I really enjoyed this paranormal mystery. The characters were well developed, and I appreciated how the author talked about mental illness. The art work is superb! Overall, a very good read that I highly recommend.

This book has everything: compelling characters and friendships, a mystery to solve, mental illness and recovery, and a haunted museum! It also has great artwork and a beautiful colour pallet. It deals with very heavy topics and it deals with them well. The main character's journey to health and recovery is tied up in the central mystery, and I got really invested in both.

Review for publication elsewhere.
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Archival Quality was not what I was expecting. It was funny, interesting, mysterious, but the love story here was too much for me. I liked Celeste, because of her mental issues, how she deales with them, but Kyle... I didn't like so much. I found Cel and her struggle to manage her mental health true-to-life. The setting, a medical museum, which had been an asylum in the early 20th century, was very interesting, but the supporting characters weren't as well-developed.

'Archival Quality' by Ivy Noelle Weir with art by Steenz is a graphic novel about a woman who gets a job in a creepy library.

When Cel Walden loses her job, it affects her shaky mental health. She finds a replacement job as an archivist at a mainly deserted medical library on the grounds of an old sanitarium. Her new boss is standoffish and weird, and there is definitely something going on, as Cel's on site apartment is tossed and she keeps finding strange messages leading her to the mystery of a young woman who died years ago.

The story was engaging enough. I liked the characters well enough. The art wasn't totally my style, but it works ok. I'm glad I got to read this.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Oni Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Celeste, or Cel, is feeling adrift after losing her beloved library job. When a mysterious job at a local medical museum opens up, Cel jumps at the chance to do something like what she loves. The job is straightforward, but the circumstances are odd. She lives in an apartment above the museum, she can't go into the third floor or the board room, her boss, the chief curator, is both nowhere to be found and everywhere at once. When Cel starts having dreams about a girl who had been a patient at the asylum that used to be housed in the museum, she starts doubting herself. Is this real, or a manifestation of her mental illness? Should she stay and solve the mystery of this woman or run?

I've been waiting for this giddily since I first heard about it. A ghost story, set in an archive? Right up my alley. Weir and Steenz did NOT disappoint. Cel was so relatable - a girl full of self-doubt with a closet full of demons constantly threatening to burst out. I did feel like this started slowly, but built up to a fever pitch. Steenz artwork beautifully complemented Weir's story, and for me, was reminiscent of Bryan Lee O'Malley, whom I have a deep and abiding love for. This would be perfect for people who loved Anya's Ghost or Seconds and could definitely appeal to high school readers as well.

I'm honetly so biased about this book that is funny: I'm a librarian and I think that work in bog kind of scary labraries is a plesuares....but this need some development. I'm nos saying is bad, justa tht is as good as I expected. Hpelly, will be other issues to give some deep to this

Insofar that haunted museum graphic novels can be straightforward, this one is. It is also highly interesting, thoroughly readable, and makes it clear both throughout the story and in the end materials that Weir really wanted to push the intersectional and representational aspects of the story: mental health intersects with race intersects with LGBTQIA+ representation (lesbian spec). None of these aspects dominates the others, and the plot itself operates independently of them, but they're there and they're intentional. I had fun reading this.

Writer Ivy Noelle Weir and artist Steenz debut their talents in Archival Quality, a graphic novel with a spooky mystery and an important message.

The main character, Cel starts her new job at a museum that’s said to be haunted. the people who’ve worked there for a while all joke about the rumors or completely disregard them as in most stories about haunted places. For those who are kind of weary about reading ghost stories, this story isn’t too creepy. I’m also kind of iffy with paranormal stories because it seems like most of them are horror or thriller, but I wouldn’t categorize this story as either. So unless it’s a really sensitive topic for you, the paranormal part shouldn’t be too triggering.

However, when the plot gets to the backstory of the ghost, that’s where some content warnings (which are listed above) come into play. Since those are spoilers I won’t go into too much detail unless asked. Despite the somewhat gruesome details of how mentally ill people were treated in asylums, the story carries a critical message that highlights how far we’ve come with mental health care and how far we still have to go.

