[Review] Victoria Schwab : The Archived

[YA]

You can buy it here:
The Archived (Amazon)

Rating:
5/5

FTC: eGalley received from publisher through Netgalley

Summary: (from Publisher)
Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive. Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was: a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous-it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da's death was hard enough, but now that her little brother is gone too, Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard won redemption.

My thoughts:
What a ride! Every reader has those few books that grip him and won’t let go right after finishing. These are the best books, and to find them is a search that will never end. For me, the sneak peek of The Archived (Please note, I only read part of the book, I received a sneak peek!) is a book that fits the bill 100%.

In this alternate reality, the dead are stored in an archive, they are histories kept by librarians and sometimes, one of them escapes. This is where our heroine, Mac, comes into play. She is a Keeper, and her job is to return escaped Histories to the Archive and to prevent them from getting out into the real world.

The world Schwab imagined is just wonderful, fantastic and full of the most conflicting feelings. You dive in and there’s no time to catch your breath, you don’t even want to! It’s an amazingly thrilling, sweetly dangerous adventure in a world so very similar to ours.

Now, The Archived is one book I will have to barter with. I was put on a book buying ban, but I absolutely need to read this! It is a craving that is as bad as a craving for chocolate – and if you know me, you know I live and breathe for chocolate!