traecrochet's review against another edition
4.0
I couldn't put this book down. The ending was predictable, but I really enjoyed the book.
exlibrisl's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars
I love the plot and the pacing was really great but the main character Mackenzie, pissed me off sometimes. I can't see eye to eye with her. The ending was also a little confusing.
I love the plot and the pacing was really great but the main character Mackenzie, pissed me off sometimes. I can't see eye to eye with her. The ending was also a little confusing.
bookish_redpanda15's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
wulantasiam's review against another edition
5.0
the thing about ve schwab’s book is more often than not i WILL finish it in one sitting and hyperfixate on it for many many months and this one is no exception.
can’t stress enough how happy i am to stumble on this book. i went on reading the archived without knowing anything about out it. a local bookstore had it, and upon seeing it written by miss schwab herself it’s pretty much a given that i’ll put it on my cart. and here i am, loving every bit of this book!!
can’t stress enough how happy i am to stumble on this book. i went on reading the archived without knowing anything about out it. a local bookstore had it, and upon seeing it written by miss schwab herself it’s pretty much a given that i’ll put it on my cart. and here i am, loving every bit of this book!!
ditalion's review against another edition
5.0
A 5 star book!
I love this book!
The story is original and fast paced. The characters are really nice and don't get me started on the writing; it is amazing!
The characters felt very real. Wes was just awesome, he is so funny. And Mac herself is very easy to relate to.
The world-building is super cool! I love the idea. The world is very convincing (you know even though being fantasy).
I really liked it.
I love this book!
The story is original and fast paced. The characters are really nice and don't get me started on the writing; it is amazing!
The characters felt very real. Wes was just awesome, he is so funny. And Mac herself is very easy to relate to.
The world-building is super cool! I love the idea. The world is very convincing (you know even though being fantasy).
I really liked it.
justjoel's review against another edition
4.0
I can tell this is early Schwab, as her more recent books are more complicated and less predictable.
The main character is engaging, even if the romance isn't. Her losses—of her grandfather and younger brother—are relatable, and there were some interesting ways in which her entire family dealt with their grief.
The villain wasn't a surprise when revealed.
Overall, I still really enjoyed the book, but it was just good, not great. Will probably continue the series to see where it goes next.
The main character is engaging, even if the romance isn't. Her losses—of her grandfather and younger brother—are relatable, and there were some interesting ways in which her entire family dealt with their grief.
The villain wasn't a surprise when revealed.
Overall, I still really enjoyed the book, but it was just good, not great. Will probably continue the series to see where it goes next.
booksandlemonsquash's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I finally found the Victoria Schwab book that wasn't quite for me. I did enjoy it, especially towards the end, but I didn't connect with it in the same way I did with the rest of her work.
I think part of this is the concept - I like it, but there doesn't seem to be a wider purpose to the archive. Why does it exist in this world and how did it come about? Once I got past that, I did find it easier to related to Mackenzie. Her mission to protect the archive and figure out what is going on is fairly well played out, and I like how violent it is! ;) I found parts of the mystery reasonably obvious, but the overall driving motive wasn't, so that was nice. I also really enjoyed the way it showed how hard lying to everyone in their lives was.
I'm not sure all the cut scenes to Da really work throughout the book, even if by the end they're useful. Early on they make it a lot harder to really feel the pace of the book, and don't actually add as much as they should to the worldbuilding.
I do feel I'm judging this on the very high standard of utterly loving all her other work, but this just wasn't quite what I hoped for. I'm not sure I'll read book 2, certainly not straight away.
3.5 stars.
I think part of this is the concept - I like it, but there doesn't seem to be a wider purpose to the archive. Why does it exist in this world and how did it come about? Once I got past that, I did find it easier to related to Mackenzie. Her mission to protect the archive and figure out what is going on is fairly well played out, and I like how violent it is! ;) I found parts of the mystery reasonably obvious, but the overall driving motive wasn't, so that was nice. I also really enjoyed the way it showed how hard lying to everyone in their lives was.
I'm not sure all the cut scenes to Da really work throughout the book, even if by the end they're useful. Early on they make it a lot harder to really feel the pace of the book, and don't actually add as much as they should to the worldbuilding.
I do feel I'm judging this on the very high standard of utterly loving all her other work, but this just wasn't quite what I hoped for. I'm not sure I'll read book 2, certainly not straight away.
