THE ARCHIVED - Read-A-Long! discussion

Well.. What did you guys think of the book?

I just finished this book like 15 minutes ago and I'm still trying to get my emotions together. This was an excellent read and I absolutely loved the writing style! This was also a roller coaster of emotions; I went from being happy to sad to mad to confused to suspicious to in love. Ugh so good i cant even

SO GOOD UGHHHH MY EMOTIONS WHY YASSS

I'm not done yet but (SPOILERS) Ben just woke up and I'm trying so hard to stay calm buT I AM NOT CALM

So far I have loved this book. I was in such a reading slump because I have trouble finding the time during school and this just has been the perfect thing to get me out of it. I love the world that's been built and the characters and just everything about it, ugh.

Update: I just finished and it was everything I could've hoped for.

I finished this book and I'm like emotionally drained because it was perfect and the plot twist was so fantastic and I applaud you Victoria Schwab because this novel was amazing.

Finished rereading the book yesterday and ready to start reading The Unbound. Rereading The Archived I just loved it even more. Well written Victoria!

I loved Wes! And didn't trust Owen from the beginning. This book was full of excitement and I couldn't put it down. I wasn't planning on rushing through this one, I actually wanted to take my time and read a little bit everyday. It's safe to say that once I started, I couldn't stop and I finished the book within 24 hours. I just loved the ending! I feel like Owen was keeping me from really loving this book, so in the end when Mackenzie opened up to Wes, I was happy happy happy! I think I'm going to buy the physical copy when I get the chance (read the ePub) and buy the second one for sure! Any one hear anything about the third book? I want to know what happens with Mac and Wes!:)

Maria wrote: "I loved Wes! And didn't trust Owen from the beginning. This book was full of excitement and I couldn't put it down. I wasn't planning on rushing through this one, I actually wanted to take my time ..."

I know! I was also stoked when Mackenzie finally opened up to Wesley. It felt like a weight off of my shoulders. ahah

Very rarely do I ever love the ending to a book, I always feel too rushed or unsatisfyed, but The Archived finished beautifully! I was so worried Mackenzie wouldn't tell Wes what happened, but when she did I was so happy and thought that was a great test to her character. I'm so happy I bought The Unbound when I bought this and I'm looking forward to more of this world. I'm just so overjoyed at how wonderful this book was!

I'm with you guys. The ending was absolute perfection, the resolution was so satisfying and the plot turned out to be so intricate and so well-designed that I'm at a loss for words (well, no, I just wrote a rave; but figuratively speaking). I want to kiss Jesse for raving about it so much that it made me want to pick it up in the first place. Is that weird? It's not weird. It's our very own booklover gratitude for an amazing recommendation.

Now amazing was that climax? (view spoiler)[We even got a firsthand glimpse as to what happens inside of the Returns! (hide spoiler)] Absolutely every question I had was answered. And the mystery portion of it really came through. We weren't all paranoid and suspicious for nothing. We were right to be! (view spoiler)[Granted, I ended up thinking that if Owen was involved, he was being manipulated by a Librarian into doing his bidding, and not the other way around. (hide spoiler)]

The hints of romance in the book were perfection, too. It wasn't overdone, nor did it become a key focus of the story. In fact, it was necessary to the plot, as was Mackenzie's state of mind throughout the whole book. Her melancholy, her need to escape... it all tied in together so well.

I'm ramble-raving again. I can't seem to help it. It was that satisfactory for me, every bit of it. I love how it gradually picked up and slowly built up the tension until it escalated to that final point when everything just exploded and all these revelations came tumbling out of the pages. (view spoiler)[ The bit about the librarians being dead? It was one of those times I actually said "Whoa", out loud, to myself. (hide spoiler)]

I'm off to find the sequel and stalk every single other thing that Victoria Schwab has written or has plans to write in the future. I'm a fan. :)

I guessed on a lot of things but was still very surprised. I am definitely in love with Victoria's writing, her characters, and her story-telling. She is definitely a kick-ass author.

I will be buying this one and The Unbound, also her other novels, The Near Witch and Vicious. Thanks for the read-a-long, it gave me the push I needed to read this :)!

