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    The Archived
    The Archived
    The Archived
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Archived

    Written by Victoria Schwab

    Narrated by Piper Goodeve

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The Archive, an otherworldly library, contains the bodies of everyone who has ever died. But when the Archive is compromised from within, sixteen-year-old Mackenzie Bishop must use her skills as a Keeper to identify the traitor and prevent violent Histories from escaping into our world.

    The Archived is the first book in a dark, dazzlingly inventive YA fantasy series from the author of The Near Witch.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 30, 2019
    ISBN9781977345417
    The Archived

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    Reviews for The Archived

    4/5

    388 ratings50 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I couldn’t get past the general premise of this book which is that all the dead people in the world are kept in a library wearing the clothes they wore when they were killed. Sometimes they come alive and have to be put back to the dead. But it’s not like a zombie story and it’s not scary it’s really like nothing. I just didn’t get it.
    • 5/5
      This was such an exceptional novel. Thrilling and beautiful. I would highly recommend to anyone! Definitely a Keeper for my shelves
    • 3/5
      The Archived
      by Victoria Schwab
      YA
      Fantasy
      Audiobook
      3 stars

      When you die your soul, your life, your memories are placed on a shelf in a library, and every so often one of these memories wakes up and tries to find their way out into the world, and as they try, they become confused, angry, and dangerous. But there are a few, whose job it is to catch them and send them back.

      That is the premise of this story and more are escaping than should be. Teenager Mackenzie is one of those who hunt the escaped, brought into the secret by her grandfather because he was dying and she had the gift.

      It's not a bad story, though not as good as the other stories I've listened to of the authors. (I listened to the audiobook through Scribd.) But it was still enjoyable, and I'm off to read the next in the series.

      It's not too violent or graphic but does have a romance plot interwoven, which plays in with the main plot, and it's only touched upon, there's no sex, so it is appropriate for readers 12ish and older.

      3 stars.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this but there were a few holes in the premise. Hopefully the second book will answer some questions.
    • 5/5
      "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.
    • 5/5
      I might be in the Minority here but I completely understand why Owen did what he did.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable enough. Very YA but I enjoyed more than some YA recently. Loved the concept. Have borrowed the second book so should read that soon.
    • 5/5
      The Archived I missed out on Victoria Schwab's first book, so I knew for a fact that I'd be reading The Archived. After all, I was instantly intrigued by the premise. A place where humans are stored like hard drive copies of themselves? Creepy, yet interesting. I only hoped it would be done as well as the synopsis seemed to promise.

      Lucky for me this turned out to be everything that I was hoping for! Not only was the concept original, but the execution of it all made this a book I couldn't get enough of. First off, I have to say that I loved Mackenzie. She's strong, stubborn, and yet amazingly easy to fall into step with. Her character was very layered. On the surface is a girl who has been hurt, and shuns deep interaction to keep others safe. However the more I read, the more I saw beneath her gruff exterior. I saw a girl who just wanted someone to talk to. A girl who missed her brother, and really needed a friend.

      Enter Wesley Ayers, the exact inverse of his female counterpart. I thought they were a perfect match! For every gruff part of Mackenzie that came through, there was an equally friendly and goofy part of Wesley. He is the epitome of a nice guy. The banter between Wesley and Mackenzie is priceless, and their interactions are really what keep the book moving along. I adored him.

      In case you're not already sold, I absolutely have to gush about the setting that Schwab picks for The Archived. Set in a crumbling old hotel-turned-apartment called The Coronado, Mackenzie's story has an added bit of creepiness. Old places hold onto history. They have dark, hidden secrets. This building is no exception! No spoilers from me, but trust me when I say this is a perfect companion to the Narrows that the characters wander in and out of. I was genuinely on edge at times as clues to the building's past were slowly laid out, and it made me read that much more ravenously.

      I think it's clear to see that I utterly enjoyed this book. I could ramble on about the excellent writing, or the fact that Mackenzie actually has a real family in her story, but the point remains that this is a book well worth your time. The Archived has earned a spot on my shelf of favorites and I am eagerly awaiting the next installment! There are so many questions I have, and I can't wait to see where Victoria Schwab takes me next.
    • 5/5
      !!!!!

