Featuring Queer Identities
This category is the loosest of them all, requiring only that the book feature a character with a queer identity somewhere in the story. They can be side characters, showing up only briefly in one book in a series. I felt the need to include this page as it is important to have diversity in all novels and therefore having a catalogue to celebrate these stories is valuable.
When I add new books to this page, I will add them to the top of the list to make it easier for you to spot them. Also, please let me know if you have any recommendations that are not on this list! I am always looking to grow my collection.
Love, Lewes by D. J. Griffin (My Review)
This book is a cozy romance featuring plenty of small town vibes and found family. While the main romance featured is a cis-gendered straight couple, there are plenty of queer identities in the background, including married gay men and a pansexual bartender. This is by an author in my local area and I 100% recommend.
StormClan’s Folly (Warriors) by Erin Hunter (My Review)
I’ve been reading the Warriors series since I was in fifth grade. I’ve always hoped that some of my favorite characters could be gay (and used to write fanfiction of this when I was a kid). This book earned a place in my showcase for bringing gay Warriors to the canon series. They weren’t in the book much and were hardly main characters. But they were there.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (My Review)
I read this book as part of my book club. It isn’t one that I would have picked up on my own, so I was surprised to see that there was a lesbian character and a gay character. They were both tertiary characters, which is why the book is being listed on this showcase page. While I didn’t enjoy it, you might.
His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire) by Naomi Novik
I absolutely love this series. It is the Napoleonic Wars with dragons. It made it onto this list due to one of the side main characters being gay. He shows up in book one but it is not revealed to the reader that he is gay until several books later. I just wish he’d been given more screen time.
Burn by Heath Gibson
This book features a gay side character in the main character’s brother. The main story is about a high school volunteer firefighter grappling with teen issues while having a gay brother. It was an okay read, but I wasn’t in love with the story.
Sonata (The Songs of Eiredel) by Stella and Vincent Lunaire (My Review)
This book is a slow burn romantasy featuring an enemies to lovers romance. It has a queer-norm world where multiple queer identities exist (nonbinary characters, different sexual identities, etc). It was a great read and I am looking forward to the rest of the series.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
This book lands on this list because the gay romance in it is featured in a fanfiction that the main character is writing. This fanfiction goes on to become Carry On by the same author, which is on the Showcase page so I encourage you to check that out too.
Ready Player One (Series of the same name) by Ernest Cline
In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I will tell you that this book made it on the list because it features a lesbian character. I have yet to read book two in the set, so I hope she gets more screen time there.
If Angels Burn (Darkyn) by Lynn Viehl
This is a vampire romance series that has a sequel series called Kyndred. I’ve read a few of the original Darkyn books and discovered two of the side characters are gay. I have not read enough of the series to know if they get their own book.