That being said, this is definitely more that just a paranormal story and is very well thought out. Not only does it have the message about mental illness but also about relationships. Since Cel starts a new job at the beginning of the story, she meets a lot of new people, some friendly, some not. Much of her arc is figuring out who to trust and who to disregard, which, of course, is much harder than it sounds.

Something I would have liked to see go into more detail is Cel’s relationship with her boyfriend, Kyle. He’s been worried about her pretty much ever since she’s started this new job because she works the night shift and they never get to see each other anymore, not to mention the fact that she’s suddenly wrapped up in finding a way to help a ghost that he doesn’t believe exists. This puts a strain on their relationship to the point where Cel moves out of the apartment for a period of time and they take a break. Unfortunately, this subplot got little attention and was done in a way that made Kyle look like a jerk to Cel even though I know he was well-meaning. If the author had put a bit more detail or a couple extra scenes into this part of the story, I think it could have been easily fixed.

The last thing I want to mention is the art style. Steenz’ characters are cute and her designs are diverse in an unforced way that positively adds depth to the story. I also love that she put a fair amount of color throughout the story considering its paranormal theme. The only part I wasn’t fond of was that some of the panels were a bit sloppy compared to the rest.

Final Thought: I would definitely recommend to graphic novel readers who like ghost stories!

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Archival Quality is an interesting and somewhat dark story about a young woman who becomes the overnight archivist librarian for an asylum-turned-library, where dreams of a strange and tortured young woman lead her on a chase for answers and a way to offer reprieve to a broken, lost spirit haunting the library.

The art style in this graphic novel isn't my favorite, but it's made up for by how much I enjoyed the plot and how easily I could relate to Cel. Celeste is struggling tremendously with her mental health, but she's afraid of seeking help, despite the fact that her illnesses cause her to lash out, react irrationally, and panic over everyday situations. There's a panel in the book where she gets angry at her boyfriend and then breaks down crying and saying she doesn't understand why she's angry and she's just tired of feeling this way, and wow, did I feel that.

I definitely think the main plot of the story isn't the ghost or the mystery, but is Cel's struggles with her own mental health and the journey she embarks upon to find her way to therapy and seeking help, so I wouldn't recommend going into this expecting any sort of scary, in-depth ghost story—but if you can relate to that feeling of having no control over your mental health and being unsure of where to go for help, I think Cel's story might resonate with you, too.

Thank you so much to Oni Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is not a book I can honestly recommend.

The main character is very unlikable. She is: immature, stubborn, willfully ignorant, self-indulgent, and as other reviewers have pointed out, emotionally abusive. She is offered help constantly but always refuses it and instead flips those offers on their heads in order to accuse the people who are trying to help her. She also mistakes anger for determination.

At one point she fully admits that she doesn’t want help and that apparently what she needs to do to feel better is to lash out at people? Again, that’s emotionally abusive.

There’s also a small hint of romance that is not believable because it plays out like a fantasy from the main character’s mind. The person who seemingly has a crush on her lists qualities that she has NOT displayed up to that point in the book, and it just sounds like he’s saying what she’s wanted to hear all along, which is a lie.

The most enjoyable aspect of this book is found in the character design. The cast was diverse (including body types) and a lot of thought was put into the outfits and their bright colors and patterns.

But I was often pulled out of the story because the action was sometimes hard to understand, and the transitions from scene to scene were too abrupt. I found myself flipping back and forth in multiple occasions, trying to figure out if I had missed something. I hadn’t, it was just a sudden transition.

The story itself (archivist at a museum helping the ghost who haunts it) is not a bad pitch; it is the reason why I wanted to read this, after all. But the execution could be much improved.

