which books with lgbt characters would you recommend?
sorry it took so long anon. in no particular order some of myfavourites:
aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire saenz - one of my fave of favourites. i read it in like 6 hours because i couldn’t put that book down. two mexican boys slowly falling in love with each other, it contains lot of angst, happiness and amazing writing style. (there will be a sequel!!!)
ice massacre by tiana warner – this is the first book of a trilogy (i think it will be a trilogy?? so far two books are out, i’m reading the second one still). it’s about an ongoing war between people and merfolks, and a story where one girl falls in love with a mermaid, but before they realize their feelings, they are forced to fight the other species. it’s an amazing book, go read it!!
the foxhole court by nora sakavic – trilogy about a boy who runs from his past into a school where he can play his favourite sport exy and where he finds his new friends and family. for the lgbt part - the main character, neil josten is a demisexual (and there is a very beautiful slow burn relationship that i didn’t expect but loved nonetheless), few other (main and minor) characters are also gay. check out some warnings about this series first maybe, because there are some not very nice things happening. (after reading also check out extras from the author here.)
magnus chase and the gods of asgard by rick riordan – i loved this series from first line, because the writing style is funny and very easy to read. the story (in two books so far) is great but the characters are making it perfect. in first book we are introduced to a hijabi girl and a deaf elf, and in second book there is a new character explicitly stated being transgender and genderfluid (who is a potential love interest of the main character). i cant wait for the third book!!
proxy by alex london – world where wealthy kids have proxy who suffers punishments for their crimes. when knox kills a girl in a car crash, his proxy sid is sentenced to death in his stead. dystopian novel with main poc gay boy who needs to run for his life and during the journey finds out with his help he can bring the whole society to ground. (i recommend to also read the sequel, guardian)
a darker shade of magic by v.e. schwab – i really love this series and i cant wait for the last book!! the characters are amazing and the story is epic. the main character kell has magic and can travel between four different londons to where he delivers messages (and sometimes smuggles stuff). in grey london he meets a crossdressing thief lila bard who instist on going with him. about the lgbt characters - kell’s brother rhy is bisexual (maybe pansexual?) and in second book there is more focus on him (and somewhere i read that lila is nonbinary but i cant find if its confirmed)
six of crows by leigh bardugo – beautiful and fast paced story, its a duology about 6 teenagers who are hired to steal someone from high security prison for lots of money and alongside the main plot each character is struggling with its own past. its set in a world of author‘s previous books (grisha trilogy) but i was told you dont have to read those for understanding this world, and as i read everything was nicely explained. there are three main relationships, one of them is between two boys, slowly developing during these two books.
simon vs the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli – two boys from same high school emailing each other with fake names, but falling in love with the other anyway. another amazing book i read in one sitting.
captive prince by c.s. pacat – fantasy story about two princes who are held captive each in their own ways and finding a way throughit all together. the characters are so amazing and there is lot of character development and complex world-building with great writing style and i cant even begin to say how much i love these books.
the song of achilles by madeline miller – retelling of the iliad about the greek hero achilles. it starts from young age when patroclus and achilles meet, and follows the development of their friendship to something more. you will cry at the end even if you knew from the beginning what will happen.
the young elites by marie lu – this one is a bit darker. adelina, the main character, survived a blood fever, that left her with markings and dangerous power. other people who survived this illness are only children, those also with powers formed the young elites, but adelina‘s power is making them cautious of her. one boy from the elite group is a bisexual and at the end of the first book is hinted on a relationship between one of the elite and a queen ofneighbouring country which gets more focus in the second book (i still need to read the last book so im not sure what happens next).
every heart a doorway by seanan mcguire – im currently reading this book, but theres already a main character asexual girl, and another character is a transboy. Its in our modern world where some children can see a portal to a different world and they spent there some time, go on adventures, learn to fit in that world, but when they come back to our world some of these children want to go back to a place that became their perfect home.
carry on by rainbow rowell – some people may say its too similar to harry potter world, but it doesn’t mean its a bad book. there is magic, our modern world, adventure and two boys who think the other hates them, some pining and angst but also funny moments and a happy ending!
(feel free to add to this list, these are just some of my favourites ♥)