4.5 stars for The Unbound (Archived book 2) by Victoria Schwab.
The Unbound pretty much picks up where book 1 The Archived leaves off and we see our heroine, Mackenzie Bishop having difficulty keeping the different worlds apart. Plagued by memory of a rogue History from the earlier book, Mac finds herself no longer alone but shrouded by fear and nightmares of her own making: her fear following her through into the Narrows and likewise, her nightmares following her out into the Outer.
While book 1 centers around Mac and her home in the Coronado, much of the story in this book 2 is set in the school grounds on the pretext that summer break is over, and Hyde school with its moss-covered building, ivy-strewn walls, hundred-year-old oak trees and wrought-iron gate is waiting for Mac. But even as the school term has started, Mac continues to hunt Histories and read memories as there is still the duty of returning Histories from the Narrows to the Archive. Through a chain of events, Mac is determined more than anything to stay in good graces with the Archive by doing a good job as a Keeper. Unfortunately, trouble seems to be Mac's middle name and before long, she finds herself in soup hotter than she can stomach.
The author continues to deliver a stunning story that resonates well, in fact, so well that I feel as if I am one with Mac, reliving the nonstop horrors of night terror, putting up with the fear of having something dear and then losing it being worse than not having it in the first place, and questioning the likelihood of losing one's mind as the line between imagination and reality increasingly blurs. The only pain in the neck is the injustice dealt out to Mac along the way that makes me see red, clench my fist and grit my teeth. How I wish to kick a certain character to the moon and back. In all fairness, the fact that the unfair treatment suffered by Mac makes my blood boil is proof enough that the author has done a very good job spinning tales and twisting words.
All in all, a captivating story that keeps me up late into the night to finish reading.
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication date: 28 Jan 2014
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Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. 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.
Last summer, Mackenzie Bishop, a Keeper tasked with stopping violent Histories from escaping the Archive, almost lost her life to one. Now, as she starts her junior year at Hyde School, she’s struggling to get her life back. But moving on isn’t easy — not when her dreams are haunted by what happened. She knows the past is past, knows it cannot hurt her, but it feels so real, and when her nightmares begin to creep into her waking hours, she starts to wonder if she’s really safe.
Meanwhile, people are vanishing without a trace, and the only thing they seem to have in common is Mackenzie. She’s sure the Archive knows more than they are letting on, but before she can prove it, she becomes the prime suspect. And unless Mac can track down the real culprit, she’ll lose everything, not only her role as Keeper, but her memories, and even her life. Can Mackenzie untangle the mystery before she herself unravels?
*Blurb from author's website*
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