The Friday 56 (19)

     The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

"Requirement ruins even the best of books."--The Unbound by Victoria Schwab 


I know its two weeks in a row that I picked a quote from a page that's not 56, but I liked this one so much that I had to share it.  What's on your page 56 this week?

Review: The Unbound by Victoria Schwab

Title:The Unbound
Author: Victoria Schwab
Source/Format: Purchased, Hardcover
Age Range: YA
Publisher/Publication Date: Hyperion, January 28, 2014

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I don’t know if I have the words to sum up how much I loved The Unbound—I really don’t think I do. This book was amazing, and I didn't think it was possible to like it more than the first book—but I did. It’s been some time since I read The Archived by Victoria Schwab, so when I was in the bookstore and saw the hardback of The Unbound I decided to get it. I have no regrets.

All of my favorite characters from The Archived were back and dealing with the fallout from the last book. Mackenzie Bishop was more broken than not—her reactions were realistic given what she went through. I liked the fact that she wasn’t just ok about everything. I loved Mackenzie and her family I really got their relationship with one another. Their reactions to certain situations in the book were completely understandable, and I liked the way the tension was portrayed as they did their best to protect their daughter. Their concern, gosh, it was awesome. I love it when the family is more involved with the main characters, so in that aspect it was completely well-done. And Wesley Ayers…what can I even say about him? He was nice, and he truly did care for Mackenzie. The portrayal of their relationship was nice and refreshing amongst everything else that went on in the story. There were a few new characters that attend Hyde School like Mackenzie does. They were nice additions to The Archived world.

The writing, despite being first person, was descriptive with enough detail that I could easily get into the story.The plot might have seemed a little slow at first, but there were little hints as to what was going on. I didn’t have a problem with the pacing, and ended up enjoying The Unbound from start to finish. In fact, I read it in one sitting.

The Friday 56 (2)

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

"I wonder if boredom prompts him to it, or if it's more."-The Archived by Victoria Schwab




What's on your page 56 this week?

Review: The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Title: The Archived (Click on Title for Synopsis)
Author: Victoria Schwab
Source/Format: Purchased/ iTunes ebook edition
Age Range: YA
Publisher/Publication Date: Hyperion, January 22, 2013

My Thoughts:

     I’ve had my fair share of woes with the YA genre as of late, and I haven’t read much in a long time. But I finally sat down to read Victoria Schwab’s, The Archive, at last. I found the book to be highly entertaining, as well as refreshing with a cast of interesting characters, and a plot that kept me otherwise in the dark until the very end. I truly did enjoy The Archived.

     To start, The Archived had an interesting premise: the dead supposedly being placed on shelves and you know, cataloged like you would books. Right from the beginning that premise caught my attention, and I wanted to know more about the Archive and the people who worked there. One such person associated with the Archive is none other than the main character, Mackenzie Bishop. She, unlike some YA characters, wasn’t perfect and made her own fair amount of mistakes. Mackenzie also grieved a great deal, but all of her faults made her a well-rounded character that I found relatively likable. And her parents weren’t cookie-cutter folks either they dealt with their emotions in their own way. They had separate…I guess you could say, identities, which made them stand out rather than blend right into the background. Then there was Wesley Ayers…hmmm, what should I say about him? Well for starters he was an interesting character with little quirks mentioned here and there—you could really tell that he cared. 

     The setting, which is something I rarely ever mention in reviews, was very fascinating. The Coronado was and old hotel that was renovated into apartments and you could almost say it was borderline dilapidated. And yet the place held on to its old world, mostly faded, charm. Would I visit the place? Um, no! With all of the trouble that Mackenzie experienced there in the Archive, I have to say no on that one. And by trouble, I mean the plot. The Archive’s opening chapter basically solidified my reason for finally reading this book, and from then on I blew through the rest. So without spoiling things, I’m just going to call it a day. But in my opinion The Archived was a solid opening to a series, and I intend to continue on with the next book as soon as I get my hands on a copy of The Unbound. Five birdcages. That is all.