- Graphic Novels
- Ages 13–17
- Fantasy
The Deep Dark
Part of the Molly Knox Ostertag universeOpen the collection
A darker, older-teen Molly Knox Ostertag graphic novel with queer romance, secrecy, family pressure, and supernatural dread. It belongs in the database, but it sits closer to YA than cosy middle-grade graphic fiction.
- Best for13–17
- FormatGraphic
- Length480 pp
- Read aloud~3 hr45 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Literary
Tone
- Dark
- Suspenseful
- Bittersweet
- Thought provoking
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Mags lives with a secret that shapes every part of her life. She has friends, work, family responsibilities, and a sharp sense of who she is, but something dark follows her, and keeping it hidden has become exhausting. When a new girl arrives and starts to see through Mags's defences, the story becomes part romance, part supernatural mystery, and part emotionally intense coming-of-age novel. Molly Knox Ostertag uses the graphic-novel form to blend ordinary teenage life with a creeping sense of danger, turning secrecy into something both magical and painfully human. This is a book about desire, shame, self-protection, family loyalty, and the risk of trusting someone with the parts of yourself you have learned to hide.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 13–17
- Read aloud · 13–17
- Independent · 13–17
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Patchy
Works well for
- Reluctant readers
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: scary imagery, mental health.
Bedtime suitability
1 / 5 · Wide awake
Sensitive-child
2 / 5 · Use judgement
Graphic intensity
3 / 5 · Some
Best for
- Older teen graphic novel
- Queer romance
- Dark fantasy
- Emotionally intense
- Beautiful but heavy
Avoid if
- Younger middle grade
- Bedtime reading
- Sensitive to scary imagery
- Wants light comedy
Particularly good for children who are…
- Anxiety and worry
- Low self esteem
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A powerful YA graphic novel about secrets, identity and self-acceptance — a strong discussion read for older teens.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific weight is the monster inside — Mags carrying a secret since she was small, the cost of hiding it adding up, a new girl arriving and starting to see through her defences. The Molly Knox Ostertag YA graphic novel for an older teen with secrets of their own.
- Being understood finally
- Transformation
- Secret skill
- Surviving danger
Why parents love it
The older Ostertag — YA rather than middle-grade, queer romance and supernatural dread interwoven, secrecy as both magic and emotional exhaustion. Heavier themes handled with care. Strong for the teen ready for a book about desire and shame and self-protection.
- Great writing
- Conversation starter
- Beautiful illustrations
About the author & illustrator
Molly Knox Ostertag.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Where you’ll find it
On these reading lists.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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