Does anyone know where I would get the best deal on this book? I totally want to support Victoria Shwab, but since I'm living off of my student loan I can't spend all of my money on books (unfortunately)let me know:)

Maria, are you looking for an ebook or a physical book to purchase? I, too, am living off of my student loans, so I feel your pain. :) The paperback costs around the same everywhere, except thebookdepository offers free shipping, so that's handy, especially if you're outside of the US. If you have Amazon Prime and you're in the US, that might just be your safest bet.

And Lisi__d, you're not the only one who suspected Roland. ;) He wasn't my prime suspect, but he was up there the entire time.

Lexie wrote: "Maria, are you looking for an ebook or a physical book to purchase? I, too, am living off of my student loans, so I feel your pain. :) The paperback costs around the same everywhere, except thebook..."

The physical copy! Thanks:)

When I started reading this, I wasn't sure what to think. I had heard all good things, so I thought I would be let down. But WOW! I loved this book! I started reading and never wanted to put the book down.
*SPOILERS FROM HERE ON*

I was a bit suspicious about Owen when I found out he was a history, but then I was like 'he seems ok for now' so I thought he was fine. When I found out he remembered stuff I was like "Oh I really hate this guy" And when she got the last piece I immediately thought it connected into a key! I was like "DON'T GIVE IT TO HIM!" But of course he got it. Then, I wasn't sure if it was going to wrap everything up because there was so much like Owen and his sister, who was altering the histories, why there were more histories getting out, etc. But it did and I was so happy about it! I like that we learned more about the librarians (I totally wasn't expecting them to be dead!) I loved Wes and I like that she told him what happened because I was so sure she wouldn't like before. When she did I was so glad because they shouldn't keep secrets from each other since they have to lie to everyone else. I loved Roland, too, and I was a bit suspicious of him because she was telling him almost everything and the librarian seemed to know what they were talking about. Then he came through at the end. I also liked that he was the highest up, even though you wouldn't suspect it from his looks. I just really enjoyed this book and I thought it was fantastic and it is probably one of my top 10. I'm so glad this group pushed me into reading it because if not then I probably wouldn't have read it for a long time. Now whenever I talk to anyone who reads I'm recommending this book! You really can't fit everything into a review so I will stop. Sorry I'm rambling, I just loved this book so much!

Lisi__d wrote: "Brilliant book. Am I the only one who thought Roland was the one who altered the Histories? I can't wait to read "The Unbound" :)"

For a moment I thought that too, but I'm quite happy he was not

I finished this book yesterday! Wow!! All I can say is I'm ready for The Unbound! This book did not disappoint! I loved the characters, and all of the writing was beautiful.

I found this book very enjoyable and well written. This book has taught me that i am not so good a judge of character because i totally fell for the bad guy.

Yes, Ashley, I was reading your thoughts on Owen yesterday and lamenting that they'd have to be so drastically altered before the book was over. But there was no way of warning you without spoiling it all, sadly. :)

I'll be honest I didn't like the beginning of the book. But I really loved the ending and wasn't able to put it down. I loved Wes and Owen. However it wasn't a surprise he was a keeper. I liked the mystery and suspense throughout the book. I think the reason I didn't like the beginning was because I was super confused on the world building and who Da was.

I knew that (view spoiler)[things were gonna go wrong when Owen and Mac kissed wtfwtfwtwtfwfwtsdfgsdfhg (hide spoiler)] but anyhoo, I'm at chapter 29 now and I'm just really. Floored.
First I was like holy crap, Owen's a History. And then I was like holy crap because Owen kissed Mac. I already knew something was going to be up but my suspicions heightened (??) when the details of the iron things that the little notes were found in. And then I knew that they must form some sort of key to somewhere. Everything was confirmed when well, shit went down.

This was such an experience I was so glad I wasn't deterred by the reviews that went "I didn't get into it till I was 50% in" because I was totally pulled into the story from page 1. This was just great and I liked how things were slowly revealed to us. (Eg how Da is Mac's grandfather, etc,)

2 thumbs up!!

Lexie wrote: "Yes, Ashley, I was reading your thoughts on Owen yesterday and lamenting that they'd have to be so drastically altered before the book was over. But there was no way of warning you without spoiling..."

i fell so hard for him..lol

Ashley wrote: "Lexie wrote: "Yes, Ashley, I was reading your thoughts on Owen yesterday and lamenting that they'd have to be so drastically altered before the book was over. But there was no way of warning you wi..."

