I love the story, but the illustration is lack luster.

Archival Quality is a fluffy tale of mental disorder (depression, bi polar) with a mystery tacked on. As such, it is quirky but also heavy and I'm not quite sure balance was consistently reached between the two extremes. You'd think that the book would attempt realism but nearly the whole story was a rather silly and random urban fantasy. That made it hard to really get into the characters or plot.

Story: Cel needs a job and so applies and gets a position at a mysterious museum, under a mysterious curate, and with a mysterious new living condition in the museum. Since she suffers from depression issues, she's desperate from the job and readily agrees to move in to the small apartment reserved for employees who work the night shift. It's a strange job cataloging images from medical experiments done when the building was an asylum in the 1920s. But when a girl comes to her in her dreams and begs her for help, Cel is drawn into the supernatural mystery of the museum.

There are a LOT of hints throughout that the museum/asylum has a bad past and that something is very wrong in the present. From her boss' continually odd attitude to the weird images she is scanning to digital. We're supposed to be drawn into the mystery but I have to admit that there were so many 'clues' that thunked with the subtlety of an anvil that I was expecting a much bigger and more original 'hook' than was given. The whole ending was rushed and felt very anticlimactic.

The art is servicable but the potato bodies/facial features didn't leave much for nuance. As well, there were several scenes illustrated in a way that were very hard to figure out what was happening. I had to reread several times and still didn't understand what the author/artist was trying to convey in that scene. It distanced me from a story that was already somewhat disenfranchising considering our heroine spends most of the time arguing with/annoying/frustrating nearly every other character in the story. So while I understand she has mental issues, I found it really hard to even like her or want her to succeed.

Most problematic is that Cel felt far too much like a Mary Sue - despite her bad temper and offputting personality, people just love her to pieces and want to help her. Of course, she'll rebuff them all and assume they just don't understand her. But from the long suffering boyfriend to the ghost, they just keep putting up with her inexplicably. The world revolved around Cel and people were only in it so that it was important to her.

The mystery itself took forever to realize and then suddenly went from 10 to 100 within a few pages. Then the story was over and we weren't really given a mystery worth solving or any kind of satisfying denouement. It felt like the author was more concerned with the Mary Sue aspects than actually fleshing out a supernatural mystery. As a result, everything else except for Cel felt underdeveloped.

The story is easy to follow other than confusing panel layouts. My best advice with this story is to go in with an emphasis on Cel's feelings/mental state and not on the mystery or her friends/boyfriend. Because everything else felt as ghostly as our mystery girl haunting Cel's dreams. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for setting me up with this advanced copy of Archival Quality. I am not often drawn to graphic novels, but when I saw this one, I was instantly intrigued.
This was a lovely story about a girl struggling with her mental health while she tries to manage her life accordingly. Cel is diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder, but she is too afraid to take her prescribed medications or seek treatment. This leads to losing her job, and struggling to live her day-to-day life. Enter: The Logan Museum – it’s haunted, but it’s got a job opening where you don’t need a degree. I absolutely loved seeing the mix between contemporary/mental illness rep. meets YA/fantasy ghost story. We do not get enough fantasy stories with diverse characters.
The entire cast was incredibly diverse, but it read organically. We got biracial/black representation, mental illness representation, and LGBTQ+ representation. However, it did not come off as “TRYING” to be diverse. The story was all-consuming, the art was absolutely beautiful, and I would definitely suggest this graphic novel to anyone looking to read a little more diversely, or who is looking for a fun and spooky read. I've already told my three closest friends that they need to preorder this graphic novel. Can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy! 4.5/5

I devoured this book in record time, and was so sad when it was over. As a librarian who has interned in archives, so many of the vocational aspects in this story rang true. Archives have an undeniable allure and air of mystery, and a medical museum's macabre overtones provide a beautiful setting. Weir's skill at storytelling, character development, and drive for justice are clear. I can't wait to read what she does next.

I really liked the illustrations in "Archival Quality" and thought they were really cute. The plot was interesting and I liked how it touched on serious subject matters. This was a nice short story and I would definitely recommend it.

An engaging story which deals with mental illness. To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about the handling of mental illness and the main character. But, otherwise, could be a fun ghost story.

*thank you to Netgalley and Oni Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars.
This was quite good! Each time I had to stop and put the book down, I felt myself looking forward to when I could get back to it. I love when a book can do this. I'll admit that at the start I wasn't too fussed on the illustrations. I am ashamed to admit that now but yeah, I didnt appreciate them until part way through when I felt that they actually worked and that they are quite good! This story deals with mental illness, particularly depression and anxiety and allll that comes with that. It's a very true example of what it's like, even though it's always going to be a bit different for anyone who does suffer from this, but the basics and more common trates of it were shown. So it was no real suprise to find out in the author's notes at the end that she had based the characters on real life. Cel in particular. I LOVED the relationship between Cel and Holly! They really liked and cared for each other and their friendship was so sweet. I also liked Gina, Holly's girlfriend. Another thing I really liked seeing is that the characters weren't stick figures. The females were curvey in body size and shape. Plus they were mixed race. See, there is quite alot to like about this. 

Now the actual story. It's about Cel who was a librarian (books!!!) but lost her job which upset her quite alot (understandably) but ended up finding another in an old Museum as an archivist. She met and became friends with Holly (I love her purple hair!!) and a guy named Aba. She also has a boyfriend who stood by her which was nice but he wasn't a favourite of mine. The Museum turns out to be an old Psychiatric Hospital/Aslyum which I really loved, and it's haunted by a ghost! It was a good story and I really hope that the author and illustrator write another graphic novel.

This was a quick, fun graphic novel read. The mental health representation was spot on, and the all around diversity was refreshing.

While this book isn't necessarily spooky, it's still fun. It takes place inside of a haunted museum for starters, filled with the ghost of a 1920s asylum victim, and shines a light on the poor treatment those with mental illness suffered back then. As time goes on, the MC Cel starts losing track of time, things getting moved around without her remembering, and fainting spells; Cel can't help but wonder if what is happening is real and what is an actual haunting.

I really liked Cel's friendships, especially the one with her co-worker, Holly. Her relationship with her boyfriend was just frustrating though.

As much as I was into the story of a girl working at a haunted museum and trying to find out information about a ghost that is haunting her- I really didn't like the art. The colors were nice but the style just wasn't my cup of tea.

While the ending seemed a bit anticlimactic, overall this was a pretty good read. I liked it.

This graphic novel was sweet. It wasn't thrilling, but it was such a good little book to read. It has a great representation of the struggle with mental health, and I really liked the way it was handled. Also, I thoroughly appreciated the glimpse into how far mental help has come. We could be living in a time where a lobotomy is the only way to "solve" anything. Thankfully, now we are a lot more aware of mental health and have easier ways to help us lead our best lives.

This was a charming read, and I really enjoyed it.

Sorry, this one was just not for me. I tried, but I just couldn't really like the MC, it would have been nice if we got a bit more background information on her before we see all sorts of awkward things happening.

Though I have to say that the guy who interviewed her was also not really the best. :| He seemed quite rude.

Plus the art is also not really working for me. Not really a style I like.