Victoria "V.E." Schwab (www.veschwab.com) is the #1 New York Times, USA, and Indie bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including Vicious, the Shades of Magic series, and the Monsters of Verity series. Her work has received critical acclaim, been featured by Entertainment Weekly and the New York Times, translated into more than a dozen languages, and optioned for TV and Film. The Independent calls her the "natural successor to Diana Wynne Jones" and touts her "enviable, almost Gaimanesque ability to switch between styles, genres, and tones."
A refreshingly angel-free departure in afterlife fiction, this
gripping supernatural thriller features nuanced characters
navigating a complex moral universe. After her brother's death,
Mackenzie's parents seek a fresh start, moving into an apartment in
the Coronado, a former hotel, to start a new coffee shop. Mac's
good at keeping secrets: her grief, the psychic gifts she inherited
from Da, her training and four years as a Keeper most of all.
Keepers are tasked with keeping Histories-the recorded lives of
human beings-from leaving the mysterious Archive, where they're
filed and stored after death. Tended by Librarians, most Histories
sleep, but a few awaken and panic, a process called "slipping," and
escape into the Narrows, the passage separating the Archive and the
living world. Returning violent Histories to the Archive, always
dangerous, has gotten harder. The Librarians' vague
explanation-"technical difficulties"-doesn't satisfy Mac. The
mysteries extend beyond the Archive; records of former Coronado
residents are missing in both worlds. Seeking answers, Mac forms an
unsettling alliance with the guyliner-wearing boy who haunts the
Coronado, but the handsome boy who saves her from a murderous
History in the Narrows haunts her dreams. Suspense builds to the
riveting climax, though discerning readers will spot loose threads
when the dust clears. Never mind-that's what sequels are for.
(Paranormal thriller. 12 & up) Kirkus"
Gr 9 Up Mackenzie was just 11 when her Da passed along the heavy
responsibility of being a "Keeper": one in charge of returning
Histories to the Archive. A History is a sort of ghost, but more
like a copy of a dead person's life. Librarians keep every History
on a shelf, in a complex and rigid order. But every once in a while
one slips (becomes restless and crazed) and escapes the orderly
Archive into the chaos of the Narrows a lightless series of
corridors filled with doors. A Keeper's role is to return the
Histories to the Archive lest they escape into the real world. When
her family moves to an old hotel turned apartment building called
the Coronado after the tragic death of her beloved little brother,
Mac's workload of wandering Histories begins increasing
exponentially. Plus, she meets a strange-looking Goth guy named Wes
who shocks her by confessing that he, too, is a Keeper, and she
begins to bond with him. Soon the ordered quiet of the Archive is
booming with the noise of escaped Histories, and there appears to
be a saboteur. Mac uncovers a dark secret held in the walls of the
Coronado. Something terrible happened there and great lengths have
been taken to cover it up. Stranger still is Owen, whom Mac
encounters in the Narrows, a History who is not on her list and
somehow has not yet slipped. Schwab skillfully manages that rare
accomplishment: a spine-tingling, supernatural, ghostly mystery
that is fully believable. A writer to watch for sure sequel please!
Tara Kehoe, Plainsboro Public Library, NJ SLJ"
In this atmospheric thriller, the afterlife is like a library,
where the Histories of the dead are stored as bodies in drawers and
maintained by a network of Librarians. Sixteen-year-old Mackenzie
is a Keeper, charged with tracking Histories who have awoken,
returning them before they escape into the outer world. Her new
territory is the Coronado, an old hotel turned apartment building,
full of secrets and shadows. When something disrupts the Archive
and the dead wake in ever-growing numbers, Mac teams up with the
roguish Wesley to fix things, but she may not be up for the job,
haunted by the death of her brother and distracted by the charms of
the mysterious Owen. From the unusual premise to the dark,
evocative narration, Schwab's (The Near Witch) novel skillfully
blends fantasy and mystery, bringing the Coronado to life and
making the setting as vital as the characters. While the setup is a
little convoluted, there's a musty, yearning charm to this story.
Ages 12 up. PW"
Mackenzie is a "Keeper"; her job is to return the wakeful dead (or
"Histories") to the Archive, a repository of all human memory.
Persuading the dead to return to their rightful resting place often
involves kick-ass combat, but never so much as when Mac's family
moves to an apartment in an old hotel. Suddenly, the Archive
experiences a rush of escaped Histories, and it's no longer the
silent domain it should be-nor is Mac, grieving the loss of her
younger brother, as dispassionate as she once was about the dead.
This is no common policing-the-supernatural romantic thriller:
Schwab's image of the Archive and its Librarians is both poignant
and intellectually piquant, a suggestion that the repository of
human memory goes beyond personal loss and is central to human
culture. She writes of death, sorrow, and family love with a light,
intelligent touch and inventive vigor, and provides romance with a
pleasing edge of unpredictability. It isn't often that lines from
Dante's Inferno make their way into supernatural thrillers for
teens, but they do here-and to good effect. deirdre f. baker Horn
Book"
Sixteen-year-old Mackenzie Bishop is a Keeper; she works with the
Archive, where Histories (the bodies of the dead) are filed away in
a huge library. Periodically, a History will wake and try to get
back to the Outer (our world) through the Narrows, a maze of
hallways with doors that lead into both the Outer and the Archives'
Returns. Keepers are charged with preventing them from reaching our
world and sending them back to their sleep. The Archives are ruled
by Librarians, who maintain order by sending Keepers to dispatch
escaped Histories. Mac is torn between Wesley, a fellow Keeper, and
Owen, a mysterious History who seems to understand her better than
anyone. The nonlinear exposition includes the unexpected death of
Mac's little brother, Ben, and her beloved grandfather championing
her training as a Keeper. Schwab gently but determinedly examines
the impact of grief on a family, as Mac and her parents struggle to
accept the death of a child. It's an intriguing view of the
afterlife, and the thoughtful exploration of death and our
reactions to it will draw readers and promote discussion. - Debbie
Carton Booklist"
3Q 4P J The Archived takes a look at what happens to the spirits of
those who have died and where they reside once they have left the
living world. The Archives contain the stories and memories of
those people, as well as their bodies, and are managed by
Librarians, Keepers, and Crew, who each have their own job within
the Archives. Sixteen-year-old Mackenzie Bishop, who is a Keeper,
was introduced to the world of the Archives by her now-deceased
grandfather, Da, at the age of twelve. Mackenzie's family is
struggling with the death of both her younger brother, Ben, killed
by a hit-and-run driver, and her grandfather. After moving into an
older apartment building with her parents, Mackenzie hunts down
those spirits who have "slipped," or awoken, becoming confused and
sometimes violent. Armed with a key that opens doors to get the
Histories back into their rightful resting places, she is provided
names of spirits that must be caught in order to keep the Archives
at peace. After meeting a fellow Keeper, Wesley, within the
apartment building, they encounter Histories that have direct ties
with the apartment that she and her family live in, and whose
stories are being altered by someone, threatening to destroy the
entire Archives. Mackenzie sets out to right what is disrupted,
only to discover twists and turns of "what seems to be" along the
way.-Beth H. Green VOYA"
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