Review: The Archived // My Love for Schwab is Sealed!

Rating : 

OMG SO SO SO SO GOOD! ♥ At this point in my reading career, I’ll gladly read absolutely EVERYTHING Schwab writes! 😛

The Archived is another proof of Victoria Schwab’s cleverness. It’s so genius! Library for the dead? Her creativity knows no bound! This is a really, really sophisticated way to tell a story about ghosts trying to haunt the living world. The keepers’ job is to prevent that from happening and return the dead to where they belong. Our main characters, Mackenzie & Wesley, are both keepers.

The world building was flawless! Systematic, as always. It alternates between the present and the past. In the past, Mackenzie’s grandfather was telling her about the archive, the keepers, and basically all the things she needed to know to do her job, while in the present, Mackenzie was actually doing her job. It was so clear and vivid and not boring at all! It’s not everyday that I get to picture an imaginary world so vividly, yet it happened with this book. I could literally picture the narrows, the archive, and the Coronado. If that’s not talent meets genius writing, I don’t know what is.

The pacing was medium, not too fast but definitely faster than A Darker Shade of Magic. I’m guessing that’s because we got all these action scenes pretty early on. Though I admit, it was a bit hard for me to get into it AT FIRST, but that was because I was slumping. Unsurprisingly, this book got me out of my temporary reading slump 😛

The characters were precious! ♥♥♥ Our heroine Mackenzie is kind of broken because her little brother just died and her family was pretending to be okay and running away from their lives. Not to mention she got no one to talk about her job and the archive because she’s bound to secrecy.

But first let me ask you this question.

How many times have you seen a character with dead family members? My answer is TONS! I’ve read a lot of books that start with the characters trying to pick up their lives right after their siblings died. All the Bright Places, The Sky is Everywhere, to name a few. None of those characters came across as interesting as Mackenzie! Most of them lost their sense of self because their lives seemed to revolve around their siblings (which I couldn’t fully relate to). Mackenzie was… different. She’s broken, devastated, a little bitter, but still her own self. She resented the fact that she wasn’t there for her brother and desperately tried to hold on to her memories of him, which is WAY MORE REALISTIC to me.

She’s also bad ass and a bit violent, considering she had this fighting training ever since she was little 😛 Also loyal and dedicated to her job.

Our hero Wesley is super charming! ♥♥ he’s a fun, smooth talker, slightly weird guy who wears eyeliner to scare the dead. I found that odd, I really did. I mean, I didn’t even wear eyeliner THAT often, but that beside the point. As much as I adore bad boys, I love that Wes is so caring and genuine and helpful! Owen, on the other hand, I didn’t dig so much.

At first I was intrigued by this mysterious guy lurking in dark alley, but then when something sort of, kinda like a relationship began, I was like “NOOOOOO!” It wasn’t because of my ship preference, or even because I sensed a love triangle, but because I honestly felt like the romance between the pair was unnecessary.

BUT WAIT FOR IT!

Plot twist happened! It was mind blowing and I was completely pleased with this turn of event! Schwab is the queen of plot twist! I forgot my dislike and I immediately reinstated my stars to where they belong ♥♥♥

More surprises greeted me and I was completely smitten! Even at the very last chapter, Schwab decided to drop another bomb that made my heart sank </3 Though I felt like the last battle could use a lot more brutality, I was completely satisfied with the book. Actually no, I’m not, I WANT BOOK TWO NOW! I’m curious! But I’m also afraid because I hear that book 3 is never coming out? I mean, how would I spend my time after book 2 then? </3

Have you read The Archived? What do you think about it? I’d love to hear your thoughts! ♥ If you haven’t, well… GO! READ IT! 😛

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