Book reviews: The Archived | The Priory of the Orange Tree | Daisy Jones & The Six

Title: The Archived
Author: Victoria Schwab
Original title: The Archived
First published: 2013
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Series: The Archived #1
Publisher: Hyperion
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 327
Finished: 25/12/2019
Summary: Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is 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 useful tool for staying alive.
Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous-it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da's death was hard enough, but now that her little brother is gone too, Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

My thoughts: I wanted to squeeze this in before the end of the year, as I've been wanting to read it for a long time and probably won't get the chance to in 2020. After reading "The Near Witch", another one of Schwab's earlier YA works, I didn't have very high expectations on this one. It turned out that I was right in that assumption, because it is obvious that Schwab is an author who has developed immensely in her writing over time. And that's awesome; her adult novels keep such a high quality, and "Vicious" is one of my all time favourite novels. Nevertheless, this also means that her older work is of a lower standard. This was the case with "The Archived".
I just never got into this story. The concept was sort of intriguing, though not executed well enough for it to keep my interest. Schwab's writing style has also developed since these early novels, hence we're lacking the presence of its current quality in this one. The protagonist was rather bland, though I will say I didn't necessarily dislike any of the other characters. In fact, I disliked Mackenzie the most (didn't hate her). I found Schwab's negative comment on a boy looking silly because he wore eyeliner rather repulsive, and I hope that's something she's left behind her.
I can see why she never completed the trilogy, and why she's be hesitant to do so now. It's a step down from the author she's become, and I don't know if she'd be able to go back to the style of writing she once had when she wrote "The Archived". I just don't think the project would be very successful, and she's much better off creating new original worlds and characters instead.
All in all, I'm sad to say this turned out to be a very average YA urban fantasy novel that was bound to get lost in the sea from the very start. I'm happy to see that Schwab has evolved in her style, and that she nowadays publishes splendid novel and has a faithful following. However, to fans of her later work, I don't suggest that you explore her earlier books, unless you wish to see how her writing has changed. There's better stuff out there.

Rating: 3/5

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Title: The Priory of the Orange Tree
Author: Samantha Shannon
Original title: The Priory of the Orange Tree
First published: 2019
Genre: High fantasy, Adult
Series: --
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Paperback
Pages: 804
Finished: 26/12/2019
Summary: The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction - but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.
Across the dark sea, Tane has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

My thoughts: I finish off 2019 by reading one of the biggest books I've ever taken on. This behemoth came out this year and has been celebrated by many of those who have read it. I myself want to dive more into high fantasy, and thought that this gorgeous book would help me along the way. It did!
The start was a bit slow, as Shannon begins with building up the new world and its politics. However, once all the information had settled in my brain, I found that I grew accustomed to the ways of this world with ease. I was looking for a slow paced novel filled to the brim with high fantasy politics, and that is partly what I got out of it. Luckily, I also got a lot more.
I ended up thinking I was gonna rate this around 4/5 stars in the beginning, to being sure it was near a 5/5 star read towards the end. This story just keeps on building and building and the world and characters grew more and more rich until I reached a point where I went from thinking it was good to knowing it was amazing. I found the relationships really endearing, and the slow build up to the romance was very nice. I was at the edge of my seat, wondering what was going to happen, and whose hearts would be broken!
The few downsides to this book involves the finale and perspectives. Out of the four perspectives, I only found that two or three helped fulfil the story. One of them (I have a specific one in mind) could easily have been skipped. They could've been kept as a character, but the added perspective just slowed down the whole narrative. These parts were my least favourite in the story. When it comes to the finale, I will be writing mild spoilers (I think you could still enjoy the book knowing them, but be warned). Too see those spoilers, highlight the following 'invisible' text: The finale was luckily not a rushed one, which I appreciate. However, the stakes were high, and I wish the losses would have been greater. It would have had a greater impact on me if somebody important had died or something else sad had occurred. Nothing of that sort really happened, and hence I didn't get the tearful and emotional ending I'd anticipated and hoped for. I wanted it to pack a harder punch. It's still a satisfactory ending, though, so I'm not mad. Just a little underwhelmed by that particular part of the story.
I've heard the book get some criticism for being a standalone novel, because there's a ton to explore in the universe and with the characters that Shannon has built. However, I like that it's a standalone. I don't have to worry about mentally preparing for a sequel and the (possible) disappointments it might bring, and the big project of reading another book of this size. It's done very well as a standalone story, and I think it should get good credit for that!
I want to say that the book is truly worth reading. I ended up not rating it a full 5/5 stars because of the downsides that I mentioned, but I still consider this one of the best books I read in 2019.

Rating: 4,75/5

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Title: Daisy Jones & The Six

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Narrator: Full cast
Original title: Daisy Jones & The Six
First published: 2019
Genre: Historical, Adult
Series: --
Publisher: Penguin
Format: Audiobook
Time: 9h 3min
Finished: 07/01/2020
Summary: Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

My thoughts: This is the first audiobook I've listened to in over a year, and I was pleasantly surprised by the format. Especially this book, with its full cast of voice actors, was incredibly well produced, and I had a lot of fun listening to it. It's also my first book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and I know she's gotten praise for writing characters that felt like they've actually existed. This format definitely added to that quality.
Besides this being a phenomenal audiobook, it's also a very good book. The characters are well written and developed, and the format felt new and refreshing. I felt for the characters, and I could imagining them existing in real life. I was almost convinced that Daisy Jones and The Six were great artists from the 70's. The author did a great job with the interview style of writing, and I'd love to get to her other book, "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo", later this year.
The slight downsides to this book is that I know I wouldn't have like it as much if I'd read it rather than listened to it. The audio production just adds so much to it. I guess that shouldn't lower my opinion of it, and I could consider re-reading it in physical form, but I don't think I'd enjoy it as much. The other thing which is the main reason that I couldn't give the book the highest rating, was that it pushed too hard on the romance. I wasn't for the romance; I thought it was unnecessary and added little to the story, yet it was given a lot of space and importance.
Other than that, though, it's a great book. I highly recommend the audiobook, and I think it'd be good in its original form as well. I'm happy to have read this book, and I look forward to more by this author!

Rating: 4,25/5