Elizziebooks

Originally posted here: http://wonderly.com/the-archived-by-victoria-schwab-review/ELIZZIENOTES:Gargoyles!Archive = where they store people's HistoriesNarrow = buffer between Archive and Outer (where we live)REVIEW:With each new book Victoria Schwab blows me away. It's her second novel, and it's the best yet. I don't know how to describe her writing very well other than to say it makes me yearn for more. More of this really good writing. The kind that is full of emotion and and and... Gahh! It just makes me smile a lot. She writes books that leave me truly satisfied as a reader.MacKenzie's brother had recently passed away and coincidentally a few days after I read this book, my own grandpa passed away. Of course I thought to myself, "If I could wake him up and talk to his History, would I?" It's a scary thought and it's something Mac deals with throughout the book. I just felt a big connection with MacKenzie during and even as I go through my own grieving process. While she's picking through her brother's stuff and looking for any possible memory... All of it. So basically, MacKenzie is grieving and she's living in a new home where she meets a new friend and comes across all sorts of crazy. Especially with the histories that beg her to let them see the outside world. She shows her vulnerability, but when tension is at its highest, we see her stand her ground and find the truth. I think Victoria Schwab did a great job at having two living and breathing parents that live in close quarters with Mac. I feel like in YA, the parents get killed off or are so faceless. I'm sure it's for good reason, but I always like to applaud authors who have the parents involved in the story, even if they aren't in on the action. And Mac is a smart gal who knows how to sneak around, but knows how to respect and help her parents as they're setting up the coffee shop/bakery doo-dad in the apartment building lobby.The Archived is a book that will be near and dear to me for years to come. Also, that one History, the one she let stay in the Narrows, FREAKED ME OUT. Even when she was hanging out with him, I was all "AHHH I CAN'T HANDLE THIS."