The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Archived #1

Book Summary via Goodreads:

       "The dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell, a life in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead, called 'Histories', rest in 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 tool for staying alive.

       Being a Keeper is dangerous and a constant reminder of those she lost, Da and her little brother. Mac wonders about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. Yet someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall."

I have mixed feelings about this book. It had enough mystery for me to want to finish it, just so that I would know what happens. But the path of getting there, for me at least, was a little dull and in the end pretty predictable.

Mackenzie made some pretty dumb decisions. Honestly, ones that were very apparent were bad ideas, even she knows they are bad ideas. The person responsible is literally looking her in the face and she's all "No, it's fine. One more day, even though the things he's telling me are so oddly specific that it should raise a red flag in my brain".

Wesley was my favorite character. I liked him more than the protag. He was funny and witty. He was the likable character, not Mac.

I guess I must have read enough mysteries in my life (I read a lot of Nancy Drew as a kid) that I am aware of clues faster than I was meant to or something. The idea of this book was really interesting and different from anything I have read. I just figured out who the bad guy was pretty quickly. It was pretty obvious to me.

I did like this book, it's not a bad book, it was well written and had interesting characters. I would recommend this to others, but I'm not sure if I'll be reading the sequel.