It’s LGBTQ+ History Month, and as a proud member of the community myself, it’s the perfect reason to celebrate. Now, there are endless ways to celebrate. From parades to parties to events, the world is your oyster. However, one of my personal favorite ways to honor the month is to crack open the spines of the queer books that are near and dear to my heart.
I’ve spent years curating this list, so if you’re looking for anything similar to celebrate, here are my five favorites with as few spoilers as humanly possible!
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
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If you’re a fan of drama, semi-realistic fiction, and celebrity backstories, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is the book for you.
The novel follows two compelling women: a journalist set to write the autobiography of a famous old Hollywood actress and the actress whose story she’s preparing to tell. It’s a story told in two different time frames, which I absolutely adore as a narrative technique, and it keeps readers perfectly on their toes.
It’s also a rather masterful portrait of bisexuality, which I personally think is somewhat rare. It’s easy to try to put bisexual people in boxes they don’t fit in, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo challenges that at every turn. Also, Evelyn Hugo is an absolutely fabulous, if somewhat tragic and multifaceted, character, and I positively adore her.
- All for the Game
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I’m going to be transparent: All for the Game is a series, not a book. Plus, it does have some heavy content warnings, but I would be remiss in my duty if I didn’t mention it as one of my favorite pieces of queer literature ever.
I don’t know what possessed Nora Sakavic, the author, to combine college sports and the mafia, but I’m so glad she did. It’s a storyline that keeps you on your toes. You might think you know what she’s going to do next, and then she completely subverts your expectations.
One of the most standout characteristics of All for the Game, apart from the absolutely unhinged plot, is the characters. They all have their issues, and yet they are so evidently thought out and lovable. The most distinct, though, has to be the narrator. Neil Josten is such a perfect unreliable narrator. He has such a particular worldview and perspective that you don’t even realize what you don’t know, and I love that.
Overall, I would definitely recommend the series, just not without making sure you’re prepared for the content. Then again, the Yakuza is a major player in the series, so that should say it all.
- A Treachery of Swans
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If you’re looking for something more in the fantasy realm, A Treachery of Swans has to be my recommendation. It’s a play on the story of Swan Lake, with a morally questionable main character who turns her childhood friend into a swan to take her place.
Watching the relationship develop is absolutely one of my favorite parts of the novel, especially because it’s so layered. The dynamic between the two leads is so fascinating to explore, and it was a really enjoyable read.
The overall environment of the book is also incredibly interesting, with a magic system and history that feels thought out. I hate it when I read a fantasy book that feels like the author slapped some magic in the story and called it a day, but A Treachery of Swans doesn’t read like that at all. It feels like A. B. Poranek genuinely loved the story, and that really does make all the difference.
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club
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I wish I could read this book for the first time again. I think about it all the time; Malinda Lo truly captured so much, both emotionally and historically, with Last Night at the Telegraph Club. In theory, it’s a simple story. It’s about two girls falling in love in 1950s California. However, if you look even a touch closer, it’s so much more than that.
With the main character being a Chinese American girl in the 1950s who dreams of working in the aerospace industry, it’s as much about romance as it’s about racism, sexism, and the way the country treated anyone who wasn’t seen as perfectly ideal. McCarthyism and the Red Scare are prominent elements of the story, as are the numerous raids on gay bars and safe spaces for queer people in the era.
It’s truly a beautiful story, and it tugs at my heartstrings every time I read it. Believe me, I’ve read it a lot.
- The Raven Cycle
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While this list is in no particular order, this is a case of me saving the best for last. I fear I’ll never be over this series. A glance at my Goodreads will expose me for rereading these books a ridiculous number of times in this year alone. I can’t help it, though. Maggie Stiefvater’s writing style and character development just scratch an itch in my brain.
I think what’s so special about The Raven Cycle, apart from the delicious wording, is that it has a little bit of something for everyone. At its barest form, it’s a coming-of-age story about a group of close-knit friends trying to find a dead Welsh king, and yet it’s so much more than that.
It’s a cutesy high school romance while simultaneously being about facing supernatural horrors. It’s eating pizza at a run-down diner while tracking energy on ley lines. It’s so many things at once, and yet they all tie together.
The characters also mean so much to me. The main five characters have the kind of friendship that matters, the kind that blurs the line between friendship and family. They’re also all so fleshed-out and so distinct in their personalities, and I’m being completely honest when I say that I think about them all the time.
If you can’t tell by now, I love these books with all my heart. I hope that if you go check them out, you fall in love with at least one of them in the same way. They’re all stories about friendship and love and the importance of existing, and I hope that those themes find their way into your life too, because you deserve it just as much.
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