Looking for a new book to read? Maybe one with queer characters?

Well, you are in the right place.

Queer literature is a book that is often made by and for the queer community that includes LGBTQ characters. Typically in these books the central focus is exploring the characters’ relationships with each other and other themes typically involved with the community like belonging. 

And as someone who almost exclusivly reads LGBTQ books, besides the very few outliers here or there, I feel rather qualified to talk about this subject.

So, because of my definitely qualifying qualifications, here are some books with queer characters that I loved and would recommend.

*Books that have Content Warnings (CW) on their Goodreads and/or front few pages of the book are included at the end of the review*

The Darkness Outside Us by Elliot Schrefer

The Darkness Outside Us was my favorite read from 2023. I read it for a book club and I instantly fell in love with the book as Nina Simone played softly in my headphones. 

The book’s concept is two boys from rival countries are stuck on a spaceship together in search of a ship with a triggered distress call. They must learn to work with each other despite their differences and as mysteries about the ship unfolds.

It is an absolutely mind boggling book. 

There are six sections of the book, section one making up a huge chunk of the book, and in each section you find out about something new and unsettling about the ship and the mission, letting an intriguing mystery unfold before your eyes.

By the end of section one it has you asking how there is so much of the book left until you find out everything is ‘fine’ at the beginning of section two.

The book does an excellent job at creating suspense that keeps you hanging onto every word with bated breath.

One of my favorite parts of the books besides the mystery is the characters. 

There are very few characters in the book, only five or six in the entire story, which I enjoyed. This book was best with such a minimal cast. (I often like when there are lots of characters but there are so few characters you get to know the ones you have on a deeper level then you get to otherwise.) With the minimal cast it helps create the feeling of isolation, similar to how they are isolated in space.

While this book has consumed almost every waking thought for three years, the one thing that bothers me about the book is how unpredictable it is, which is so often a good thing, I just like being able to figure things out myself while reading. 

I was barely able to predict the ending when I read it. So while it was enjoyable to not get to predict all of the book, I also didn’t like not knowing what was going to happen next. 

That being said, it’s such a good book.

The second book The Darkness Between Us was released in September of 2024 and I would recommend these books to anyone who likes ‘creepy space’ (otherwise known as space exploration fiction) with a strong romance plot and a jarring mystery.

5/5 stars

Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Under The Whispering Door was one of the most comforting books I’ve read in a while. 

The story revolves around Wallace Price, a man who recently died and is taken to a checkpoint in between life and death, a tea shop called Charon’s Crossing. There he is supposed to come to terms with the fact that he is dead so that he can move on and (spoiler alert that’s not really a spoiler because it’s on the back of the actual book): it takes him a really long time to accept he’s dead.

The book handles difficult themes well. It talks about anxiety, death and grief in a way that is digestible and is a reminder that death is quite a tricky thing and people grieve in different ways. 

I read the book in about a week and I loved every second of it. Especially the way that Wallace’s character develops because at the beginning he was such a jerk and I really didn’t like him. But then at the end I loved him so much and was crying buckets when I finished the book.

The one complaint I have with the book at all is that I predicted the ending.
I distinctly remember not even 100 pages in writing my predictions in my notes app and sending them to my mom (who also read the book) and by the end of the book all of my predictions came true.

That being said, it does not make it a boring book. So much happens character development alone that it stays interesting and keeps you rooting for the characters up until the end. 

I recommend this book if you want a rather cozy story that leaves you better off for reading it in the end.

CW: conversations around death/dying; suicide

4/5 stars

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

I originally read this book because I was bored and thought the cover looked cool. That was really it. The plot also looked interesting enough that I figured I should give it a shot.

I’m very happy that I did. I flew through it, finishing it in only a couple of days and it is easily one of my favorite reads of the year. 

The simple explanation is that at the end of the world, a religious cult is rising, trying to kill all the non-believers. In response, a group of queer teenagers try to take them down. 

The main character is Benji and he is supposed to be the cult’s savior. He is supposed to be the person to reset the world, helping all the cult members reach salvation and condemning the non-believers to live in hell. 

The only problem is that Benji doesn’t want that. His dad was just killed, his mom won’t accept him as Benji and he’s engaged to a boy he knew since he was brought to the cult as a kid. 

So, when the opportunity arises by accident, he joins a group of outsiders that operate out of the city’s LGBTQ center. It is the first time that Benji feels like he belongs somewhere and that he can truly be Benji. 

The book grapples with a lot of difficult things like religious trauma, transphobia, self acceptance and death. I feel like it does a great job of being aware of its themes while tackling it in a way that isn’t overwhelming like some other books can be.

My favorite part of the book has got to be the other characters, especially Nick who I ended up relating to the most by the end. All the characters feel so fleshed out and real. They have so many layers to them, especially within the main cast, that shows you not everything is as black and white and that people are multifaceted beings. 

My one gripe with this book is that I started to get confused in the last 20 pages. Like, it made basic sense what was happening. The book is ending and everything is wrapping up, but I was confused by what was actually happening happening. But, that could just be me dashing through the pages because it really picks up and I wanted everything to be okay to the extent that it could be.

Overall an enjoyable read. This book had amazing pacing and caused me to tear through the pages (but not actually because I read it digitally) to see what will happen next. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes things about cults, the end of the world and through all of that finding the place where you belong.

CW: violence, body horror, transphobia, abuse, self-injury, emetophobia (vomiting)

4.5/5 stars

Other queer books I highly recommend that I didn’t get to write a full review for:

–Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

–Loveless by Alice Oseman

–This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

–The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

–Yesterday Is History by Kosoko Jackson

–Full Shift by Jennifer Dugan

-What If It’s Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli

–The House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

I honestly struggled to write this review at times.

While I have a lot to say, especially about the books I choose to do a full review on, it’s hard to put those words on the page, especially if it is a book that has stuck with me or has had any sort of impact on me.

I remember reading all of these books and just falling in love with the worlds and characters and feeling happy when something good happens and then crying when something sad does. I became so involved with the stories that when I finished each book it felt like I was leaving something important behind.

I hope that if you, whoever is reading this now, choose to pick up any of these books and read it for yourself, you will fall in love with them just as much as I did. 

Happy reading.