      I suppose it doesn't matter how they get out. All that matters is they do. And when they do, they must be found. They must go back.
      The Writing and the Worldbuilding

      So I'm low-key freaking out a little because my current WIP has some parallels to this (afterlife, dead younger brother the female Mc wants to bring back to life somehow, and mystical access to memories through touch) and I know I can never top the Schwab, so wish me luck 🤞

      The first few chapters of this really didn't do it for me, I must admit. They were slow and, frankly, a little boring, and I really didn't like the narration style very much at first. BUT! Once it grew on me, I ADORED EVERYTHING!!

      It really kinda gave me Cruel Beauty vibes with a specific ghostly character and also some The Mortal Instruments vibes as well. I could almost taste the shapes of what would become her later books, like A Darker Shade of Magic and This Savage Song. The framework is all there and it's kinda amazing to see the earlier incarnations of what is kinda becoming Schwab's main theme.

      The world is AWESOME! I love afterlife stories with a passion (like my doomed WIP). The characters and themes are so multidimensional! The mystery was masterful.

      Me at the end:



      I still have some holds barred on why those exposition-in-the-past sections were addressed to her grandfather, but maybe the sequel will shed some light. I liked them but didn't see the narrative significance.

      Truths are messy and lies are messy, and I don’t care what Da said, it’s impossible to cut a person into pielike pieces, neat and tidy.
      The Characters

      Mac: She's tough and sad and basically pretty great. Sometimes her constant evasion got on my nerves, but it was well characterized so it didn't bother me on a literary level. I really loved her arc.

      Guyliner: He's the 2013 punk dream boat and honestly, I love him. He's so funny and his banter with Mackenzie really did it for me.

      Owen: HANDS DOWN MY FAV LIKE OH MY GOSH SPENCER REID DID NOT SEE IT COMING

      The other characters were all equally well developed and realistic. The Librarians were definitely the least developed for all the time we see them in the story, but I expect to go deeper in the next book.

      I want the things most people don’t notice. The ring and the key and the way you have of wearing everything on the inside.
      Conclusion

      I want a TV show pronto.
    • 3/5
      Would make for an interesting claustrophobic film or even stage play.
    • 4/5
      I don't like ghost stories or murder mysteries but I did like this book. It was just the right amount of tense (for me), not too gory, and the mystery surprised me.
    • 4/5
      This is an entertaining YA fantasy. I put it on my Read Harder 2017 list for task 15: Read a YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ . To discover author's that fit into this category, I took advice from the Goodreads group on the Read Harder challenge which has Schwab mentioned as an author who is LGBTQ . 

      I've been wanting to read her Shades of Magic series as well but I had it in my head at the time that this was a stand alone. I have no idea why. It is part of a series and the next book is The Unbound, which I will be reading to finish the series at some point down the road. My library had this one but not the next one quite yet.

      Like I said above, I did enjoy it. It's quintessentially YA with an ass-kicking strong female lead and a touch of a love-triangle. Unlike some other YA, our heroine, Mackenzie Bishop, has a good head on her shoulders. She usually makes good decisions but is recently rocked by a family tragedy that contributes to setting the story in motion. She's flawed but not so much that the reader can't feel sure she'll get back on track provided nothing too drastic happens. Of course, it's a novel by a good writer, so drastic things are bound to happen, right?

      The two male leads are interesting and different from each other in great ways. They may even be swoon worthy if I were close enough to my YA years to not make that super-creepy. As it is, I merely recognize that they are suitably matched for Mackenzie as love interests. Mackenzie's parents are great. They're recovering from the same tragedy that she is and are handling it in understandable ways. I love the details on fakeness of Mom's smile. Parents have a tendency to try to make things okay before they are. It's the way of the world. Still, I loved their efforts. I wish I knew more about Da, though.