Archival QualityBy Ivy Noelle Weir & Steenz comes out next March from Oni Press and it seems like people either love this graphic novel or hate it. I personally loved it and I am going to break down why for you in a bit. I did receive this as an ARC on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story is what first appealed to me about this graphic novel. It’s main character Cel short for Celeste is a young woman who has just been fired from the job she loved as a library assistant/librarian. This happened because Cel has an ongoing battle with mental illness and experienced a mental breakdown at her place of work. Now with being unemployed Cel is facing the fact that it will be hard to find another librarian position without having a degree. Her boyfriend Kyle is trying to get Cel to take this time as an opportunity to slow down and get some help for her to get back on her feet. Cel doesn’t see things the same way and instead applies/interviews to become the archivist at a medical museum that she has never heard of, and nobody seems to ever visit.
Cel quickly accepts the job despite the strange rules, hours, and suggested living arrangements. Cel has to work overnight when the museum is closed, she is told to move into an apartment inside the museum, and then lastly she is told to ignore any strange sounds and not to be scared. All of these are big red flags for her boyfriend but Cel just believes he doesn’t want her to be happy or to have the job.
Very quickly strange things begin to happen and Cel begins to dream about a specific girl, who she thinks is tied to the museum in some dark way. Cel believes that she has to help this girl and if she is able to help her then maybe she will be able to help herself with her own mental health.

Things I loved about the book besides the overall dark and spooky storyline, which were awesome. This book had an amazingly diverse cast of characters. we had different genders, race, and sexual orientations represented in a way that didn’t seem forced. It made the story more interesting and dimensional. The other thing that was great about this book is how it handled mental illness. the story showed not only how terrible our countries history of dealing with mental illness is but also how we still have work to do when it comes to not stigmatizing people you struggle with mental illness. Cel on multiple occasions addresses people treating her like she is crazy or thinking she is crazy and the it shows the weight of that single word for a person like Cel. There are also so great conversations between characters where I thought it showed great examples of how to show concern and support for a person who is struggling mentally without accusing or attacking them.
The overall story was exactly what I had hoped for. It takes place in the archives of a museum at night. There are ghosts and a spooky medical mystery to be solved by a diverse cast of bookish characters. The art work was not my favorite and in some frames seemed a bit awkward especially with hands/arms but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the graphic novel as a whole. I highly recommend this book.

I really really enjoyed this paranormal graphic novel that focuses heavily on mental illness. Cel gets an archivist job at a mysterious and ominous museum. It's a little bit spooky, and incredibly compelling. I needed to keep reading to find out the real story behind the Logan Museum and the ghost haunting Cel.

Really well done.

"After losing her job at the library, Cel Walden starts working at the haunting Logan Museum as an archivist. But the job may not be the second chance she was hoping for, and she finds herself confronting her mental health, her relationships, and before long, her grasp on reality as she begins to dream of a young woman she's never met, but feels strangely drawn to. Especially after she asks Cel for help...

As Cel attempts to learn more about the woman, she begins losing time, misplacing things, passing out—the job is becoming dangerous, but she can't let go of this mysterious woman. Who is she? Why is she so fixated on Cel? And does Cel have the power to save her when she's still trying to save herself?"

Oh, mysterious!

I loved the artwork in this book. It was a fast-paced, lovely read. I will be sure to pick up a hard copy :)

This impressive debut graphic novel uses a ghost story to explore questions of medical ethics and mental health. I found myself eager to follow along with Celeste as she struggles to understand the situation she’s in in Archival Quality, written by Ivy Noelle Weir and illustrated by Steenz.

Celeste’s depression and anxiety kept her from graduating college and just lost her a job she really liked. Her only option seems to be an archivist job at a creepy local museum no one knows much about.

The building was previously a sanatorium, and there are skulls and other medical artifacts tucked away around every other corner. Celeste is told she’ll be working overnight, scanning old photos of patients, and an apartment upstairs is provided for her. The restrained Aba is the curator, while the encouraging Holly is her new boss. (Refreshingly, all are people of color.)

Then the odd noises, mysterious occurrences, and creepy dreams start. Celeste wants to find out more, but she keeps being told to stay away from parts of the museum. Plus, the building prevents internet from working, cutting her off from her long-term boyfriend. She struggles to stand up for herself, and he clearly cares for her but they have different ideas of what that means. Trying to find out more about her ghost gives her purpose and determination.

I found the story compelling, excellent at setting mood and doling out just enough information to keep the reader involved. It’s not a fast read, but one that deserves attention to sink into the mood. Afterwards, when I stopped to think about it, there are some basic questions about inciting motivations that I would quibble with, but while in the story, I was caught up in the atmosphere, even if the ending was a bit abrupt.