Yeah in one of my earlier comments I actually said I wished that Owen, Regina, and Ben could just all be magically alive again, but now I think I'll just say I wish Ben was alive again and Regina. She didn't do anything. She just had a crazy brother. I thought Owen may be on the bad side but I thought he was more being used than being THE bad guy because of what he didn't know/remember. I can't believe I never considered he could be lying. I'm usually so good with guessing the bad guy...

Crissie wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Lexie wrote: "Yes, Ashley, I was reading your thoughts on Owen yesterday and lamenting that they'd have to be so drastically altered before the book was over. But there was no way of..."

I think i believed him because i wanted Mac to have someone, to not be alone and he was perfect because he also knew the pain of losing a sibling. He also helped her out with that history when they first met. I am also pretty good at guessing the bad guy and being wrong made me enjoy this book so much more. I was surprised i thought that Roland was up to something shady.

Ashley wrote: "Crissie wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Lexie wrote: "Yes, Ashley, I was reading your thoughts on Owen yesterday and lamenting that they'd have to be so drastically altered before the book was over. But the..."

I know what you mean. Books don't usually surprise me so when one does I usually love the book like in this case. I thought Wes was up to no good, but I'm glad I was wrong. =)

I just finished it last night. (Stayed up until 2 am, sorry not sorry) I really loved Victoria's writing style! And I also really liked Wes and I hope they get together in Unbound! Owen really surprised me. But I knew about Carmen, she was too nice and perfect I guess. But the sad part is that I actually liked Owen until the end.

Just finished about 5 minutes ago.. WOW.

I honestly didn't expect Owen and Carmen to be the bad guys! I thought there was something a little off about Owen, but not to this extreme. And Carmen.. I defintely didn't see that one coming.

I'm so happy with the ending - I absolutely love Wes! I need to order The Unbound ASAP!

Yep, I knew not to trust Carmen. Though I wasn't expecting such a twist for Owen. I thought he was innocent but it appears that he wasn't so. The ending was marvelous. The story picked up in such a storm that by the end, I had to just sit there and think "what?". I loved, loved the idea of Mackenzie and Wes. Perfect, in my opinion. I think reading this book has inspired me to pick up the sequel. I really want to immerse myself in the world of Histories again. The writing was very very good. It was very eloquent and precise, as well as descriptive. I truly liked this book :)

Owen was such a twist! I totally thought it was going to be Roland until like a page before it happened. Though I did feel smug that I figured out Owen was building a key when she gave him the second piece (how that didn't tip me off, I'll never know).

Did anyone else think this book had a nice melancholy undertone? I think it really gave the book the tone of Mac's mindset. And the ending too! It felt a little abrupt to me but still lovely (/glad I bought The Unbound too).

I haven't finished YET I am on chapter 26... but I haven't liked these last few chapters as much as the rest of the book... Mackenzie is starting to annoy me. I just want to yell at her "PLEASE GO AND TELL SOMEBODY WHAT IS HAPPENING SO YOU DONT END UP DOING SOMETHING CRAZY"

But I have a feeling there is a very good reason behind her secrecy, and I just don't know what it is yet haha. I GUESS THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT!

NOPE. THIS LOVE TRIANGLE, REALLY NOT DOING IT FOR ME.

I just finished this book and I'm trying to get my emotions together. I didn't trust Owen from the beginning but SERIOUSLY OWEN WHY DID YA HAVE TO DO THAY?!? I love Wes though! I cannot wait to get my hands on The Unbound!!!!!!!

Woah. This book was perrfectio. I NEED "The Unbound".

I just finished this book 5 minutes ago and I absolutely loved it. The writing and pacing was amazing. I can't wait to read "The Unbound"! Definitely didn't expect Owen to be the bad guy though. An overall great book. :)

I ended up really liking this book. The beginning was a little slow for me but it picked up pretty quickly. For some reason though it was kind of a depressing read. I think it was the whole thing with the little brother. Usually I love sad books but the author wrote so well that it really got to me. Definitely a great read though.

Not finished with the book but I JUST GOT HANS-ED BY OWEN AND NO PART OF THIS IS OKAY.

