caitcoy 's review for:

The Deep Dark by Lee Knox Ostertag

5.0

emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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 I'm reaching an age where I have a harder time connecting to coming of age stories where the main characters are figuring out who they are and are still dealing with school and everything involved with that. But every once in awhile, I find some that still grip my heart and The Deep Dark is definitely one of those. It's wonderfully queer-centric and I really loved the way it explored complicated family dynamics and self-acceptance. I appreciated that it handled all of the characters with empathy and there were no real villains, just complicated people. The result is a mix of magical realism and coming of age that feels equal parts emotional, delightful and occasionally heartbreaking. And I really loved the way that Ostertag integrated art and story, letting the art take the lead in parts where you didn't need dialogue to understand what was happening. Truly a new favorite graphic novel.