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madamenovelist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit and Police brutality
klbreyfogle's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I looked up the author afterwords and it turns out they do a lot of work for Seven Seas (who translate a lot of danmei) and that totally makes sense for how they’ve written the characters and some of the tropes. The complex interpersonal relationships, sort of convoluted plot and simultaneously loose and strict moral codes follow some of the common danmei tropes imo - if you like that (which I do, I think it’s super interesting) then you’ll probably like this! If you like a more straightforward plot and set of protagonists it might not be for you.
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Death of parent
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I love stories with worldbuilding that is immersive, not waiting for the reader to catch up, but just letting the story unfold; only explaining things that someone in the world would need stated, more explicitly. THE ARCHIVE UNDYING provides explanations late, intertwined with regret.
As I’ve said before and will doubtless say again, I specifically love books which include mental transformations of nominally the same character, such that they understand some thing very differently than they did before, or have an entirely new state of mind. My particular favorite is when they are so different as to be a discrete person by the time the changes are done. THE ARCHIVE UNDYING is full of this, first with a narrator whose identity takes a long time to be known, and then with of variety of technologically assisted mental connections and transformative clashes of mind, such that even if everyone nominally remains afterward as entities, they are changed by those meetings.
Reading this is an audiobook definitely helped to let the story roll over me, enjoying the flow of the words even if I didn’t always understand why something was happening. A few pretty significant changes happen towards the end which reframe and contextualize the actions of some secondary characters. It’s the kind of book where I know I will reread it, if only to experience the shift in perspective that comes with knowing characters, backstories, and ulterior motives from the start.
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit