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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Victoria Schwab has a very creative mind and builds on some really interesting premises, like; what if there was a library of sorts for dead people, where the bodies/records are kept on shelves asleep and what if sometimes those bodies get up and try to get back out into the world? See, very interesting premise.
Mackenzie is a keeper, that means that every once and awhile a name appears on a piece of papers and she is responsible to go to a place in-between the world and the Library to collect the escaped history, which is a really the body of a dead person, who has woken up and made their way out of the Library.
That is her job, one she must keep a secret and one that is about to get harder as the new place her family has moved to has a lot more action in the in-between places than her previous home. It is a little lonely but it does come with some cool benefits and draw backs as Mac sees things when she touches a place or person, she can read them so to speak. Pretty cool superpower if you ask me, except it makes it really hard to touch people when you always hear their essence, especially your parents who are still reeling from the death of a child.
This fresh start that her family wants is in an old hotel converted to an apartment building years ago after WWII. It seems full of mysteries, including who killed a girl in the apartment Mac now shares with her parents and why are the number of Histories escaping the Library starting to increase at a staggering pace.
The first half of the book with all the set up and backstory building did seem to take some time. For me the story really didn’t get moving until the second half of the book when all the players have been introduced and parts or both the murder mystery and how it might be tied to the Archive are teased out. Then it is a fast read as I pushed through to figure out the mystery.
There are even a few guys in Mac’s life, but don’t worry there isn’t really any love triangle situation. I do like that Mac finds someone else in her line of work that she can talk to, since for a long time in the book she seemed so alone and Wesley is a lot of fun. Don’t let the pretty boy façade and eyeliner fool you, the guy has a lot of smarts and wit about him. He is a great compliment to the sometimes-somber Mac.
Overall this was an interesting story containing an inventive idea, likable characters, solid plotline and intriguing mystery.
Piper was really good at portraying Mackenzie. She made it easy to empathize with her and I liked her performance of this audio. I listened to this at my normal 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Victoria Schwab has a very creative mind and builds on some really interesting premises, like; what if there was a library of sorts for dead people, where the bodies/records are kept on shelves asleep and what if sometimes those bodies get up and try to get back out into the world? See, very interesting premise.
Mackenzie is a keeper, that means that every once and awhile a name appears on a piece of papers and she is responsible to go to a place in-between the world and the Library to collect the escaped history, which is a really the body of a dead person, who has woken up and made their way out of the Library.
“Because the only way to truly record a person is not in words, not in still frames, but in bone and skin and memory.”
That is her job, one she must keep a secret and one that is about to get harder as the new place her family has moved to has a lot more action in the in-between places than her previous home. It is a little lonely but it does come with some cool benefits and draw backs as Mac sees things when she touches a place or person, she can read them so to speak. Pretty cool superpower if you ask me, except it makes it really hard to touch people when you always hear their essence, especially your parents who are still reeling from the death of a child.
“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.”
This fresh start that her family wants is in an old hotel converted to an apartment building years ago after WWII. It seems full of mysteries, including who killed a girl in the apartment Mac now shares with her parents and why are the number of Histories escaping the Library starting to increase at a staggering pace.
The first half of the book with all the set up and backstory building did seem to take some time. For me the story really didn’t get moving until the second half of the book when all the players have been introduced and parts or both the murder mystery and how it might be tied to the Archive are teased out. Then it is a fast read as I pushed through to figure out the mystery.
There are even a few guys in Mac’s life, but don’t worry there isn’t really any love triangle situation. I do like that Mac finds someone else in her line of work that she can talk to, since for a long time in the book she seemed so alone and Wesley is a lot of fun. Don’t let the pretty boy façade and eyeliner fool you, the guy has a lot of smarts and wit about him. He is a great compliment to the sometimes-somber Mac.
Overall this was an interesting story containing an inventive idea, likable characters, solid plotline and intriguing mystery.
Narration:
Piper was really good at portraying Mackenzie. She made it easy to empathize with her and I liked her performance of this audio. I listened to this at my normal 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
Al comienzo me sentí bastante perdida y me costaba encontrarle la emoción. Pero cerca de la página 100 empecé a entender y a emocionarme con la historia.
Un universo diferente y entretenido. De allí el puntaje.
Tiene un final tranquilo que no te deja esperando al siguiente.
Un universo diferente y entretenido. De allí el puntaje.
Tiene un final tranquilo que no te deja esperando al siguiente.
This book was REALLY GOOD!!! The story was really well written and the plot was so interesting!! The imagery in this book was flawless and there were so many incredible plot twists! READ THIS BOOK.
So, there I was, plodding along. And then I was assaulted with the fantasticness of this book. The thing is that I might actually not have the right words to express how much I loved this.
