The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Series: The Archived #1
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: January 22nd 2013
Source: Bought

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.

Ok, so I'm going to put my hands up and say that when I first started reading this I really didn't think I was going to enjoy it. The first few chapters weren't very interesting and I could feel myself getting slightly bored. But then I was suddenly completely hooked! I honestly don't know what changed my mind about this book so quickly, but I'm so glad that I started to enjoy it because this was such a fantastic book!

The Archived follows our main character Mackenzie Bishop who is a Keeper. A Keeper is someone who works for the Archive - which is a place where Histories are stored. Histories are a record of a persons life that is stores within their bodies. Sometimes a History wakes up and escapes. The History becomes agitated and violent and it's a Keepers job to return the History. Mac became a Keeper when Da died and she's the youngest keeper they've ever had (she started at 12). Mac has to lie to her family about where she goes because they're not allowed to find out about the Archive. Mac's family is dealing with the loss of her brother Ben and they've been constantly moving ever since his death. Mac and her family move into an old hotel and Mac is the head Keeper of the hotel. She soon discovers that there's something major going on in the Archive. Someone is deliberately waking and altering Histories and Mac is also trying to discover what happened to the girl who was killed in her new home. Mac must try to figure out what's going on or it could be the end for the Archive.

I absolutely adored Mac. She was putting on a brave face for her mother and her father but she still isn't over Ben's death. Her mother and her father may be trying to forget it, but Mac can't. Mac is actually a lot stronger than she comes across. She manages to pretend to be alright (which requires a lot of strength) and her determination to uncover what the hell is going on required a lot of strength as well because she put herself in a lot of danger by investigating the Histories and the hotel. Being a Keeper requires brains and bravery, and Mac has both of them. Seeing the different ways she deals with different Histories was intriguing and she knew how to approach each age group (minus the older ones because they were extremely violent and required a lot of physical force to take them down). I just really liked Mac.

Wesley Aires was a very welcome addition to this book. He was mysterious, charming and just absolutely hilarious. He just gave off the friendly, easy going vibe and I instantly loved him. I knew he was going to be good for Mac and I was right. Every time he appeared in the book I found myself smiling. He just made everything easy and lighthearted. I really loved learning about Wes and finding out about him. He was just such an intriguing and charming character. I love Wes.

The romance in this book was sweet and weird. The sweet part is about Wes and Mac. I thought they were so adorable together and Wes clearly cares a lot for Mac. Mac is still working through her own issues so she doesn't know how she feels about Wes. But, I just thought they were so perfect together and I need them to get together! The weird part is about Owen and Mac. I was wary of Owen right from the start because he was an escaped History but he wasn't on Mac's list. That instantly made me suspicious, but he seemed like such a nice and genuine guy. Mac and Owen's relationship was a weird one. Owen is technically dead and Mac isn't... so yeah, it was weird. 

I can honestly say that I never saw any of those twists at the end coming. I was completely in shock and ended up powering through the last quarter of the book super fast because I was so desperate to see what was going to happen! My jaw actually dropped more than once at the end of this book. It was such a fast paced, thrilling, action packed ending and I loved every second of it. There was a part at the end that almost had me in tears because it was so unexpected and shocking. This book provoked so many emotions in me at the end.

Overall, despite not being that interested in it to begin with, I ended up loving this book. The exciting, mysterious and thrilling story line completely hooked me in and I ended up flying through this book. The fast paced, action packed ending definitely made up for the sightly boring beginning. The Archived is a book I definitely recommend to everyone. Seriously, if you haven't read it yet, I definitely recommend that you do.