ya books with romance & asian protagonists
bc asians can have love stories too okay
bolded = ownvoices; mc = main character; li = love interest; * = to be released; *** = romance is side plot
to all the boys i’ve loved before by jenny han (half-korean mc)
when dimple met rishi by sandhya menon (indian-american mc’s/ship)
i believe in a thing called love by maurene goo (korean-american mc)
saints and misfits by s.k. ali (half-indian/half-egyptian mc) (tw: rape)
something in between by melissa de la cruz (filipina-american mc)
prom queen perfect by clarisse david (filipino mc/li)
keeping the distance by clarisse david (filipino mc/li)
ink and ashes by valynne e. maetani (japanese-american mc)***
noteworthy by riley redgate (chinese-american mc, japanese-american li)***
girl on the verge by pintip dunn (thai-american mc)***
the lines we cross by randa abdel-fattah (afghan-australian mc)
queens of geek by jenn wilde (chinese-australian mc also bi!)
cloudwish by fiona wood (vietnamese-australian mc)
the lost & found by katrina leno (half-indian mc)
the sun is also a star by nicola yoon (korean-american mc)
tiny pretty things by sona charaipotra and dhonielle clayton (half-korean mc, korean-american li)***
american panda by gloria chao (taiwanese -american mc, japanese-american li)*
starfish by akemi dawn bowman (half-japanese mc)* ***
love, hate, & other filters by samira ahmed (indian-american mc)* ***
outrun the moon by stacey lee (chinese-american mc and li)***
the girl from everywhere by heidi heilig (half-chinese mc, persian li)***
not your sidekick by c.b. lee (half-chinese/half-vietnamese mc also bi) (trans rep in side character who will be mc in sequel)
want by cindy pon (taiwanese mc and li)***
a crown of wishes by roshani chokshi (indian mc’s/ship)***
warcross by marie lu (chinese mc, japanese li)***
when the moon was ours by anna-marie mclemore (pakistani mc also trans!)
legend by marie lu (mongolian mc)***
the lynburn legacy by sarah rees brennan (part-japanese mc)***
the epic crush of genie lo by f.c. yee (chinese-american mc and li)* ***
rebel seoul by axie oh (korean mc, korean li)* ***
note: i haven’t read all of these, and i’m not sure of how much romance are in some of these, especially some of the ones that are to be released
also note: @asianya is a good resource for books with asian protagonists and has more recs
last note: you may have noticed that i didn’t include some of the popular ones; that was probably on purpose :)
titsay
kianamaiart
baratheonpilled
pixelskylines
izzy806
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