Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Archive Undying

The moment-to-moment prose is really good, and I adore the characters (especially Sunai), but the book fails on a number of levels. It doesn't explain the basic conventions of its world in a way that helps readers - I had to google what a relic and an ENGINE were. The characters' allegiances change way too often to the point of complete confusion. The headhopping, though a fun SciFi idea, further adds to the confusion.

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shay_books's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

2.5

i wanted to like this so badly, but it felt like a fever dream at best. i have absolutely no idea what happened but there were a lot of robots(?).

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poodily's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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charmedstray's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

get in the fucking robot shinji

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mordshunger's review

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adventurous challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This one is hard to rate. It certainly made me feel things, and I feel pissed off. Immaculate vibes and strong characters but is it a net-positive? Reading this dealt me psychic damage. If fiction can be violent this was the Most Violent encounter I had with a book so far.

While it felt like it wanted to say things about religious trauma and trust and betrayal, I fail to see how it did say anything meaningful about them. It feels dangerous to read for people who struggle with upholding boundaries to people who have abused them. I don't even have the right words for a proper CW so I'll just say the lack of consent is disgusting and the immediate forgiveness of the same sickening. It really tampered my enjoyment of the story. The apologetics of an ever understanding, self-neglecting and self-hating POV is just too much.

In general, there is a very inflationary use of love in this book. I understand what this is going for and that is why I think it is dangerous. People who love deeply will see themselves in this and it's not great. This is bad. If love is just a verb for one person and a weapon and exploit for everyone else, it becomes meaningless to even call it such. Fuck that forever.

Chronological impressions:

Welcome to the religious trauma struggle bus. The vibes are chef's kiss but also vague and referential at all times, it feels like I got oil in one eye forever.

This book y'all, it's really just a pile of the worst people you know. My number one pick for most trustworthy guy in this is the not-so-informed-consent AI splinter and I'm sure they will try to kill everyone.

Sinai, Jin und Veyadi consistently bring the energy of an EMT driver/student in exam crunch after three consecutive shifts.

I hate All of Them, but I hate Imaru most. If this bitch doesn't die I'm not reading the next book. Can't believe there is immediate forgiveness, understanding and love after the ultimate betrayal.

I've read some reviews of some very confused people who get lost in who betrayed who first and which plots overlap and let me just say it doesn't matter who betrays who when they all do. They all do! They're the worst!!! And they keep asking more of him. Veyadi, et Tu?

12,7 hours reading time.

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kal517's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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? Yes

3.5

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rei_reads's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I don’t know how to rate this one. On one hand, I really enjoyed reading it. I liked the characters and narrative voice, and was invested in what was happening.

On the other hand, I was often confused and I’m not sure I could summarize exactly what happened, even by the end of the book. Between pretty complex world building and all the AI stuff, shifting narrative voices, and characters who constantly don’t want to admit things to themselves or say things out loud, plus an element of mystery or at least the unknown, it’s sometimes hard to grasp exactly what’s going on. I think it’s a credit to the author that I enjoyed it as much as I did in spite of being confused. I wish it was all clearer though.

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hailstorm3812's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is bonkers and kept spinning me out thinking about the limitations of bodies and the concept of self. Never did I think a hive mind could be romantic but here we are. I think it does tend to meander in plot and tries to tackle so much all at once that it can get confusing and overwhelming, but the emotional strength of the characters carries you through. I would absolutely love to see this world and characters again.

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