      Now for the really fun part. The world building was my favorite part! I love the Archive and the Narrows and the way Schwab plunges right into them. The people who work at the Archive are nuanced but only as far as Mackenzie would reasonably know them. The Coronado is a great old building with lots of stories and nooks and crannies and interesting little things about it. I loved the other residents that Mackenzie meets. Most of all, the story held layers of secrets of it's own and while some were eventually revealed, they only caused more questions about what secrets were still held. I'll be interested to see where the rest of the series goes but I also appreciate that the story had a solid ending. I could stop here and feel pretty satisfied with the story. I won't, but I could.
    • 3/5
      another unique, vivid, richly populated world by Victoria Schwab I must be on a Schwab high because after finishing a Conjuring of Light I could find no other book to satisfy my What The Heck Am I Going To Do With Myself Next Itch...I ended up here, which was SO unlike a Conjuring Of Light...BUT...that's okay because this was satisfying on a whole different level while still having the Schwab(esc) prose that we fans have come to associate with her and love her eternally for. Anyway, a really quick summation: Archived is about dearly departed loved ones, their "essences" that are stored on shelves in libraries called...you guessed it, Archives after they do the actual departing... and the kick @$$ people who are learning to navigate the often times emotionally and mentally turbulent waters of Grief as well as acquiring and fine tuning the skills necessary to preserve said people/places and the Archives they occupy....holy run-on sentence...sorry about that all of you OCD grammar folks. Here is a sample:"It hasn’t even been a year since Ben died. A year of words no one can say because they call up images no one can bear. The silliest things shatter you. A T-shirt discovered behind the washing machine. A toy that rolled under a cabinet in the garage, forgotten until someone drops something and goes to fetch it, and suddenly they’re on the concrete floor sobbing into a dusty baseball mitt."I for one am constantly in a state of awe at how Mrs. Schwabs' mind works. Her mental gears must be pearlescent and Fabulous in order to create such a cornicopia of ideas. How does she repeatedly come up with such fantastical worlds and the characters to populate?- all of which are wrapped up in beautifully colored prose."you’re dying—not the fast, stone-drop way, there and then gone, but still. I can’t stop squinting at you, as if I might see the disease picking you clean, stealing you from me, bite by bite."This was a good book. Will I continue on with the series whilst juggling such a daunting TBR pile that is populated with the likes of Laini Taylor and Adam Silvera? Probably not...unless one of those itches arises that apparently only Mrs Schwab can reach.
    • 3/5
      3.5/5 stars

      I quite enjoyed this story, the concept is really cool and I liked how the world building was done. The Archive was super cool, and full of secrets and I just wanted to know more! Schwab definitely created a world that seemed possible and her descriptions were so good I could really picture what things looked like and the atmosphere of the Narrows and everything.

      Mac was a great character and POV, her grief was realistic and I definitely understand her need to just be around the ones she loves. I really enjoyed getting to know her and Wes and how their relationship developed. The main antagonist was interesting as well - and the whole mystery was intriguing as well. The character of Owen seemed so fishy right from the get go so I'm not surprised how that turned out.

      Overall, I quite enjoyed this book, not Schwab's best work, but still good. I find her YA not as well written as the Shades of Magic series - which is my fave, but still good none the less.
    • 3/5
      I feel as though I've been reading books/watching shows about librarians recently, and everyone of them had a different spin to it, and that alone is impressive.

      However, I think that if I haven't already read a "librarian tale" before this one, I might have been more impressed. While I LOVED the idea of the dead being kept in libraries where librarians can read their history, I was slightly disappointed that THAT part didn't play a super significant role. I was also a little disappointed that Mackenzie didn't figure out at least one part of the mystery earlier. She has years of experience as a Keeper, but she seemed so inexperienced when it came to certain things.

      There was a whiff of a love triangle, however it enhanced the story rather than take away from it.

      While I did enjoy the peeks into her training with her Grandfather, sometimes the flashbacks came at times that jarred be out of the present narrative.

      Overall, a lovely and quick read.
    • 3/5
      In my F2F book club, members tell each week what they are reading in addition to the assigned book. We are all fast readers, so the selection each week that comes to the conversation is excellent. I read this one based on a fellow reader's recommendation, and was not disappointed!

      I was afraid the book would get too complicated for me to enjoy. After all, the plot is dense with terms, periphery characters and lots of "dos" and don'ts". However, this was not the case. The author did a good job of moving the story along while sticking to a relatively narrow field of main players, consistent action and few plot twists. I found the story to be very engaging, and I liked the characters very much. The present narrative was supplemented with past memories to give a full picture of how the main character, Mackenzie, arrived at her role. This was a very effective tool and gave the story and characters depth.

      I was pleasantly surprised that this is the first in a series, and plan to read the next one, "The Unbound".

      Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      This was every bit as good as I thought it would be. Full of danger, secrets, and tragic life experiences that shape the characters. Librarians will love the idea of the afterlife being organized like an archive where "Histories" of people's past lives are stored. Imaginative and suspenseful, The Archived is fast-paced fantasy thrill ride.
    • 5/5
      Get ready for some incoherent fangirl babbling, because that’s what’s coming your way.This book. THIS. BOOK. This book is why I love reading. This book is why I read so many other books: because I am always searching for books like THIS BOOK. Oh. Em. Gee. I just can’t. . .Ok. So, The Archived is basically my perfect book. Its concept is both amazing and heartbreaking. The writing is flawless. The world building is mind-blowing. The characters are just. . . wow. There was action. There was paranormal stuff. There was even a love triangle. Kind of. Not really. Which is good, because I don’t really like those anyway.I don’t even know where to start. I want to tell you everything about this book and at the same time I want to tell you nothing at all, because you just need to read it and experience it for yourself. This is hard. I’m going to make a list.THINGS I LOVED ABOUT THE ARCHIVED1. The writing was so good. So. Good. Ms. Schwab’s writing is fabulous. Her descriptions were rich and allowed me to have a crystal clear picture of everything. Everything. And I was so engaged in the plot that I actually didn’t see some of the plot twists coming. Seriously. I was so engrossed in the here and now, that I didn’t even stop to consider ten pages from now. It was brilliant.2. The world building was amazing. The Archive. The Narrows. The Outer. The Coronado. Each place is practically a character in its own right. The different levels of the Archive: the Keepers, the Crew, and the Librarians, were well thought out and explained in such a way that it was almost like they were real. Like the Archive was something that actually existed. I almost believed it.3. Mackenzie. Mac. M. I loved this girl. She’s tough, yet vulnerable. She’s totally relatable. She’s totally kick-ass. And she does the hard thing even when there’s an easy way out. (Is that a spoiler? I don’t think that’s a spoiler. . .)4. Wesley “Guyliner” Ayers. He’s charming and loyal and. . . Just. Yes.5. The rest of the cast: Mac’s parents, her best friend Lyndsey, Roland, Da, Mr. Nix.6. The banter. Oh, the banter! :) 7. The feels. This book actually made my chest ache. Like, physically ache. There was a 2 ton elephant sitting on my chest as I read parts of this book. For real. And there was definitely crying. But there was also laughing, cursing, and swooning. My emotions ran the full gamut with this one.8. Too many other things to mention.I honestly can’t think of a single thing that I didn’t like about this book. Well, ok. Maybe Owen. The stuff with Owen just made me sad. . .until it made me mad. But that’s just good writing.I could go on and on about this book all day, and still not do it any justice. Did I mention how good it was? It. Was. So. Good. SO. GOOD. I mean, it was so good that my brain is too busy being exited about how good it was, to come up with any other adjective to describe it other than “good”. And there’s soooooo much more I could get into, would love to get into, but I won’t. Because you need to read this book and I don’t want to spoil it for you. So what are you waiting for? Go. Read. Thank me later :)
    • 4/5
      Boricuan Bookworms- Book Reviews

      "Imagine a file of your entire life, of every moment, evey experience. All of it. Now, instead of a folder or a book, imagine the data is kept in a body."
      [...] " [the body is] like a book cover?"
      "Yes, a cover tells you something about a book. A body tells you something about a History."
      This is a story well done! The Archived introduced us to a brand new concept: the dead resting on shelves like books. At first thought, this sounds horribly morbid, but Victoria Schwab develops this storyline so wonderfully!

      This book is narrated by Mackenzie, a 17 year old Keeper: she is tasked to keep the Histories in place. Whenever they wake up, Mac has to be there to make sure they go back to where they belong: the Archive. Mac is closed off, and independent. She has to constantly lie about what she does on her free time because no one can ever know that she's a Keeper. Things get worse as more and more Histories keep waking up, and Mac can barely do it on her own. Someone is messing with the Archive; waking up histories and altering events. Mac has to find out, before the Archive is crumbled, and everyone in it is lost.

      This book kept me on my toes the whole time! I didn't know who or what or even why all the chaos was happening, and I couldn't help but devour the pages until I finally did find out There were also many twists and turns that definitely helped the story move along.

      I also loved the characters. Each character was SO well developed and they were all really important to the story. I especially loved the parents! Mac's parents are not "in the way" of the actual story, but at the same time actually acted "parently" enough to be believable. I really enjoyed that. It's common in YA books to see dead or absentee parents and here that's not the case.

      Also...There is a romantic interest (well, two, but more on that later). The romantic interest in this book is Wesley Ayers. Wes at a first glance is intimidating. He's a typical goth boy, with black nails and the eyeliner to match. But once you get to know him...


