or will she let her heart lead her astray?
The Archived was a bit slow going at first. I could not decide if I liked Mac at all. I found myself more interested in her past life with her Da than the current story. However, as the book progressed I liked her more and more. While she is a flawed character, her flaws are not overdone and are believable. This is something that doesn't always play out well in YA fiction. Kudos to the writer for nailing the real emotions and feelings without making her obnoxious.
As a librarian I loved the idea of an Archive for the dead. It is a interesting avenue that I have not encountered before and I really thought it was creepy and creative. The descriptions of the Library, shelves and librarians were great and I had a clear picture in my head. I almost wanted it to be real. (Except the whole dead people waking up thing)
As other readers have mentioned I felt like the description of the Narrows was hard to understand. I know that its a hallway with doors but I had a hard time with all the technicalities of the marks and who went where. I found myself re-reading parts trying to keep it all straight.
The romance in the book is believable. Finally a realistic romance that is not love at first sight!! The "guy liner" character is my favorite and one that I could see teens really loving.
Other than a few slow parts and some issues with keeping track of all the Narrows rules, I enjoyed this book. It has a good blend of the creepy paranormal, romance, action and realistic family drama. I think many teen readers will enjoy this book!
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is a Keeper, someone who walks the Narrows between the world of the living and the Archive. The Archive is the final resting place for the dead or "Histories". Sometimes the dead wake up and it's her job to return them to the Archive before they can escape to the land of the living. The job is certainly dangerous and Mac is constantly lying to everyone she loves. When more and more dangerous Histories start showing up in the Narrows and she meets a wayward soul who seems more than just a ghost Mac faces some big decisions. Will she make the right choice or will she let her heart lead her astray?
The Archived was a bit slow going at first. I could not decide if I liked Mac at all. I found myself more interested in her past life with her Da than the current story. However, as the book progressed I liked her more and more. While she is a flawed character, her flaws are not overdone and are believable. This is something that doesn't always play out well in YA fiction. Kudos to the writer for nailing the real emotions and feelings without making her obnoxious.
As a librarian I loved the idea of an Archive for the dead. It is a interesting avenue that I have not encountered before and I really thought it was creepy and creative. The descriptions of the Library, shelves and librarians were great and I had a clear picture in my head. I almost wanted it to be real. (Except the whole dead people waking up thing)
As other readers have mentioned I felt like the description of the Narrows was hard to understand. I know that its a hallway with doors but I had a hard time with all the technicalities of the marks and who went where. I found myself re-reading parts trying to keep it all straight.
The romance in the book is believable. Finally a realistic romance that is not love at first sight!! The "guy liner" character is my favorite and one that I could see teens really loving.
Other than a few slow parts and some issues with keeping track of all the Narrows rules, I enjoyed this book. It has a good blend of the creepy paranormal, romance, action and realistic family drama. I think many teen readers will enjoy this book!
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LibraryThing member arbjames
Mackenzie Bishop is a Keeper. That is, she is responsible for making sure that Histories--the dead--stay in the Archives--a repository where the dead are shelved and cataloged like books by Librarians. Each Keeper has a territory. If a History from the Keeper's territory escapes, their names get
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added to that Keeper's list, letting them know that they need to go Return that History. Mac inherited her Keeper abilities from her grandfather (Da). Her family knows nothing about her Keeper activities, which forces her to lie constantly. Even worse, she can never let anyone touch her because she can read their thoughts and feelings through contact. When she touches objects or surfaces, she can read them, too, to discover things that happened in the past. This skill helps her track the Histories, but she also uses it to find out what happened years ago in the hotel-turned-apartment complex that her family moves to after her younger brother's death. What she discovers leads her to Owen, a mysterious figure who may have something to do with the sudden disruption in the Archives. What will happen if the Archives is destroyed and the Histories escape? Show Less
LibraryThing member lilibrarian
MacKenzie is a keeper. She roams the narrows to make sure that all spirits trying to escape the archives are returned before they become dangerous. But her new territory, an old hotel remodeled into apartments is overwhelming, and the librarians seem to be losing control. Then she meets a
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mysterious spirit who seems to be totally in control. Show Less
LibraryThing member srearley
I have read 19 books in January, and this is the first that is going on my Favorites shelf. And I have really enjoyed a lot of the books I've read this month.
This was SO good. A great strong main character, who is not without flaws. Interesting and unique premise that I thought was explained well,
The secondary characters were also quite fascinating, and even though there is some love interest (and 2 boys), this was not a love triangle (thankfully). I was totally on board with how Mac was feeling about all of her relationships, and definitely have a new book crush in Wesley.
