Book Review: "The Archived" by Victoria Schwab

Mackenzie Bishop is a Keeper, like her Da before her – but she can’t tell anyone.  She’s one of the youngest Keepers ever and now at age 16, she’s already been doing this for four years.  What is a Keeper?  A Keeper is part of the Archive and is charged with chasing down Histories that wake up and return them to the Archive before they reach the Outer (the world as we know it).  It is a dangerous job, but Mac is well trained.  Or at least she thinks she is….  Her family, still grieving the sudden death of Mac’s little brother, has just moved into an old apartment building for a fresh start.  The building seems well connected to the Archive, but also much much busier.  Is someone waking up these Histories on purpose?  Why?  The building is full of mysteries too…  and Mackenzie needs to figure it out before its too late.

I read this at the suggestion of a friend, who knows that I’m working on my “appreciation of fantasy YA” as I’ve started to think about it.  She thought I might like it because of the whole library aspect… which I admit, is kind of cool.  But it took me quite a while – like almost a third of the book – to really figure out what was going on.  There just seemed to be so many different angles going on, and I just could stay focused long enough to really get it.  I even went an entire weekend without picking it up – electing instead to watch terrible movies.  I gave it one last chance, and thankfully I did because that is where everything finally clicked for me and I actually became pretty involved in the story – enough to become curious about the sequel Unbound.  I’m not racing out to read it or anything…  but I am curious and that says a lot considering what I was thinking when I started this book!

Who would like this book?  I would hand this to those who like fantasy, strong female characters, a little bit of romance, and mystery/suspense.  This probably isn’t great for a reluctant reader who probably wouldn’t fight through the first third to get to where it really gets exciting.

*****
The Archived
by Victoria Schwab
Hyperion, 2013
321 pages
Series:  The Archived #1
Source:  Purchased New
*****

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