      He's absolutely adorable. Sarcasm and wittiness and all.
      "Don't look at me like that with those big brown eyes."
      "They're not just brown," he says. "They're hazel. Can't you see the flecks of gold?" "Good god, how much time do you spend looking at yourself in the mirror each day?"
      "Not enough, Mac. Not enough"
      Anyways, there's also another love interest on the table, and he's also a bit swoony. But, any of you thinking this is going to be an annoying love triangle, you're wrong. This is handled appropriately and the romance never gets in the way. Mac never leads them both on. I really enjoyed it. (Thumbs up for the most realistic way to deal with a love triangle!)



      If there's something that I kind of wish were a bit more explained, is the concept of the Archive. I understood the basics of it, but I wanted to know more in depth about what it was and how it was funded and whatnot.

      Anyways, overall this book is a refreshing YA story that will suck you in with its wonderful writing, and keep you there until you've read the last of the twists and turns in the story.

      Rating: 4.5 stars
    • 4/5
      If you would have asked me yesterday, I would have told you that I had mixed emotions about this book. I had heard so many good things about this book that the first couple of chapters had me very, very nervous. I was having trouble getting into it. It starts off slow and takes a few chapters to pick up the pace and hold my attention.

      But let me tell you, once it perked up, it definitely got a little intense. The story had a 0 to 60 effect I had not expected an nothing could have prepared me for. There were several parts of the story where I felt a surge of adrenaline and my heart started racing. From the first time that happened, I finished the last 50% of this book in under 4 hours. I couldn't walk away. Chores were neglected, the husband was ignored and, migraine and all, I plowed through on my Kindle app until I could reach the very end.

      The world building was interesting and the story premise was absolutely unique. Let's face it, this book is a bibliophile's dream come true. A story where people are shelved in a Library like books, and there are placards mimicking the indicators for the Dewey Decimal System!!!!! How could I not be sucked in.

      Nothing could have prepared me for the adrenaline rush I was going to be met with in reading this book. I loved every minute of it and it was impossible to turn away. At this very moment, I am struggling with the intense need to pick up and read The Unbound, but there are so many other books that need my attention right now. It is going to be a struggle to stay the course, I can tell you that much with immense certainty.

      If you enjoy unique story lines and heart-stopping plot twists, then you have to pick up this book. Go and do it. Like right now. And after you do, come back here and tell me what you think. I am dying to hear from every one of you about this book, because it was just intense.
    • 4/5
      This was fun, quick, and right up my alley. A library of the dead? Yes, please!
    • 5/5
      Don’t hesitate to read this! If you like gothic fiction or mysteries featuring beautiful prose and a unique premise, snatch up a copy at your library or bookstore. I mean it—go, now!! This is a detailed and fascinating world and there’s a sequel. If you need a little romance in your YA, don’t worry—there’s some romance here as well. Also, you have to admit, the cover of this story is intriguing—a face, smoke, and a key. Even the endpapers of the hardback are gorgeous.

      I loved this book and can't wait to start the sequel.