The mystery was well done and I did NOT see the solution coming at all. In retrospect, there was one moment when I wondered...but I shook it off. Silly me.
I'm trying to think if I have any quibbles to share, and I can't think of any. At all.
I'd also like to say thank you to the author for making this a complete story without a big honking cliffhanger at the end. Is the door open for further stories? Absolutely. There was a lot left unresolved in terms of relationships, and maybe even the aftermath of what resulted from the mystery itself, but I am not left hanging -- I'm getting tired of that. It does appear that this is first in a series, and I will definitely read whatever comes next.
This was SO good. A great strong main character, who is not without flaws. Interesting and unique premise that I thought was explained well,
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in just enough bits to keep me reading, but not in infodumps that were boring.The secondary characters were also quite fascinating, and even though there is some love interest (and 2 boys), this was not a love triangle (thankfully). I was totally on board with how Mac was feeling about all of her relationships, and definitely have a new book crush in Wesley.
The mystery was well done and I did NOT see the solution coming at all. In retrospect, there was one moment when I wondered...but I shook it off. Silly me.
I'm trying to think if I have any quibbles to share, and I can't think of any. At all.
I'd also like to say thank you to the author for making this a complete story without a big honking cliffhanger at the end. Is the door open for further stories? Absolutely. There was a lot left unresolved in terms of relationships, and maybe even the aftermath of what resulted from the mystery itself, but I am not left hanging -- I'm getting tired of that. It does appear that this is first in a series, and I will definitely read whatever comes next.
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LibraryThing member taleofnight
I cannot explain how excited I was for this book. I even pre-ordered it. The dead on shelves like books? I'm in! But then it sat on my shelf for 9 months before I finally decided to read it.
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Schwab's writing is very beautiful. I can step back and appreciate
The Archived was definitely something I wasn't expecting. Which was good and bad. I definitely didn't expect there to be such sad undertones to it. Because what isn't included in the summary is that Mackenzie's younger brother died a year ago (this isn't a spoiler, you find this out about 8 pages in). Her parents decide to move to start fresh and to open up a coffee house. So obviously, everyone is still grieving. It also doesn't help that Mackenzie knows her brother's History is in the Archived somewhere.
The cool thing was that her parents moved into this old apartment building that used to be a hotel, which was renovated into apartment later. I really enjoyed reading about the old apartments and the history there. The Archive and the Narrows was also very interesting to learn about. I really enjoyed the setting, every place had a dark history behind it, or just a darkness to it in general.
Another thing, this books kind of stressed me out. Mackenzie has a piece of paper that magically shows the names of the Histories that escaped into the Narrows and she needs to go return them to the Archive. Sometimes, Mackenzie would get a name on her list and ignore it, so all I was doing as I read was worrying about whether or not she would remember that those names are on her list. Am I the only one this happens to? Like when I character walks into a house, but there's no mention of them shutting the door, so I worry about that door being open. That's how I was about that Archive list! It stressed me out, thinking she was going to get in trouble for not clearing her list fast enough.
So, overall I liked The Archived, though I was a bit underwhelmed by it all. I may or may not pick up the next book The Unbound just because I don't feel an urgency to read it.
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Schwab's writing is very beautiful. I can step back and appreciate
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her writing. But, beautiful writing can also mean that I was on the verge of being bored a lot. Her writing reminds me of Jodi Meadows or Maggie Stiefvater. For some reason, beautiful writing = bored Stephanie, at least most of the time. The Archived managed to mingle along the line on 'almost bored with this book', but it never managed to cross it.The Archived was definitely something I wasn't expecting. Which was good and bad. I definitely didn't expect there to be such sad undertones to it. Because what isn't included in the summary is that Mackenzie's younger brother died a year ago (this isn't a spoiler, you find this out about 8 pages in). Her parents decide to move to start fresh and to open up a coffee house. So obviously, everyone is still grieving. It also doesn't help that Mackenzie knows her brother's History is in the Archived somewhere.
The cool thing was that her parents moved into this old apartment building that used to be a hotel, which was renovated into apartment later. I really enjoyed reading about the old apartments and the history there. The Archive and the Narrows was also very interesting to learn about. I really enjoyed the setting, every place had a dark history behind it, or just a darkness to it in general.
Another thing, this books kind of stressed me out. Mackenzie has a piece of paper that magically shows the names of the Histories that escaped into the Narrows and she needs to go return them to the Archive. Sometimes, Mackenzie would get a name on her list and ignore it, so all I was doing as I read was worrying about whether or not she would remember that those names are on her list. Am I the only one this happens to? Like when I character walks into a house, but there's no mention of them shutting the door, so I worry about that door being open. That's how I was about that Archive list! It stressed me out, thinking she was going to get in trouble for not clearing her list fast enough.
