The Dark Vault
The Dark Vault: Unlock the Archive ( No spoilers)
Book by V. E. Schwab
Stars : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars
The Dark Vault is a fantasy novel written by one of my favrotie authors, V.E. Schwab. She has written a few familiar books such as “ The Invisiable Life of Addie LaRue ”, which is a book tok fav and “ The Shades of Magic” series. What I love about her is her world building. And she didn’t disappoint in this book.
In the world of “The Dark Vault”, Memories of people are supposed to be kept and remembered, never to be erased or gone ( unless they got permission and a valid reason) . These memories of people, after they had died are called Histories. They are kept in the Library where they are asleep. They must never go into the outer. That is why the jobs of Keepers and Crews are so important.
Mackenzie Bishop is a Keeper who had a few losses recently, and to cope, her family moved to a new location. A hotel. She realizes that his hotel had been a murder with her ability to “read” the walls. As she dug deeper, she realized that someone tried to cover up what had happened, and they were not normal either. They were able to erase memories of histories and more. With the help of another Keeper, Wesley Ayers in the building, she goes and tried to find answers.
Mackenzie goes through a big journey and tries to balance life with her job that no one seems to know. She keeps secrets and heavy burdens and learns in this book that it is okay to open up to people, especially her newfound friend and that some people that seem to be nice are not always good as they seem to be.
What I really love about this book is how they emphasized how Mackenzie felt about certain situations and how she coped. She is really determined to be a good keeper, that if affect other areas of her life such as family and friends. She realizes that she never had the life she wanted and even creates another version of her called “M” that could do all the normal teen things. I love this book because I was able to understand her even thought I don’t completely agree with her. That obviously lead to a few conflicts and problems.
The author gave a big character development where in the beginning she couldn’t touch anyone (because people are messy and loud while histories aren’t) and couldn’t open up to her being able to do those in time. She also, like I said, has good world building. One thing I didn’t mention is how it kept me at the edge of my seat and almost made me cry. This book is raw of emotions. It talks about being human. Humans… us are not always okay is it is okay. We are not machines and make mistakes. It is okay to feel certain things. People are not stable, not still, but messy. They change. They are complex. 2 life lessons or themes I came up with is that it is okay to be human and not to let yourself be consumed with a job that destroys your life. Balance is the key.
I hope you enjoyed this book, if you have read it. Here are a few questions that you can answer in the comments. 😊
- What is your favorite part of the book?
- What part of the book made you want to yell at the character ( doesn’t have to be the main)?
- What would you do instead?
- Did you notice any symbolism or foreshadowing that I missed.
- What thing do you think I forgot in the review?
- Do you relate to any of the characters and why?
- Would you live in this world and if so what role would you play; the oblivious people, a Keeper, a Crew, or a librarians? It could be something that is not mentioned.