@Anna OMG I called it being Hans-ed too! However I didn't trust Owen for a second

Ashley wrote: "@Anna OMG I called it being Hans-ed too! However I didn't trust Owen for a second"
I trusted him in the beginning but once they actually started hooking up it started to feel off to me. I didn't think he was like the evil mastermind or anything, I just thought their relationship sucked.
I also figured that the evil mastermind was Carmen so I didn't think of Owen as well. For some reason it didn't occur to me they would both be the evil masterminds. -o-

•Wes and Mac! I loved them together. I also loved how it never became romantic, but you could see how much they love each other without all of the kissing. I loved their teamwork when fighting the histories. I actually thought Wes had died when he was stabbed. the flashback sections about Da dying made me think it was foreshadowing Wes’s death. Luckily it didn’t.

For more of my thoughts on chapters 21-End on my blog http://unicornmeatbooks.wordpress.com...

Sooo just finished this book! Honestly, it started out a little slow for me, I wasn't sure how I felt but once it picked up, man did it draw me in!
I loved the mystery and how everything came together beautifully at the end. Although, for some reason I wasn't all too surprised by what happened. I was always wary of Owen, I mean he's a history that didn't slip so there was obviously something going on with him and I never trusted him. And once Carmen opened ben's drawer I felt like there was something off about her. I was surprised that Owen was constructing a key! Like whoa so cray... But yeah again I loved how everything came together.
Oh and I freakin love Wes :) he was wonderful from the start, he was always my favorite I think followed closely by Roland.
All and all I really enjoyed reading this book! I'm so glad I read it and I really cannot wait to read the second one!!! Yay :))

Ohhh man, I just finished reading and I am surprised by the satisfaction I got from the ending. I was worried about how it would all wrap up but I feel really happy with it all.
At first when Wes seemed to forget what happened I was worried they had erased his memories, but I loved how Mac had a choice and decided to open up to him. :)

I loved this book way beyond my expectations and I want to pick up the sequel as soon as possible - I can feel myself missing the characters already, hah.

oh god this book became addicting. I loved the world and how believable the characters feelings and actions were. This writer is quickly becoming my favorite. Can't wait to get my hands on a sequel.

Just finished it! I had a lot of fun! It was original and really suspenseful. Though I completely saw it coming that Owen was bad, and it annoyed the crap out of me when Mac kissed him. Like, He. Is. Bad. Are you blind?! Other than that slight issue, this was just great. I loved the writing, and the story, aND WES!!
I'm so excited to read The Unbound. I have so many questions unanswered
Like: Why was Owen's sister killed in the first place? And was Ben's death really an accident cause I THINK NOT!
Also I really enjoyed the parts about her writing or talking to Da, that was interesting.
Now enough talking, I must buy the next book *flies dramatically towards bookstore*

Ordered THe Unbound! My gosh, can we talk about how GORGEOUS these covers are!?

I cried. GUH. I know a book is good when I cry when I'm, like, 95% done. Like, when Lyndsy came and she was like "Is that guyliner?" and I was just like STOPPPPPPPPP I'M DONE. I CAN'T. *TEARS*

Basically this book was amazing and is now one of my favorites.

Wow!!! I have no words to say. It's too good. Let me repeat, "IT'S SOOOOO GOOOOOOD"!!! What am I going to do once I have finish reading "The Unbound"? Tell me! Tell meeeeee...

Oh yes, I don't know about you guys, it was sooo gut wrenching when Agatha appears. Even though the way she replies and presents herself (it's like she's in her "zen") but I have this certain degree of intimidation that builds up in me towards her through out that scene.

Thanks for the read-a-long! Cheers!

Was done really well, Wesley is probably my favorite character; I love the emotions, they were very realistic.

i read through this so quickly... I liked Owen so much I didn't even see him being a bad guy till it was to late. Such a great and emotional read. I just lost my grandma a few months back so her thoughts and feelings she dealt with, with he grandpa and brother tied to mine a lot. I cant wait to read unbound now

I am in love with Wes. I always thought of Owen as an annoying character that was just getting in the way of my OTP. I was yelling at Mac every single time she let him kiss her. I loved the book and must read The Unbound.

Raquel wrote: "i read through this so quickly... I liked Owen so much I didn't even see him being a bad guy till it was to late. Such a great and emotional read. I just lost my grandma a few months back so her th..."

I'm sorry for your loss, I lost my grandma a few years ago and it was pretty tough as well. And I liked Owen, but he always gave me the vibe that he wasn't all that good.. :P

Is it just me who has a bad feeling about Agatha? I've read a lot of books where the one who is superior is evil so I always suspect. I don't want to read the synopsis for the next one because I would rather just jump into it without knowing. Also is this a duology or will there be more?