A review by probablyytori
The Archived by Victoria Schwab
4.0
I liked it, but...
I don't think I've ever been so conflicted on my thoughts about a book in my life. On one hand, I really enjoyed this book. It had a great premise, great characters (*cough* Wesley *cough*), and wonderful writing. But on the other hand, it started out pretty slow and for the first 40% of The Archived, I could've cared less. I guess that shows when my Goodreads account tells me that it took me 5 months to finish this book.
As you can see, my updates went from "I'm intrigued" in April to "SHIT WENT DOWN" in August.
Mackenzie was badass
As a protagonist, Mackenzie was pretty freaking awesome. Her grandfather, referred to in the novel as "Da" taught her everything she knew about the Archive, the place where the dead are stacked on shelves like books (as the synopsis so accurately describes it). At first, she's a bit uptight and she lies a lot, but as the novel progresses, so does Mackenzie. She begins to trust other characters with her secrets whether she likes it or not.
There are skeletons in Mac's closet for sure. Her younger brother Ben, age 10, died in a hit and run (not a spoiler. Revealed within the first few chapters), and she wants desperately to get him out of the Archive, but she can't since Histories (the dead) go crazy once they're awoken from their slumber. I think Wes really hit the nail on the head when he talks to Mac about her brother.
I think there's so much truth in what Wes said. When someone important to you or your entire family passes away, I believe that they're imprinted on your lives regardless of how long it has been. Some people are just never meant to be forgotten.
Wes is bae
To put it in a short term that I got from Alexa, Wes is bae. Wes is frekaing bae, okay? And don't even get me started on Guyliner. That's quite possibly the best term I have ever heard.
Need I say more? Wesley is bae. Not only is he Guyliner, but he's hilarious, reliable, and confident (do not mistake confident with cocky). He's everything I'd want in a boyf--ahem, friend. Because him and Mackenzie are just friends...right? I ship it.
The Beginning vs The Ending
Like I said at the beginning, the ending is the best part. The first 40% was, in short, boring. Nothing much happened. Mackenzie moved. Mackenzie sent Histories (the dead) to the Return (back to the Archive). Mackenzie met Wesley. Mackenzie met Owen. Mackenzie--
Oh, right. When Mackenzie met Owen, that's when things started getting real interesting. I'm not willing to spoil anything, so I'll put my next thoughts in spoiler tags. (spoiler)Okay, let me just say that I'm freaking pissed that Owen betrayed Mackenzie like that. I didn't expect him at all. On the other hand, I very much expected Carmen. Sure, Roland was the obvious suspicion, and that's exactly why he wasn't the culprit. But Owen? C'mon. Owen! He was so...sweet and depressed and gentle and confused and just...ugh.
And the explanation to why he didn't slip? Oh my god, I swear my entire universe made sense at the time.(/spoiler) Anyway. Holy crap, the ending was amazing. Don't get me wrong--read this book regardless of my issues with the beginning. It's really good. Everything was wrapped up and made sense. I don't think there are any plot holes, and if there are they aren't significant.
Owen, Owen, Owen
It will be extremely difficult to talk about Owen without giving anything away, so I'm just going to jump right in and say it:
I wasn't very pleased with the way that Owen and Mac's relationship progressed. I'm not really sure if this is a spoiler or not, so skip the rest of this paragraph if you want to go into this book blind (it's not a bad spoiler, I promise). I hated how Owen kissed Mackenzie just to make her feel better. I mean, who even does that? And you know what was even worse? When Mackenzie went along with it. She called it her "escape" and compared it to smoking, which was what Da did to escape the Archive.
Honestly, that and the beginning are the biggest issues I have with this book. Otherwise, it was great (how many times can I say that it was great?).
The Lowdown
The Archived, while not as strong in the beginning as it was in the end, was a great read, and I'd gladly read it again. There's just something about Wes and Mac's relationship that makes me want to return the dead back to their rightful shelf spot if I got to meet a Wes of my own. The writing was spot on and kept me interested enough. The beginning was a bit slow but once I got 40% through, the pages flew by. Although the relationship between Mac and Owen irritated me the more the book progressed, I'd definitely recommend this to others!
(Sorry guys, I can't resist the 5 Seconds of Summer gifs. Alexa sends them; I save them.)
