LGBTQ+ Literature Recommendations

Everyone, Read The One Who Eats Monsters by Casey Matthews. It's a gritty urban fantasy lesbian romance between Naomi, a republican senator's daughter, and Ryn, essentially an elder god in human form. It's got cute romance, great action, and lovable characters. I heartily recommend it. It's free on kindle unlimited so you don't have much to lose but time.

Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann is wonderful - the main character is biromantic asexual

I've had The Company of Death recommended to me a few times. I've heard good things but most of the praise directed towards me is about the representation which... always makes me a bit nervous. Dont get me wrong, I want my gay books, but I hate when friends hype me up for something with excellent representation, but not good story or writing. I know the author via You Tube so I like her. Anyone else recommend?

Also, recently read the first book; Soulbound: A Ferry of Bones and Gold. I got it on Audible. Its... ok. Kind of frustrating. Sets itself up as a Supernatural FBI kind of thing but it never really focuses on the mystery and any investigating. The set up is that there are ritual sacrifices around New York and a god missing and other cool elements but it never feels like it does much with them. And what little there is is the character showing up to a location or someone else telling him to go there, he gets told things and pinballs elsewhere, and we get repeat hints of his tragic very big mistake backstory.

Which, like, it has the makings of a decent supernatural crime thriller. But it faulters in places a professional editor would have caught. The MC does little of his own action in the plot to make me like him and instead pinballs around. The mystery doesnt have any clues or suspects so I cant wonder who it is, not like theres a Le Reveal anyway. The worldbuilding doesnt get enough development since they only give the same surface level vague descriptions of the same concepts every time x thing comes up, but never going the next level deeper.

Rule of Thumb I believe most fantasy novels should have is establish rules early and either subvert them to explore the concepts deeper, or teach the audience well enough that they know the rules and can figure out what will happen quicker because of it. Frustratingly, they tease the larger world building over and over with the same explanations (Lead character did a bad in a 30 Day War in the middle east) and never even giving us new clues or giving us a slightly deeper understanding before the last act suddenly drops a fuck ton of exposition to set up the rest of the series.

The romance feels like it gets the most focus from the characters interacting, but it doesnt get much development besides "growing feelings" between them and the plot/prose doesn't give me much on WHY they're feeling attracted. Heck, the entire reason they're paired off is literally a Divine Intervention of an Oracle demanding they stay together. The lead is built up on a "Too emotionally damaged to date and traveling too much to hope for more than one night stands", but then They're moving in together in the last chapter and I dont get why this is anything deeper than fuck buddies for him.

It's bad. But also a kind of bad I could see someone liking in spite of it if they don't care too much. It needed a structural editor. I just wish it had more to offer than... we have a gay lead and he has a sexual relationship in the story.

Edited by InkDagger on May 25th 2019 at 1:23:19 AM

Does anyone know of any good fantasy or sci-fi stories with major Trans characters? I've read Dreadnought and Nemesis, and they were flawed but fun, but sadly I'm not familiar with more fun stories to read with major Trans characters...

Just here to plug Sunny Moraine's work. Enbies represent.

Thank you for sharing

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas is about a gay trans boy. I haven't had a chance to read it, but it's on my list to check out.

(EDIT: forgot an arrow there, woops.)

Edited by Matues on Jun 18th 2021 at 2:19:22 AM

Read This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel (might've gotten that wrong) a while ago. A 4-part tale about a trans child and how her family deals with it. It features friendship, heartbreak, danger, and a pretty realistic take on a family with various amounts of 'weird'. (Plus, the parents are actually supportive for once.)

With the Whateley Universe, it might be easier to list the stories without major trans characters. Morpheus's stories are usually a good read (Imp and Karma being his major non-TG characters). ElrodW's stories are also well-written. These may not be to your taste if you're bored of or don't like stories about super-powered teens.

Fraternity by Andy Mientus is out! I think of it as the Great American Novel disguised as a pulpy tropey YA Occult Drama Boarding School Romance. Two out of the thfour central characters are people of colour, there are two trans people in the background eventually and momentarily as cool or kickass, and a few paragraphs dedicated to the parallel struggles of race, orientation, and disability that emerges from a high-pressure intersectional situation context. It gets literally political as in government-political as the bisexual guy's girlfriend is the daughter of a Republican senator or something.

DREADNOUGHT by April Daniels is a fantastic superhero novel with a transwoman protagonist. She's also a lesbian.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jan 9th 2023 at 8:12:11 AM

I got turned off it because the first few chapters has her constantly dealing with transphobes. Does that get better?

For a LGBT Literature Recommendation that I finished reading, I'd recommend The Song of Achilles. It's a retelling of The Iliad from Patroclus' point of view which heavily focuses on his relationship with Achilles which starts off as a friendship before becoming a romance.

Well... yes and no. Dany does get a support system of sorts and a found family but her family doesn't change. Neither does a major jerkass member of the Legion Pacifica.

Edited by akanesarumara on Oct 22nd 2023 at 9:57:03 PM

Just finished Her Majestys Royal Coven and am on the second book, it's a pretty good urban fantasy that deals with LGBTQ+ issues, as well as inclusivity and lack thereof in general, amidst plenty of epic spellslinging action scenes. A transgender teen witch is central to the plot, and one major character is a lesbian who runs a rival coven that's far less traditionalist than the title one.

Just gonna warn that the villain is a massive transphobe, and there are a few chapters from her screwed-up viewpoint. I'm pretty sure she's based on J K Rowling.

Virtus Draconis does feature a queer-coded character or two. I won't name spoilers but this is a good book to read.

Edited by FamFamFamFamFam on Mar 23rd 2024 at 11:24:20 AM