Reviews

Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace

amandadee's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

baldwinme40's review against another edition

5.0

This was a weird little book and I loved it! A good Halloweentimes read with all those ghosties. No romance is the best part!!

Writing suffered from interior monologues in the middle of action but that's something I have trouble avoiding in my own writing so I can't complain too much.

Also, do most ghosts ever talk or not? The book seemed unable to make up its mind in the first part.

I don't really care though. I enjoyed this book heartily.

silvern's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Two different stories in one telling. I feel like I should have more of an opinion but I don’t. 

spiffyname's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

3.0

beelo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Wow. Incredible. Such a unique take on ghosts and a post-apocalyptic setting. I had so much fun reading the ideas on the page even if the subject matter was depressing. The characters felt so real and it was plain to see how their environments impacted their thought processes. There were a lot of things we don’t get an explanation for on how they started or came to be. To me, it made sense because how would Wasp know??

With how much the Catchkeep-Priest lied to all of them, I wouldn’t expect her to have a whole lot of reliable information about her culture.

Plus, I’ve heard the sequel answers a ton of questions so maybe that’s why it didn’t bother me while reading.

I do wish we got more of an explanation for the whole seeing memories thing!!!!

I hope to read Latchkey and Firebreak soon!! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt

sleeping_roses's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

riahwamby's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This was such a cool take on ghosts and the world building was so interesting. I don’t feel like I ever fully connected with either character, but the story was enough to keep me engaged. 

ameyawarde's review against another edition

3.0

I really loved the beginning of this. It felt very different to any other YA book I've read, and the originality was exciting. However, I feel like the further I got into it, the less interesting it got, and parts felt too rushed. Normally I race to review things right after I read them, but I let this one sit with me overnight to try to figure it out. I *do* like it, but not as much as I thought I would in the beginning... but at the same time, it still gets big points for originality.. and for what I thought would be the plot twist *didn't* happen (and I don't often get tricked by authors, so kudos).. it's just.. ahhh. There are a few things I'd change, and I didn't like how we never learned how the archivist position got involved with the fight to the death or a few other things I wont mention bc of spoilers.

Basically, I did like this book, and I very much loved the originality of several parts.

ariiw's review against another edition

i started reading this for a book club and then decided i didn't care

deerisms's review against another edition

4.0

Initially I became interested in Archivist Wasp because I liked the cover, but what I found inside was a breath of fresh air in the crowded post-apocalyptic genre. The world building was extremely well done, and I loved how complex the characters were, especially Wasp herself. She was flawed, bitter, yet still had compassion even though it was never rewarded. The plot was solid, the tiny twists were interesting

Spoiler

like this world actually being Earth

with no romantic bullshit forced in either. Nicole Kornher-Stace has a unique voice, and I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for what else she does with it.