Diana Recs LGBT+

This is going to be a constant In Progress list of my favorite YA recommendations.

Because I read too much YA. Save me


This weeks feature: LGBT+

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Historical. Regency road trip with pampered bisexual boy, his sister, and childhood crush. Hilarious and amazing. mlm

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Contemporay. Beautiful, hilarious, and like waaaay better than I thought it would be when I first read the summary. Truly a YA feminist manifesto. Got a little bit of lesbians, bi girls, trans girls, girls discovering their sexuality, girls discovering true friendship, girls discovering a government conspiracy, everything. Also the audiobook is narrated by Libba Bray and is amaaaaaaazing. wlw

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Fantasy. The gay Harry Potter we all needed. For bonus points, read Fangirl by Rainbow to understand where Simon Snow came from and how Rainbow answered all our hopes and dreams mlm

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Contemporary. Pretty typical YA coming out story, but so enjoyable and sweet. Also is being made into the movie Love, Simon and I am excite. mlm

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Contemporary. A most excellent book. It’s won a bunch of awards for a reason. Also the audio is Lin-Manuel Miranda. mlm

Every Day by David Levithan
Supernatural? Fantasy? Contemporary? One of the few books out there with a genderfluid MC. Got some typical YA high school romance parts but the rest is so intriguing and amazing. Also turning into a movie.

The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle) by Maggie Stiefvater
Supernatural high school prep boys in small town Virginia. I love it. The audio reader is fantastic. mlm and mlw

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
I’ve only listened to the audio and it is SO GOOD. Even in an interview John Green admitted that the audio improved the book like 100%. mlm and mlw


Okay, now I’m getting to LGBT+ books that aren’t my top recs but are decent

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
Very YA high school drama/coming out but goddammit there are so few genderfluid/trans MCs in popular literature. It does have some good points, some drama, some romance, some angst.

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
This book has wlw and that is, unfortunately, the least interesting part about it. But I still loved the hetero supernatural romances parts because I am a slut for that shit. Also features a character that is totally John Green.

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan 
(because David Levithan will fill the YA section with as much gay as possible. Thank you David)
The best thing about this book is that the two MCs are a gay boy and a lesbian girl and basically all their friends are queer and I just really appreciate that. Has some typical YA drama but did introduce me to San Francisco pride week. mlm, wlw

Lies my Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters
Has like the perfect example of an abusive relationship (which is not the main romance of the novel) and a MC who is Extremely Seventeen. Like all the YA I’ve read before was preparing me to handle just How Seventeen this girl is. But this is part of my trial to get more wlw literature into my life and I appreciate it. wlw