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I don't think I've ever been so conflicted on my thoughts about a book in my life. On one hand, I really enjoyed this book. It had a great premise, great characters (*cough* Wesley *cough*), and wonderful writing. But on the other hand, it started out pretty slow and for the first 40% of The Archived, I could've cared less. I guess that shows when my Goodreads account tells me that it took me 5 months to finish this book.
As you can see, my updates went from "I'm intrigued" in April to "SHIT WENT DOWN" in August.
Mackenzie was badass
As a protagonist, Mackenzie was pretty freaking awesome. Her grandfather, referred to in the novel as "Da" taught her everything she knew about the Archive, the place where the dead are stacked on shelves like books (as the synopsis so accurately describes it). At first, she's a bit uptight and she lies a lot, but as the novel progresses, so does Mackenzie. She begins to trust other characters with her secrets whether she likes it or not.
The first trick to lying is to tell the truth as often as possible. If you start lying about everything, big and small, it becomes impossible to keep things straight, and you'll get caught. Once suspicion is planted it becomes exponentially harder to sell the next lie.
There are skeletons in Mac's closet for sure. Her younger brother Ben, age 10, died in a hit and run (not a spoiler. Revealed within the first few chapters), and she wants desperately to get him out of the Archive, but she can't since Histories (the dead) go crazy once they're awoken from their slumber. I think Wes really hit the nail on the head when he talks to Mac about her brother.
"I didn't mean to look, Mac, but he's right at the surface. he's written all over your family."
I think there's so much truth in what Wes said. When someone important to you or your entire family passes away, I believe that they're imprinted on your lives regardless of how long it has been. Some people are just never meant to be forgotten.
Wes is bae
To put it in a short term that I got from Alexa, Wes is bae. Wes is frekaing bae, okay? And don't even get me started on Guyliner. That's quite possibly the best term I have ever heard.
"Well, so far I've met a morbidly obese antiques hoarder, and a boy who wears eyeliner."
"They call that guyliner," [Lyndsey] says.
Need I say more? Wesley is bae. Not only is he Guyliner, but he's hilarious, reliable, and confident (do not mistake confident with cocky). He's everything I'd want in a boyf--ahem, friend. Because him and Mackenzie are just friends...right? I ship it.
The Beginning vs The Ending
Like I said at the beginning, the ending is the best part. The first 40% was, in short, boring. Nothing much happened. Mackenzie moved. Mackenzie sent Histories (the dead) to the Return (back to the Archive). Mackenzie met Wesley. Mackenzie met Owen. Mackenzie--
Oh, right. When Mackenzie met Owen, that's when things started getting real interesting. I'm not willing to spoil anything, so I'll put my next thoughts in spoiler tags. (spoiler)Okay, let me just say that I'm freaking pissed that Owen betrayed Mackenzie like that. I didn't expect him at all. On the other hand, I very much expected Carmen. Sure, Roland was the obvious suspicion, and that's exactly why he wasn't the culprit. But Owen? C'mon. Owen! He was so...sweet and depressed and gentle and confused and just...ugh.
And the explanation to why he didn't slip? Oh my god, I swear my entire universe made sense at the time.(/spoiler) Anyway. Holy crap, the ending was amazing. Don't get me wrong--read this book regardless of my issues with the beginning. It's really good. Everything was wrapped up and made sense. I don't think there are any plot holes, and if there are they aren't significant.
Owen, Owen, Owen
It will be extremely difficult to talk about Owen without giving anything away, so I'm just going to jump right in and say it:
I wasn't very pleased with the way that Owen and Mac's relationship progressed. I'm not really sure if this is a spoiler or not, so skip the rest of this paragraph if you want to go into this book blind (it's not a bad spoiler, I promise). I hated how Owen kissed Mackenzie just to make her feel better. I mean, who even does that? And you know what was even worse? When Mackenzie went along with it. She called it her "escape" and compared it to smoking, which was what Da did to escape the Archive.
Honestly, that and the beginning are the biggest issues I have with this book. Otherwise, it was great (how many times can I say that it was great?).
The Lowdown
The Archived, while not as strong in the beginning as it was in the end, was a great read, and I'd gladly read it again. There's just something about Wes and Mac's relationship that makes me want to return the dead back to their rightful shelf spot if I got to meet a Wes of my own. The writing was spot on and kept me interested enough. The beginning was a bit slow but once I got 40% through, the pages flew by. Although the relationship between Mac and Owen irritated me the more the book progressed, I'd definitely recommend this to others!
(Sorry guys, I can't resist the 5 Seconds of Summer gifs. Alexa sends them; I save them.)
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