Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!
Ah, Pride Month! Honestly I would say that it's the best month of the year, but it's June, and I rather hate summer, so. If Pride Month was during October, it would definitely be the best month of the year.
Anyway, I've done this before, today I've got ten books to recommend to you guys, with queer themes and/or characters. And bonus, every book is written by a queer author! Last year I had some trouble finding out if every author I mentioned was part of the LGBT+ community, but this year I made sure to choose queer authors for this list.
I've got a variety of genres, though I only have YA and adult for age-range. The only queer middle-grade that I've read is the Percy Jackson books, so if you have any middle-grade recs, leave them for me down below in the comments!
Also I just want to say a little disclaimer before we get started: I use the word "queer" as a blanket term when describing most of these books. This is not to erase the identity the characters use, but mainly as a way to keep myself organized. If you're uncomfortable with the term "queer" you absolutely do not have to read this post. I like to use it because I feel comfortable being labeled that way (though I would also take ace and panromantic, but do you see why queer is easier for me?) and as this is my blog I will use the words that I feel most comfortable with. Thanks for understanding.
Alright, without any further ado, let's get into the book recs!
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She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen
If you love YA contemporary, fake-dating, and/or sports romances, look no further than
She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen. Bonus if you love those small-town vibes. This is a super fun book to read in a day or a weekend, plus you'll get some great sapphic content. What more could you want?
The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera
Ooh, this is one of my favorite fantasy romances ever. It's a trilogy following an older, married sapphic couple. It's inspired by East-Asian mythology, and has a ton of recognizable monsters (yes, including the Jorogumo. I just can't escape it!) and legends. It's also very romantic, told in love letters, and follows the married women throughout their entire lives. If you liked
Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa but want something a little more adult, this is the perfect series for you.
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
This book has gotten so much hype, and rightly so. Another YA contemporary with small-town vibes,
You Should See Me in a Crown is all about the prom campaign in a town where prom is the biggest event of the year. I can't relate, but that didn't matter, because as I read this book, I was completely invested. This is the embodiment of Black joy, and I feel like everyone should read it at least once.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
I'm sure you've heard of this one already, but I had to mention it anyway. If you want feel-good fantasy romance, the book equivalent of a cozy blanket,
The House in the Cerulean Sea is the perfect pick for you. It's the ultimate found family, with two dads and an entire house full of misfit children finally getting the love they deserve. This is excellent for if you're feeling sad, or in a reading slump. It'll pick you up right away!
Loveless by Alice Oseman
One of my favorite books of the year so far, we have
Loveless by Alice Oseman! Alice's books are all centered around discovering sexual identity, in one way or another. In
Loveless, the main character is figuring out what it means to be asexual and aromantic. I've mentioned this before, but this is the first book that I read (with an ace MC) after I figured out that I'm ace myself. I may not be aromantic, but I saw so much of myself in this book! I don't understand a lot of the British humor, but I'm sure if you're from the UK you'll find it even more relatable.
Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie
And now we come to my
favorite book of the year! I'm completely obsessed with Racquel's debut novel,
Ophelia After All. It's a YA contemporary that, like
Loveless, follows a main character figuring out her sexuality. I love Ophelia as a character: she's passionate and driven and messy, as all good characters should be (in my humble opinion). And the found family she has at the end of the novel makes my toes curl in utter joy. I wish I had that kind of support when I was in high school, as I'm sure a lot of queer young adults feel the same way.
The Witch King by H.E. Edgemon
Speaking of found family, this book has a down-right chaotic found family at its core.
The Witch King follows a trans male character who fled the magical world for regular old life, until his fiancé manages to track him down and beg him to come back. Oh, did I mention that his fiancé is a Black Fae? Because he is. Not to mention the secondary characters in this book are all beautifully queer and unapologetically themselves. There is a lot of Gen-Z humor (which some people didn't like, or found jarring) that is sarcastic and angry, and you'll finish this book begging for the sequel (
The Fae Keeper, which is already out).
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
One thing I love more than queer contemporaries are queer historical fictions, because it shows that queer people have always been around, they just weren't allowed the same freedom that we have today.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club is one such historical fiction, set in San Francisco during the Red Scare, when a lot of Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Americans were being targeted by the government under suspicions of communism. But also during this politically charged time, San Francisco was one of the few cities that offered safe places for queer people to gather, like nightclubs with drag queens and male impersonators. As you can imagine, this was a very stressful time, for a lot of different people. This book is equally stressful, but you get a love story of the ages in return.
Bruised by Tanya Boteju
Another YA contemporary highly reminiscent of the movie
Whip It, Tanya Boteju's
Bruised follows a teenage girl as she joins a roller derby team in order to work on her anger management. To me, roller derby has always seemed like the kind of sport that's just dominated by queer women (can't imagine why). It's also incredibly violent and dangerous, which is exactly why our MC is drawn to it. Again, there is a wonderfully queer secondary cast in this book, and you actually learn quite a bit about roller derby, as well.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Becky Chambers is the queen of hopeful science fiction, which is a genre I feel we need more of. So much sci-fi is dark and gritty and violent, but Becky Chambers' books always leave you feeling happy and loved. A Psalm for the Wild-Built is no exception. We follow two characters, a nonbinary tea monk and an ancient robot as they become friends and learn about the world through each other's eyes. It's adorable, and fascinating, and even though it's a novella, we've got a sequel coming out later this year (A Prayer for the Crown-Shy) and I'm sure many more books to come in this series.
---Alright, there's ten books for you to pick up this Pride Month! I hope you like my recommendations. Have you read any of these books? Have you read all of them? What did you think? Let me know in the comments, or tweet at me @AllyEmReads.
Until next time!
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