3.5 stars.
annaptobias's review against another edition
3.0
After a while, you could tell where the story was going. It's almost expected that each time a YA lead mentions something that they're not supposed to do, they themselves make a bad life choice and go ahead and do that thing.
I really hate being that person who says, "this novel reminds me of such-and-such" other work of fiction but I will be that person right now. Mackenzie's ability and sensitivity to sound reminds me so much of the main ability of [b:Sekret|15673520|Sekret (Sekret, #1)|Lindsay Smith|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1372782569s/15673520.jpg|21330653]'s heroine (though I've yet to finish this book too), with a little bit of Sookie Stackhouse mixed in.
I really hate being that person who says, "this novel reminds me of such-and-such" other work of fiction but I will be that person right now. Mackenzie's ability and sensitivity to sound reminds me so much of the main ability of [b:Sekret|15673520|Sekret (Sekret, #1)|Lindsay Smith|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1372782569s/15673520.jpg|21330653]'s heroine (though I've yet to finish this book too), with a little bit of Sookie Stackhouse mixed in.
Spoiler
Mackenzie's interactions and response to Owen reminded me so much of Sookie's reaction to Bill and why she liked him so much -- because he's quiet...because he's dead.poorashleu's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted at yAdult Review
This book has been on my TBR list for as long as I can remember. The fact that it took me this long to read it is more a reflection on me than the book, seeing I did not pick up this book until last week. This book did not let me down at all. I actually couldn’t put it down and the fact that I have to wait a year for the next book slowly kills me. Thankfully Schwab ends this book quite nicely. Thank you no cliffhanger!
Told through flashbacks and present day, this book is the story of Mac(kenzie) who works as a Keeper. She is a Keeper for the Archived, a place that collects the dead like they are books in a library. As a librarian I found this to be completely fascinating. Schwab worked through every little detail and let nothing go overlooked which made me fall in love with this book even more and look forward to book two, a lot. By use of flashbacks it was easy to understand how Mac got her job as a Keeper through her Da, who ultimately meant the world to her. It becomes clear from the very beginning that Mackenzie is not a typical YA heroine: she’s extremely close to her grandfather, she can kick ass, and she doesn’t like to touch people or animals. The later is because she can hear what she calls the “noise” from their feelings and thoughts and understandably that effects her.
Of course no one is allowed to know about The Archived. Which means her parents do not know, and yet they never question where she goes at all hours of the day. She comes up with extremely lame excuses and they are perfectly content and okay with said excuses. This is in part because she lost her brother Ben and they know she is still adjusting to life after, they all are.
The mystery and twist occurs when Mackenzie realizes there is someone else with this gift/curse along with the same time that someone is messing with the Histories and something bad is happening in The Archived. Through excellent storytelling Schwab has the reader waiting for more, me included.
This book has been on my TBR list for as long as I can remember. The fact that it took me this long to read it is more a reflection on me than the book, seeing I did not pick up this book until last week. This book did not let me down at all. I actually couldn’t put it down and the fact that I have to wait a year for the next book slowly kills me. Thankfully Schwab ends this book quite nicely. Thank you no cliffhanger!
Told through flashbacks and present day, this book is the story of Mac(kenzie) who works as a Keeper. She is a Keeper for the Archived, a place that collects the dead like they are books in a library. As a librarian I found this to be completely fascinating. Schwab worked through every little detail and let nothing go overlooked which made me fall in love with this book even more and look forward to book two, a lot. By use of flashbacks it was easy to understand how Mac got her job as a Keeper through her Da, who ultimately meant the world to her. It becomes clear from the very beginning that Mackenzie is not a typical YA heroine: she’s extremely close to her grandfather, she can kick ass, and she doesn’t like to touch people or animals. The later is because she can hear what she calls the “noise” from their feelings and thoughts and understandably that effects her.
Of course no one is allowed to know about The Archived. Which means her parents do not know, and yet they never question where she goes at all hours of the day. She comes up with extremely lame excuses and they are perfectly content and okay with said excuses. This is in part because she lost her brother Ben and they know she is still adjusting to life after, they all are.
The mystery and twist occurs when Mackenzie realizes there is someone else with this gift/curse along with the same time that someone is messing with the Histories and something bad is happening in The Archived. Through excellent storytelling Schwab has the reader waiting for more, me included.