    • 5/5
      Imagine a place where the dead reston shelves like books.Awesome right? I was overwhelmedby the whole concept of the story.It's unique. And every time Ithumb through the pages theevents are getting more and moreintense and thrilling. That didn'tstop me from gripping the book.The story led by a girl namedMackenzie Bishop. The characterfeatured a strong woman. A verycool character that never annoyedme by being too girly. And also thechemistry between Mac and Wesleywas good. I mean, it was not thatoveremphasized which was veryokay for me.And as you go on and on with thestrory and as the secrets wereunveiled. They were shocking,because you didn't even considerthose to happen. So there was a lotof guessing.If you like a paranormal y.a. bookwith new concepts and lessromance. This book suits you.
    • 4/5
      Interesting book. I can say that this was a new concept for me. It isn't often I say that about a book. It was unique and an interesting read.
    • 5/5
      This book had a well thought out and extremely interesting plot. I loved the mystery and the many twists and turns. The characters were so enjoyable to read about and the book was beautifully written!My Goodreads: fantasticalcatherine
    • 3/5
      A very interesting concept is presented in this novel, which is what attracted me to it in the first place. The idea that the dead are archived, their memories preserved, and librarians are able to read their histories (I'm a librarian, so yeah, I liked the concept!). It's still a fascinating concept, but by the end of this book, I had a lot of doubts about the Archive itself(What is the purpose of it anyway? What greater good is it serving? And isn't this organization behaving a little too much like a tyrannical government?)and the characters just didn't draw me in enough for me to want to plunge into a sequel. (Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind on this.)
    • 5/5
      This book was awesome. At first I was confused because I didn't realize that Mackenzie was a girl, but as soon as I got that all figured out, everything was settled. It was smooth sailing from there on. This book kept my interest the whole time, and was written in such a way that I couldn't stop reading it, couldn't put it down. I should have read this book a long time ago but I kept putting it off, Whatever. The second one is out now, I can read that soon! Mackenzie is something called a Keeper. There was no job information when she was being trained by her grandfather, her Da, Antony Bishop, ( He has many names ) She was accepted early, which doesn't happen very often, but her Da was going to pass away soon, and he needed someone to replace him. He chose Mackenzie. Being a keeper is no easy job, you're called at all hours to get these 'Histories', these copies of dead people back into the Library, the Archive. Because in this book, when you die there's a copy of you made and put in a shelf. Sometimes they escape and can 'slip', go crazy, and someone has to return them to their rightful place. Mackenzie is one of those people. Not the best job, you get covered in scars, but someone has to do it, right? The job is passed down through families, and no one but you and the other keeper can know. And of course, any other keeper you know. Which also doesn't really happen very often. Most keepers don't even meet another keeper outside of their family. This book was an amazing roller coaster ride, and I couldn't put it down for a minute. You should definitely check it out. Thanks for reading! I'll leave this link here. (;radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com
    • 3/5
      I cannot explain how excited I was for this book. I even pre-ordered it. The dead on shelves like books? I'm in! But then it sat on my shelf for 9 months before I finally decided to read it.I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Schwab's writing is very beautiful. I can step back and appreciate her writing. But, beautiful writing can also mean that I was on the verge of being bored a lot. Her writing reminds me of Jodi Meadows or Maggie Stiefvater. For some reason, beautiful writing = bored Stephanie, at least most of the time. The Archived managed to mingle along the line on 'almost bored with this book', but it never managed to cross it.The Archived was definitely something I wasn't expecting. Which was good and bad. I definitely didn't expect there to be such sad undertones to it. Because what isn't included in the summary is that Mackenzie's younger brother died a year ago (this isn't a spoiler, you find this out about 8 pages in). Her parents decide to move to start fresh and to open up a coffee house. So obviously, everyone is still grieving. It also doesn't help that Mackenzie knows her brother's History is in the Archived somewhere.The cool thing was that her parents moved into this old apartment building that used to be a hotel, which was renovated into apartment later. I really enjoyed reading about the old apartments and the history there. The Archive and the Narrows was also very interesting to learn about. I really enjoyed the setting, every place had a dark history behind it, or just a darkness to it in general.Another thing, this books kind of stressed me out. Mackenzie has a piece of paper that magically shows the names of the Histories that escaped into the Narrows and she needs to go return them to the Archive. Sometimes, Mackenzie would get a name on her list and ignore it, so all I was doing as I read was worrying about whether or not she would remember that those names are on her list. Am I the only one this happens to? Like when I character walks into a house, but there's no mention of them shutting the door, so I worry about that door being open. That's how I was about that Archive list! It stressed me out, thinking she was going to get in trouble for not clearing her list fast enough.So, overall I liked The Archived, though I was a bit underwhelmed by it all. I may or may not pick up the next book The Unbound just because I don't feel an urgency to read it.
    • 5/5
      I have read 19 books in January, and this is the first that is going on my Favorites shelf. And I have really enjoyed a lot of the books I've read this month.

      This was SO good. A great strong main character, who is not without flaws. Interesting and unique premise that I thought was explained well, in just enough bits to keep me reading, but not in infodumps that were boring.

      The secondary characters were also quite fascinating, and even though there is some love interest (and 2 boys), this was not a love triangle (thankfully). I was totally on board with how Mac was feeling about all of her relationships, and definitely have a new book crush in Wesley.

      The mystery was well done and I did NOT see the solution coming at all. In retrospect, there was one moment when I wondered...but I shook it off. Silly me.

      I'm trying to think if I have any quibbles to share, and I can't think of any. At all.

      I'd also like to say thank you to the author for making this a complete story without a big honking cliffhanger at the end. Is the door open for further stories? Absolutely. There was a lot left unresolved in terms of relationships, and maybe even the aftermath of what resulted from the mystery itself, but I am not left hanging -- I'm getting tired of that. It does appear that this is first in a series, and I will definitely read whatever comes next.

    • 5/5
      Probably one of the most unique plots I've read in quite a while! One of my favorite reads of the year so far.