I have had a copy of this book sitting on my shelf for quite some time -- from when it was first published -- and I had highly anticipated reading it. For some reason, though, I tried picking it up and was never able to stick with it.

Coming to it almost 10 years later, after freshly finishing Schwab's Darker Shades of Magic Trilogy, it is clear how much Schwab has grown as a writer. Clearly the target audience for this book was quite different, but there was something about the pacing that felt clunky, like I was caught up in the logistics of what floor the MC was on, what door she was opening, etc. etc. The flashbacks were jarring.

There was nothing offensive or glaringly bad about this book. It has an interesting concept. I think its main issue is that it is, for me, entirely forgettable. The main character's entire personality seems to be that she lost her brother, and side characters have little to no depth. They are a far cry from Rhy and Alucard and Holland. (I know, I know, it's not a fair comparison as they are very different worlds.) But ultimately, it felt like this story cared more about the logistics of the Archive and the keys and the rings than it did about the people. It felt meandering, like the main character was just exploring an old building with no clear purpose. Similarly, what was the real plot here? Mystery? Sorta. Fantasy? Sci fi? Paranormal? It didn't feel like it knew itself, and because of that, a lot of the plot felt superficial.

Ultimately, I don't know how I would have felt if I read this 10 years ago when I was closer to the target age demographic. But I was disappointed overall that there was potential here, some interesting ideas that weren't fleshed out and characters that were lackluster. I won't be reading the sequel, but I will be continuing with Schwab's other works.

This book left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, the concept of the Archive, where the dead are stored like books, fascinated me, and the author's imaginative world-building was impressive. The blend of mystery, fantasy, and supernatural elements kept me engaged throughout the story.
However, I found myself struggling with the pacing at times. Some parts of the book felt slow, and it took a while for the plot to pick up momentum. Additionally, while the protagonist, Mackenzie Bishop, was well-developed, I found it challenging to connect with her on a deeper emotional level.
Despite these shortcomings, Schwab's writing style is undoubtedly compelling. Her descriptive prose painted vivid scenes, bringing the Archive and its mysteries to life. The exploration of themes like loss and identity added depth to the narrative, and I appreciated the thoughtful approach to these subjects.
In the end, "The Archived" is a unique and inventive read, but it didn't fully resonate with me. While I enjoyed certain aspects of the story, the pacing issues and the difficulty in connecting with the characters prevented me from fully immersing myself in the novel. If you're a fan of imaginative world-building and don't mind a slower pace, you might find this book more satisfying than I did.

The Archived
By Victoria Schwab
January 22, 2013

This review is going to be short and sweet. I loved this book, I could not put it down. So creative and beautiful. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Disney-Hyperion, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Victoria Schwab is one talented author. Mac is an amazing character. So strong and determined. Wesley was wonderful too. He many of the same characteristics of Mac. I highly recommend this book for those who like urban fantasy with mystery and some spooky elements too. And seriously an amazing ending!

It took a bit for The Archived to pick up for me, but once it did – I was all in.

Though the pacing was slow at first, I found the premise of this book – a library of dead people, essentially – to be eerily compelling and creative. Schwab does a great job of creating atmosphere and a certain mise en scene in her writing that really gives you a feel for the setting, as if it were tangible. As for the romance plot line, I quite enjoyed that this took a backseat to the overall mystery plot, but I did wish that the villain were a bit less obvious.

Overall, I thought this was a fun, imaginative, immersive story that has a few wobbles, but overall is a well-paced page-turner.

I requested this book ten years ago, and am no longer interested in reading. Thank you for the opportunity.

"Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive."

What a great concept! I really did love everything about this book. The characters were fully fleshed out, and the setting was unique. The world building was done very well. The characters were dealing with so much pain, and this was written in such a way that it wasn't gratuitous at all, which could easily have happened.

Mackenzie was an interesting character, and I really loved her relationship with Wes, Mr. Guy Liner himself. He was definitely my favorite character! I felt so bad for Mackenzie's mother and how hard she was just trying to cope on a day to day basis without losing her mind. As a mother, that affected me very much, The way the author was able to toggle between the present and the past without any difficulty was a very nice surprise and added a lot to the story.

In summary, I enjoyed this story very much and look forward to reading more of this author's work.

5/5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this book and do not know why the publisher didn't continue the series. Victoria Schwab has been very successful since then, so it was a missed opportunity, but I guess it freed her up for her more successful works.

An interesting concept of a world-between-worlds and the people who work to protect the rest of us from destruction. The family construct was well-written and the characters relatable.

I was a fool to wait so long. The Archived is, quite simply put, perfection in book form. It has everything I want in a book: great storytelling, funny dialogue, well-fleshed out characters and a new world! Oh and keys! I have a fascination with keys, especially old-fashioned skeleton ones and this book just took that fascination and turned it into a full blown obsession. Keys play a huge role in this book, I won’t tell you anymore than that, but just know that I thought it was genius! What I liked most about The Archived, other than the glorious keys of course, was how Victoria described the Narrows and the Archive itself. She has a command over the English language that I couldn’t even begin to describe with my limited command over it. Hers are among the few books that I can truly visualize myself diving into. Victoria’s world building skills never cease to amaze me, the amount of detail she adds to her stories is perfect and I can see how much time and sanity she puts into every one. The language she uses is also the equal mix of contemporary (dialogue, ect.) and fantasy (the descriptions and such). This also can be applied to the settings in The Archived because they really bring to mind the phrase, “the familiar rendered strange.” Hotels, Libraries, even HALLWAYS are rendered strange in this, which adds another level of depth to the novel. I could go on and on about how everything in The Archived was amazing, but I will let you read it for yourself. Just know that I cannot wait to dive into its sequel, The Unbound.

