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The Archived (The Archived #1) by Victoria Schwab

The Archived (The Archived #1)
by Victoria Schwab
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Format: Hardcover, 328 pgs.
Published: Jan. 22nd, 2013 by Hyperion
Genre: YA, Paranormal/ Sci-Fi/ Fantasy

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"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 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." -goodreads

Review:

With a truly unique and original storyline, The Archived is an easy five star young adult book for me. It provided not only a great set-up, but also great characters, a great mystery and a great concept–death. It is the Keeper’s job to collect the Histories of the dead in the Narrows (the crew to collect them in the Outer,) and the Librarian’s job to catalogue the dead in the Archive. When Mackenzie, a Keeper, moves into a new apartment with her parents, she’s still racked with grief over the loss of her brother, but something ensues that turns an age old mystery into a new one. Mackenzie must learn to not only trust the right people, but to also bare and face her demons to protect The Archive from itself.

I love the adventure in this book as Mackenzie plays detective to figure out he mysterious deaths that occurred at her new home, The Coronado. Her guarded and strong characterization mad her a type of heroin that makes, deals, and learns from her mistakes. I also became very fond of Wesley and how he complemented Mackenzie’s character as the sweet rogue who only wants to gain Mackenzie’s trust.

This book is fresh, and a great read for those who tire of the typical young adult genre clichés. I would definitely recommend this book for the lovers of paranormal, fantasy, adventure and mystery. I absolutely cannot wait to delve into the next book of this series! What would you do if you had the power to wake up your deceased loved ones? Would you break all the rules, or would you let the past be?

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First Line: "The Narrows remind me of August nights in the South." (1)
Last Line: "And I smile back, because I want him to be right." (321)

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