I usually don't really like protagonists. They're really just there to tell the story, you're meant to live vicariously through them, not adore them. They're the window, not the whole house. But then I discovered Mackenzie Bishop and Wesley Ayers, and I kid you not, they were my entire life for the entire time I was DEVOURING the duology.
I felt the book, like actually felt those little lines of ink ripping of the pages. The emotions were illustrated so perfectly, but not in a way that was over the top. The world was just so...real, and tangible.
After these books, I proceeded to snatch every Victoria Schwab book available to me, and I have not been swayed that she is, in my opinion, one of the best authors out there.
I usually don't really like protagonists. They're really just there to tell the story, you're meant to live vicariously through them, not adore them. They're the window, not the whole house. But then I discovered Mackenzie Bishop and Wesley Ayers, and I kid you not, they were my entire life for the entire time I was DEVOURING the duology.
I felt the book, like actually felt those little lines of ink ripping of the pages. The emotions were illustrated so perfectly, but not in a way that was over the top. The world was just so...real, and tangible.
After these books, I proceeded to snatch every Victoria Schwab book available to me, and I have not been swayed that she is, in my opinion, one of the best authors out there.
4.5 stars, another great read from Victoria Schwab.
Review to come!
Review to come!
2.5/5
Maybe I shouldn't have read this while watching Elite. Yeah, definitely I shouldn't have.
It was not the right time to read the book since my head was already busy thinking about Elite 90% of the day.
Just some random thoughts:
-Liked her writing style but couldn't get into it (I know, it doesn't make sense but for me it does)
-Interesting world and concept but in my case, it felt very confusing
-I couldn't connect with any of the characters
-The plot was boring
-Kinda predictable
-I now have the desire to eat oatmeal cookies
Maybe I shouldn't have read this while watching Elite. Yeah, definitely I shouldn't have.
It was not the right time to read the book since my head was already busy thinking about Elite 90% of the day.
Just some random thoughts:
-Liked her writing style but couldn't get into it (I know, it doesn't make sense but for me it does)
-Interesting world and concept but in my case, it felt very confusing
-I couldn't connect with any of the characters
-The plot was boring
-Kinda predictable
-I now have the desire to eat oatmeal cookies
La trama me ha parecido muy interesante. Sin embargo, creo que por momentos flojea un poco. Hay varios personajes que podrían haber aportado mucho a la historia y se quedan relegados a un segundo plano. Pese a todo, me ha entretenido.
This and my other reviews are on my site: Aspects of Me.
I read this as part of the #SchwabReadalong organised over Twitter/Booktube (twitter.com/schwabreadalong) and this was the first book of the schedule. I haven't read Schwab before but have seen her pop up with both her YA and adult fantasy books as a recommended author for me quite a few times so I decided now's as good a time as any!
The Archived was a good story exploring ideas of death, grieving, family, friendships and desire from the perspective of a 16 year old. The overall concept of a supernatural style library that catalogues the dead who in turn have a tendency to get up and wander off is one I've seen done elsewhere, nevertheless this book does a good job at exploring the idea.
It is well written for the target audience (YA) however I found some of it frustratingly simple at times; I also found myself getting annoyed at some of the decisions the characters were making and some of the martial expertise of the 16 year old protagonist seemed a little far-fetched. It was a good story but I am happy with leaving it at just The Archived personally, as opposed to reading the 2nd book.
I read this as part of the #SchwabReadalong organised over Twitter/Booktube (twitter.com/schwabreadalong) and this was the first book of the schedule. I haven't read Schwab before but have seen her pop up with both her YA and adult fantasy books as a recommended author for me quite a few times so I decided now's as good a time as any!
The Archived was a good story exploring ideas of death, grieving, family, friendships and desire from the perspective of a 16 year old. The overall concept of a supernatural style library that catalogues the dead who in turn have a tendency to get up and wander off is one I've seen done elsewhere, nevertheless this book does a good job at exploring the idea.
It is well written for the target audience (YA) however I found some of it frustratingly simple at times; I also found myself getting annoyed at some of the decisions the characters were making and some of the martial expertise of the 16 year old protagonist seemed a little far-fetched. It was a good story but I am happy with leaving it at just The Archived personally, as opposed to reading the 2nd book.
April 2013 Really good read. The beginning was a little bit slow,but I was surprised by the end. Can't wait for the next one4 stars.
March 2015 After re-reading this, I realized how far in I have to go in before it gets really interesting. Kinda of a boring plot but, a interesting world and characters. Guyliner had my heart. Can't wait to read The Unbound
March 2015 After re-reading this, I realized how far in I have to go in before it gets really interesting. Kinda of a boring plot but, a interesting world and characters. Guyliner had my heart. Can't wait to read The Unbound