An interesting look at what happens after death. What if all of our memories were archived in a copy of our bodies? What if those copies woke up and returned to our world? Mackenzie's job is to keep that from happening, but someone is determined to bring down the system.

Here's another YA book. I always see a lot of praise for Victoria Schwab's books and I must say I agree her ideas are very good. The prose isn't exactly to my taste and I've read four books by her so I'm pretty sure it's just that the writing isn't my cup of tea and not a fluke.

The world in The Archived was interesting and the romance wasn't the type that really annoys me (aka instantaneous and without chemistry) but still, this had too much of the "normal" YA urban fantasy vibe for me, as opposed to other works by the author.

Paradoxically, I wish the series had more books (I've read both by now), the entire mythos deserved more exploration, I must confess that was the part that interested me. The why of the Archive and the who that created it.

3/5 stars for this one. It was a good read but it had very little to make it original when compared to other works in the genre.

This book was so amazing!! Schwab is master at creating an fantasy world inside the modern world. The whole ghost library where your souls go after you die- is so interesting. I loved the suspense in this book, and I was completely caught off guard at the end of the book. It was fantastic read! Engrossing and heart-wrenching too.

Victoria Schwab is an amazing writer. I was engrossed immediately into the world that she built. I loved absolutely everything about this book. The uniqueness. The emotion. The shocking twists at the end. If you haven't started this series yet you need to. Mackenzie was such an amazing character and I loved her whole story. It was awesome. I can not wait to read the second book.

My Thoughts:
What I liked about the story is it kept my attention with imagination and action. Further, I wanted to know what her vision meant earlier in the story? I wanted to know more about what happened to her brother? Who is Da? So, I had several "things" that needed answers.
Another important point is I wondered who are the bad and who are the good? In every story there are those kinds of people. In some stories there are surprises, not in this story. I can't say I was totally off by who were the bad ones.
I know that I think logically, but why don't these people (History) want to move on? Why do they want to hang out in a narrow hallway? However, this is apart of the storyline.
Mackenzie is a sympathetic character. She's a loner. She is not really involved in anything other than the "task" as a Keeper. She is grieving the deaths of Da and her brother. She and her parents don't connect. She's alone in her thoughts all of the time. She is a contemplative person. She's basically kind and wants to do the right thing.
Later in the book Mackenzie is praying. What? Who is she praying to? Nothing alludes to any religious belief but she's praying. I'm not sure why this was added to the story at all. It felt like something pulled out of a rabbit and just for show.

Am I glad I read The Archived? It is good for me to read something out of my ordinary interest in books. It's like using a different part of my brain. So yes.

What an incredible, unique story. I loved the concept and it was so well executed. The characters were great and the writing was beautiful.

I loved this sneak peek! Mac is such a complex, compelling character, and the idea of “histories” in a magical library is fascinating! I can’t wish to see where this goes.

This was a great read! A bit slow to start.... But quickly picked up ,and I flew through the rest! A great premise, I found the idea of these keepers of the archived ( dead) to be very fresh and interesting. Throw in a mystery, and you've got a winner! I enjoyed this very much, and can't wait to see where the author takes this series! Loved Mac and Wes, I hope a romance blooms!

This story was amazing. Victoria's prose is gorgeous and atmospheric, and it was easy to lose myself in the story. She reveals the workings and mythology of The Archive in bits and pieces instead of info-dumping all at once, so when I started out, it took me a little bit to get my bearings. But gradually, without really noticing it was happening, I began to understand. And before I knew it, I was totally immersed in Mackenzie's world.

What I liked about Mac was that she was strong, but flawed. She constantly tried to do her best, but made some very bad decisions. She had been trained to be so secretive that she didn't ask for help when she needed it. She had closed her emotions to the point where she didn't notice warning signs and ignored her gut instincts. But what was amazing about this is that because of the way her character was developed, I understood why she was doing those things. I may not agree with them, but it made sense. I liked that she wasn't perfect and sometimes didn't piece together the clues about what was happening until it was too late.

I know I'm painting her as kind of clueless, and you may be wondering what's so appealing about a closed-off and ignorant character, but she was also smart, resourceful, and determined. She was just a very well-rounded and human character, which in a story with such fantastic elements, kept it grounded in the believable.

Then there was Wes, who I thought was fabulous. Although there's hints of romance between him and Mac, he's so much more than just "the love interest." Wesley has his own struggles and complexities. I loved how his approach to life not only differed from Mac's, but challenged her, and how while Mac is undoubtedly the hero of the story, Wes has his moments of heroism as well. I can't wait to learn more about Wes in the sequels.

The plotting and pacing of The Archived was excellent. I felt like I was constantly gaining new insight into the world while asking new questions. Victoria is a master at keeping the reader turning pages, giving enough information to appease, but not so much that you stop asking questions. She weaves small details into the early pages that you don't realize are important until the end, so that a savvy reader may be able to figure out what's going on...but probably won't. I like when plot twists are subtly foreshadowed, because it makes the payoff that much more satisfying.

Ultimately, I thought The Archived was a beautifully written, tightly plotted, brilliantly original story. I was riveted from beginning to end, and can't wait to see what Victoria has planned next for these characters.

I loved this sneak peak into Victoria Schwab's book, The Archived. It was an excellent introduction into the world she's building, and it definitely left me wanting more. I'll be picking up the full book ASAP!