LGBTQ Reading Recs

I know we’re heading toward the end of Pride Month, but it’s never too late to expand your reading to include more books with LGBTQ representation! In this post, I’ll be giving you some recommendations of books that feature characters across the spectrum of queer identities, based on the literary works, genres, and tropes you already know you like:

If you like Lovecraft, try Widdershins.

Love the cosmic horror vibes of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, but not so much a fan of the author’s overall bigotry? Check out Widdershins, the first book in Jordan L. Hawk’s Whyborne & Griffin series. Hawk borrows directly from Lovecraft’s tool kit—featuring the infamous Miskatonic University and a band of evil occultists. But there’s also a beautifully rendered gay love story that would probably have Lovecraft rolling in his grave.

…Or try Maplecroft.

Though the romantic relationship is less central in this book, Maplecroft by Cherie Priest also features queer characters in a Lovecract-inspired world. Priest’s novel reimagines the historical murderess Lizzie Borden as a hero fighting against eldritch monsters. When Lizzie’s actress girlfriend comes to visit and becomes mesmerized by a treasure drawn up from the deep, Lizzie must try to protect her without exposing the full extent of supernatural happenings plaguing their town. 

If you like Dracula, try A Dowry of Blood. 

Not all romantic relationships are healthy ones—especially if your partner is a narcissistic vampire who had only his own needs in mind when he turned you into his immortal companion. A Dowry of Blood reimagines Dracula and his brides as a messy, queer, polyamorous quartet. Though Constanta, Magdalena, and Alexi were brought together by Dracula’s desire, it is their love for each other that makes them realize they would be better off without their toxic and controlling sire.

If you like spooky folklore, try The City Beautiful.

Speaking of supernatural beings, somewhat less well-known than the vampire is the dybbuk—a spirit of the recently deceased who can possess the living in Jewish folklore. For too long, this fascinating creature has been underutilized in horror and fantasy stories, but Aden Polydoros corrects this in his debut YA novel The City Beautiful. In the midst of the 1893 Chicago World Fair, a young man named Alter finds himself possessed by the dybbuk of his murdered roommate. This frightening and intimate experience helps Alter to confront the feelings he’d been developing for his dead friend—and the attraction he now feels for the roguish thief Frankie.

If you like Charlotte Brontë, try The Wife in the Attic.

Did you love Jane Eyre but hate Mr. Rochester? Well, good news: the governess falls in love with the imprisoned wife, instead, in Rose Lerner’s The Wife in the Attic. In this loose reimagining of Charlotte Brontë’s novel, the two women connect over their shared Jewish heritage in a world still reeling from the Inquisition.

If you like mad scientists, try The Lawrence Browne Affair.

In this historical romance by genre master Cat Sebastian, Lawrence Browne, Earl of Radnor, is convinced that he has inherited the violent madness that runs in his family. Both a sense of guilt and anxiety about interacting with the outside world lead Lawrence to prefer a life of isolation, pursuing his scientific interest in explosive technology. But when conman Georgie Turner becomes Lawrence’s new secretary, the sparks between them flare brighter than the gunpowder in Lawrence’s experiments. Georgie introduces Lawrence both to fiery passion and a gentle love that helps him to finally accept himself, eccentricities and all.

If you like getting inside the head of a killer, try Base Notes.

Have you been intrigued with the mindset of a killer ever since reading Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”? Well, the protagonist of Lara Elena Donnelly’s Base Notes has an equally fascinating narrative voice while describing murder methods in intense detail—but not nearly as much guilt. Donnelly’s writing is so cleverly crafted that it may take you a good way into the book before you notice that this protagonist, Vic Fowler, is never gendered. Secretive about all personal details, Vic conceals this aspect of their identity as carefully as they obscure all traces of their handiwork. But however Vic identifies, they are clearly queer. Vic’s murderous machinations become entanged with romance when they pursue a polyamorous liaison with fellow starving artists Jane and Beau. Not everyone is cut out for the life of a murderer, however, and Vic may come to regret mixing business with pleasure.

If you like ghost stories, try Cemetery Boys.

Prefer characters who solve murders rather than commit them? Then you’ll love the brujo and ghost duo in Aiden Thomas’s YA novel Cemetery Boys. Yadriel comes from a family of brujos and brujas, where the type of magic one performs is divided by gender. As a young trans man, Yadriel is determined to prove himself capable of fulfilling the men’s role of summoning and releasing spirits. But the first spirit he summons is Julian, his high school’s resident bad boy. Together, the two must solve the mystery of what happened to Julian before any more teens get hurt. This sweet romance has a surprisingly happy ending, considering that one member of the pair starts off dead.

What books are you reading this month? Got any more recommendations to add to this list? Have something else you’d like a recommendation based off of? Let me know in the comments!