The Archived
Author: Victoria Schwab
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Hyperion
Published: January 22nd, 2013
Pages: 327
My Rating: ★★
Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. 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. 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 that 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 may crumble and fall. In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.
A young girl helps ghosts cross over back in peace.
First of all, reading anything fantasy is out of my comfort zone because I usually do not read that genre that often or like it very much. However, Schwab has easily become one of my favorite authors, especially in the fantasy genre and she has written some of the only fantasy books that I actually like. She does a great way of developing characters that you can't help but like. 

Unfortunately, this was my first Schwab novel that I did not rate at least four stars and didn't really enjoy it. I mean, it's rare you find authors where you like everything that they have published. I was so disappointed with this book. I wanted to like it so bad but honestly, I was just bored while reading it. I couldn't get into it no matter how much I tried. I am honestly surprised that I even ended up finishing it. 

The first half of The Archive was way more enjoyable to me and I found the last half of the book to drag on tremendously where I just did not care in the slightest. The premise of the book was extremely cool and that is why the novel initially intrigued me in the first place. However, the plot and characters just did not deliver. It makes sense that this is one of Victoria's first books because clearly her other books I have read so far I have liked and she grew as a writer after this book. I overall just feel ugh about this book. I didn't hate it but I didn't really like it either.
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Victoria is the product of a British mother, a Beverly Hills father, and a southern upbringing. Because of this, she has been known to say "tom-ah-toes," "like," and "y'all."

She also tells stories. She loves fairy tales, and folklore, and stories that make her wonder if the world is really as it seems.