Reviews

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon

luc_3's review against another edition

3.0

technically right up my alley, loved the concept and the writing style, really liked most characters too, but the constantly switching PoV from second to third and ping-ponging or shared consciousness made the latter part of the book such a slug to get through.
still enjoyed it, won’t say I wouldn’t recommend it to people, but DAMN it was hard to read.

juno_rottie's review against another edition

4.0

Did not expect the turns this book took but I loved each and every one of them. Even if sometimes they left me veering to catch back up and conceptualize the plot. I got there, and have already been recommending the book to others. Very excited for anything else from this world, if that's in the cards.

pyrocat's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

sgennis34's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

3.5

hades_hotline's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

this was addicting and the characters were beautifully written, but at the same time i can’t tell you anything about what happened plot-wise

crumbsandletters's review

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

1.5

vtlism's review against another edition

Not for me in theme or writing style. 

ruaridhreads's review against another edition

i’m coming back to this one but like. my brain is melting 

superpuffin's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Vibes were on point, can't wait for the sequel. It is a great book for fans of Harrow The Ninth and Hannibal in the sense that's it is a viceral and character oriented but still plot heavy book about grief, bodies, regret, hard choices and lost faith. Angry people try to kill god but make it hard science and godpunk.

sowlmates's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional

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

5.0

This book is crazy. It's like it was tailor-made just for me. I loved it. I will hopefully manage to write a coherent review once I've come down from this post book high and sorted out my thoughts. 

Edit: I still think The Archive Undying is sensational. However, I do understand why some people have trouble getting into it. The world building is very dense, the POV switches are confusing, it is utterly incomprehensible at times and you have to work to keep up but it pays off! It will make sense (mostly). I promise it's worth the confusion. The author's rich writing combined with the main character's incredibly entertaining narration makes for a very vivid and original world and imagery. Come on. There are giant mecha robots! There's the absolute destruction of the self! There are narratively significant pronoun changes! There's betrayal! There's drama!

There's cannibalism!

There's God's weakest soldier! Let's go kill some gods!!!!!!!