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thenexthing's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This and the previous book have such nice pacing. They hit all the classic beats of a painful coming of age YA, and the use of memory, knowledge, and the relationship between body and mind was fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Self harm, Stalking, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Child death, Gore, Confinement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Torture, Medical content, Suicide, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Confinement, Child death, and Death
Minor: Kidnapping
allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
In this sequel to The Archived, summer is over, and it's back to school (ew, am I right?). Hyde School has some serious dark academia vibes, though, so although I would never ever return to high school, this particular posh ambience makes it a bit more enticing. In general, the tone of this story is darker than its predecessor. The world Schwab has built is a bit spooky at baseline, but this one dialed it up to an 11. With Mackenzie not trusting her own thoughts, running from her own dreams, and fighting the insistent, lurking instinct that something is very, very wrong with some local missing persons cases, things are spinning drastically out of control. To be honest, I became a bit stressed.
I still love the soundly 2000s vibes of this series, but this plot did read a bit like a CW show. For example, we have the trope of the cool, unpopular/alternative, gorgeous, new girl who is so beguiling as to immediately turn the heads of several boys and be adopted by the edgiest clique. This is how we somehow end up in a different love triangle from the first book. Mackenzie doesn't even want to date anyone with all the chaotic trauma she's carrying around. She's just so effortlessly charming as to lure two witless boys in, anyway. To be clear, that's not her fault in the slightest. It's just a trope that irritates me in teen dramas since I haven't noticed it to have any basis in teen realities. No one's that badass in high school or possibly ever.
Ultimately, this book was fine, just not a standout. If love triangles and witty perfect cool (but not popular, ok?? this is different and edgy!) characters don't upset you, then I think you will be better poised to appreciate Schwab's always enthralling writing and the mysteries she spins here.
I still love the soundly 2000s vibes of this series, but this plot did read a bit like a CW show. For example, we have the trope of the cool, unpopular/alternative, gorgeous, new girl who is so beguiling as to immediately turn the heads of several boys and be adopted by the edgiest clique. This is how we somehow end up in a different love triangle from the first book. Mackenzie doesn't even want to date anyone with all the chaotic trauma she's carrying around. She's just so effortlessly charming as to lure two witless boys in, anyway. To be clear, that's not her fault in the slightest. It's just a trope that irritates me in teen dramas since I haven't noticed it to have any basis in teen realities. No one's that badass in high school or possibly ever.
Ultimately, this book was fine, just not a standout. If love triangles and witty perfect cool (but not popular, ok?? this is different and edgy!) characters don't upset you, then I think you will be better poised to appreciate Schwab's always enthralling writing and the mysteries she spins here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Self harm
Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
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