From Molly Knox Ostertag, writer-illustrator of the New York Times and ABA Indie bestselling The Witch Boy trilogy and The Girl from the Sea, comes a darkly beautiful story of identity, family, love, loss, and magic. Everyone has secrets. Mags’s has teeth. Magdalena Herrera is about to graduate high school, but she already feels like an adult with serious responsibilities: caring for her ailing grandmother; working a part-time job; clandestine makeouts with a girl who has a boyfriend. And then there’s her secret, which pulls her into the basement each night, drains her of energy, and leaves her bleeding. A secret that could hurt and even kill if it ever got out -- like it did once before. So Mags keeps her head down, isolated in her small desert community. That is, until her childhood friend Nessa comes back to town, bringing vivid memories of the past, an intoxicating glimpse of the future, and a secret of her own. Mags won’t get attached, of course. She’s always been strong enough to survive without anyone’s help. But when the darkness starts to close in on them both, Mags will have to drag her secret into the daylight, and choose between risking everything... or having nothing left to lose.
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The Deep Dark is officially my favorite graphic novel that I've read this year! Mags's struggle between isolation and connection, her deep fear of exposing the darkness within her, and her yearning for someone to understand her, even when she doesn't fully understand or accept herself. The art played a vital role in the storytelling, conveying emotion and tension in ways words absolutely couldn't. Each page set the atmosphere of mystery and magic. The visual representation of her inner and physical representation of “darkness”, and the way it affects her relationships, was beautifully rendered. At the very end when she accepts wholly excepts herself, we get pages full of color, the same way we do when we are in her memories. I don't think I will be able to recommend this book enough. It's definitely a book I will be revisiting.
