What if your whole life lead to your calling that revolved around death?

This book is a must read if you like: Magical realism, ghost stories, coming of age YA, Unique magic structures.

About the Book:

Title: The Archived
Genre(s): Magical Realism
Author: V. E. Schwab
Published by: Hyperion Book HP
Format Read: AudioBook
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library or streaming service
Stand alone or series Number: It is Book One of a series.

Snapshot: what do you need to know before you pick up the book.

Profanity: None
Intimacy: Light, Some Teen romance and kissing.
Violence: Moderate, Some hand to hand Combat and guns/weapons. No graphic descriptions.
Themes: Light, Friendship, grief, death, finding your place in the world.

My Thoughts

This book sucked me in. It has such a unique premise that I’ve never Seen before. It takes The concept of “helping spirits move on” and puts a total new spin on it… That involves an archive/Library.

This book is such a fun read. It has so many things that draw me in.

I love a new concept I’ve Never seen before. It is very rare today and this concept is new.

Not to harp on this, but I love the concept of archiving souls.
I really love the relationships of the characters. They are so complex and engaging.

I enjoyed the narrator. They added to the reading experience.

I really enjoyed this fun read. It also deals with the complex concept of grief in a deep but engaging way.

Publisher’s Description

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 dangerousit’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 might 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 hardwon redemption. Advance praise for THE ARCHIVED: “This gripping supernatural thriller features nuanced characters navigating a complex moral universe.” Kirkus Reviews

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