Review: The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Archived by Victoria Schwab
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me forever to read this book. And now that I've read it, I'm glad I waited because it allowed my excitement to die a little, which in turn lowered my expectations a bit. Otherwise... yeah.

I loved the world building. The symbiotic relationship between the Archive, the Narrows and the Other was fantastic. Each is its own thing while depending on the other two to exist. The atmosphere is gloomy, cold, dark, sometimes claustrophobic and just PERFECT.

The plot was a slow build. If it wasn't for my love of the author's writing I would have given up on it or maybe taken much longer than a few days to read it. By the end I realized the slow build was intentional and very much a strong part of the plot twist. Yes, that plot twist had me going "holy molly!" because I so didn't see it coming. By then, every fact that was fed to me prior made so much sense and it left me mind blown.

Wesley remained a little enigmatic till the end. If I read The Unbound it will be with the hope of getting to know him further. Mackenzie was ok. What I loved most about her was her stubbornness without which not much would have happened anyways. Talking about the other characters can not be done without spoilers. Ha. I think just saying this is spoiler enough.

This is a very unique book. I admire the author so much for writing it.