Steenz’s characters are adorably chunky, solid and with real presence, and thanks to Weir, they have distinct voices (and thanks to Steenz, different senses of fashion, many of which outfits are terrific).

We don’t find out everything about Celeste’s history and problems, but instead of feeling dissatisfied, I felt proud, as though it was her choice as to what to reveal. I was invested in wanting a happier future for her.

Archival Quality is a graphic novel written by Ivy Noelle Weir with artwork by Steenz. It would be best for young adult and older readers. After losing her job at the library, Celeste "Cel" Walden starts working at the haunting Logan Museum as an archivist. But the job may not be the second chance she was hoping for, and she finds herself confronting her mental health, her relationships, and before long, her grasp on reality as she begins to dream of a young woman she's never met, but feels strangely drawn to. Especially after she asks Cel for help. As Cel attempts to learn more about the woman, she begins losing time, misplacing things, passing out—the job is becoming dangerous, but she can't let go of this mysterious woman. Who is she? Why is she so fixated on Cel? And does Cel have the power to save her when she's still trying to save herself?

Archival Quality is a graphic novel about dealing with mental illness, and solving a mystery of past and present horrors. Cel needs to learn to trust herself, to accept help when needed, and to trust that those around her care about her and are more than willing to help if she lets them. I liked seeing the trust and friendship develop- and the secrets be slowly revealed. I liked the combination of mystery, mystical, and trying to find your way. I could empathize with most of the characters, including the secondary players. I liked the story, and think it will keep readers thinking about the story well after they finish it. I know I am still thinking about Cel's journey, and they way she finds herself. I was not thrilled with the art style, it felt a little clunky for some of the characters, but others looked fantastic. The back grounds and details are very well done, and add to the story well- it is just the style a few of the characters that did not work for me. I liked that the story of the books creation was included in the afterwords, and that further reading and museums to explore are offered up as well. The sketch pages were interesting to see as well, to see how the characters were envisioned and changed as the book came together.

Archival Quality is an interesting and engaging graphic novel that I think will speak to young and new adults, as well of those that have been considered adults for longer than we might want to admit. The mystery and spooky aspects are on point, and the handling of friendship and mental illness was very well done and might speak to others struggling.

Cel has just lost her job at the library. It's inferred that she had some kind of mental breakdown at work. She finds a new job as an archivist at a medical museum. It's a very odd job in that there's an apartment for her to stay at in the basement and she has to do the archiving by herself overnight. It makes very little sense. She, of course, starts hearing strange noises, things are knocked off shelves, all the usual cliched spectral visitations. Meanwhile her boyfriend is constantly trying to get her to see a doctor about her mental health issues. Yadda, yadda, yadda, she decides to track down the spirit visiting her.

This reminded my of a wannabe Kate Leth and Brittany Williams Hellcat book only with poorer storytelling and art. This book is long. Really long. And takes over half the book for anything to really happen. Then everything happens in the last 20 pages, and things like the missing previous director are forgotten. The book resolves the mystery abruptly without a payoff. I was looking for quite a few more answers and felt cheated.

I just feel like this didn't quite deliver. The premise was great, but it's just lacking...something. I can't put my finger on it. Haunted archive/museum that used to house a mental institution, main character dealing with her own mental health, mysterious Board... it had so much potential, but so many of the questions the plot brought up were never answered. What happened to the first curator? Why was Aba so bad at his job aka where did he keep disappearing to? Who exactly were the board members? What actually happened to Celine?? (Plus many more that would spoil the ending so I'll refrain).

I do have to say, though, that I loved the diversity in the characters - especially Holly's flamboyant hair! I know so many librarians with awesomely colored hair, and I'm so glad we're finally getting away from the old, frumpy, bunned librarian stereotype.

But speaking of librarians, how is it that no one in this museum/archive has the degree for their job? Who's hiring these people? And like, what exactly are the point of their jobs when there are no visitors? As a librarian, these were some major problems I had with the setting. However, I'm forever going to use my all-time favorite line courtesy of Holly: “Be gone. I have to librarian.” Haha!

Great artwork and pacing. The author really touched on a great story about friendship, mental health, and some fun supernatural elements. I hope to see more from this author!