So, overall I liked The Archived, though I was a bit underwhelmed by it all. I may or may not pick up the next book The Unbound just because I don't feel an urgency to read it.
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LibraryThing member radioactivebookworm
This book was awesome. At first I was confused because I didn't realize that Mackenzie was a girl, but as soon as I got that all figured out, everything was settled. It was smooth sailing from there on. This book kept my interest the whole time, and was written in such a way that I couldn't stop
Thanks for reading! I'll leave this link here. (;
radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com
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reading it, couldn't put it down. I should have read this book a long time ago but I kept putting it off, Whatever. The second one is out now, I can read that soon! Mackenzie is something called a Keeper. There was no job information when she was being trained by her grandfather, her Da, Antony Bishop, ( He has many names ) She was accepted early, which doesn't happen very often, but her Da was going to pass away soon, and he needed someone to replace him. He chose Mackenzie. Being a keeper is no easy job, you're called at all hours to get these 'Histories', these copies of dead people back into the Library, the Archive. Because in this book, when you die there's a copy of you made and put in a shelf. Sometimes they escape and can 'slip', go crazy, and someone has to return them to their rightful place. Mackenzie is one of those people. Not the best job, you get covered in scars, but someone has to do it, right? The job is passed down through families, and no one but you and the other keeper can know. And of course, any other keeper you know. Which also doesn't really happen very often. Most keepers don't even meet another keeper outside of their family. This book was an amazing roller coaster ride, and I couldn't put it down for a minute. You should definitely check it out. Thanks for reading! I'll leave this link here. (;
radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com
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LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35
A very interesting concept is presented in this novel, which is what attracted me to it in the first place. The idea that the dead are archived, their memories preserved, and librarians are able to read their histories (I'm a librarian, so yeah, I liked the concept!). It's still a fascinating
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concept, but by the end of this book, I had a lot of doubts about the Archive itself(What is the purpose of it anyway? What greater good is it serving? And isn't this organization behaving a little too much like a tyrannical government?)and the characters just didn't draw me in enough for me to want to plunge into a sequel. (Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind on this.) Show Less
LibraryThing member lifeshiddengems
This book had a well thought out and extremely interesting plot. I loved the mystery and the many twists and turns. The characters were so enjoyable to read about and the book was beautifully written!
My Goodreads: fantasticalcatherine
My Goodreads: fantasticalcatherine
LibraryThing member morandia
Interesting book. I can say that this was a new concept for me. It isn't often I say that about a book. It was unique and an interesting read.
LibraryThing member Perco
Imagine a place where the dead rest
on shelves like books.
Awesome right? I was overwhelmed
by the whole concept of the story.
It's unique. And every time I
thumb through the pages the
events are getting more and more
intense and thrilling. That didn't
stop me from gripping the book.
The story led by a girl
Mackenzie Bishop. The character
featured a strong woman. A very
cool character that never annoyed
me by being too girly. And also the
chemistry between Mac and Wesley
was good. I mean, it was not that
overemphasized which was very
okay for me.
And as you go on and on with the
strory and as the secrets were
unveiled. They were shocking,
because you didn't even consider
those to happen. So there was a lot
of guessing.
If you like a paranormal y.a. book
with new concepts and less
romance. This book suits you.
on shelves like books.
Awesome right? I was overwhelmed
by the whole concept of the story.
It's unique. And every time I
thumb through the pages the
events are getting more and more
intense and thrilling. That didn't
stop me from gripping the book.
The story led by a girl
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namedMackenzie Bishop. The character
featured a strong woman. A very
cool character that never annoyed
me by being too girly. And also the
chemistry between Mac and Wesley
was good. I mean, it was not that
overemphasized which was very
okay for me.
And as you go on and on with the
strory and as the secrets were
unveiled. They were shocking,
because you didn't even consider
those to happen. So there was a lot
of guessing.
If you like a paranormal y.a. book
with new concepts and less
romance. This book suits you.
Show Less
Awards
Arkansas Teen Book Award (Honor Book — 2015)
Language
Original publication date
2013
Physical description
336 p.; 8.25 inches
ISBN
1423157311 / 9781423157311
Local notes
When an otherworldly library called the Archive is compromised from within, sixteen-year-old Mackenzie Bishop must prevent violent, ghost-like Histories from escaping into our world.
A fun story.
Decoratively patterned endpapers.
A fun story.
Decoratively patterned endpapers.