My Favorite LGBTQ+ Books 🏳️‍🌈🏳‍🌈

As you all might know, it's June which mean it's Pride month! 🏳‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 Pride Month is the month where we celebrate the lives of those people part of the LGBTQ+ community. I read a few new LGBTQ+ books this month, and I've read many from before as well. I read one of the books I am going to mention like 2-3 days ago only, and yes, I liked that book that much for it to make it onto my favourites instantly). 

I thought if I can make my bullet journal pride-themed I can also do a blog post on my favourite LGBTQ+ Books! Now this list would not specifically contain only LGBTQ+ romance. It'll have a book that showcases the LGBTQ+ community even though the main plot does not revolve around their romance. 

Most of the LGBTQ+ books I have read on Wattpad, and I might be making a recommendation on that soon, but all of the books I am going to mention here are the ones that are actually published books. 

1. Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston 

"History, huh? Bet we could make some"

When I first dived into this book, I did not have any sort of expectations, and it was a way to relieve stress while studying for my science exam, but this book got me hooked right after the first chapter. Alex Claremont-Diaz, happens to be the First Son of the United States and Prince Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountbatten-Windsor (A heck of a lot of typical English middle names)  happens to be the Prince of England, and they fall in love. The story plot goes from childhood crushes to enemies to fake friends to real friends to friends with benefits to lover, and it's such a rollercoaster ride. Some scenes are just so cute, and in some scenes, you will close the book because we read from Alex's POV, and he's stupid and embarrassing. Alex also only has 2 brain cells, out of which one goes to Politics and the other one on Henry. 

Side characters are so fun also, my favourite being Ellen Claremont-Diaz, President of the United States. There's a scene in the book where you will literally want to stand up and lap for this lady because she's just simply fantastic. This book is just filled with emotions, and Casey McQuiston does such a great job at making it work. This book was an entirely new concept, nothing like this written before, and most of us cannot relate to being royals or of that high standards, but still, Casey makes it such a relatable and fun read. 

I definitely recommend picking and diving into this book if you haven't already and start loving the characters of this series "on purpose." 

You can check out my complete review of Red, White and Royal Blue here - Red White and Royal Blue

2. In Deeper Waters by F.T Lukens

"How Long? Until you tell me to let go."

I only read this book a few days ago, and I had been waiting for its release for a while. So a bit of storytime before I get into the actual plot of the book. When I went to buy this book off amazon, this book was so damn expensive. I could have bought 3 books for the same price this book was! So I did buy the three other books and had to put this one on hold. Now usually, I find a way to read books for free or for a lesser price somehow, but this book wasn't available at a lower anywhere. However, finally, after days and days of research, my friends told me about this stunning website, and I finally got this book for a lower price. Yeah, that's the whole story. 

Many people might get into this because of their love for pirates because I saw many people, including me, who got into a book for the same reasons. Now I'm just going to clear the air; this book is not a Pirate/Prince romance if that is what you are expecting. Pirates play somewhat a vast role but do not expect this to be a period piece with pirate and prince gay romance. This book is a High Fantasy Romance with one of the main characters being a merman. People are probably going to be shocked when I say I have never read a book with a mermaid or merman in it. The only time I had read about a Mermaid was when I was a kid reading Ariel. We follow the story of Prince Tal, who has magic but has to hide it and on his first coming-of-age tour, he happens to get himself in trouble. Athlen, who happens to be a merman, meets Tal when he's in a bit of trouble himself, and they just happen to confide in each other and fall in love with each other. 

This book made me cry (I am not sure if it was this book or my AP exam) and laugh. It has some cute scenes and some so heart-wrenching scenes. The side characters were made so we could hate them yet love them for me. I loved Prince Tal's siblings but yet disliked them at the start and the middle. This book is such a journey, and you should definitely check it out and do not get discouraged if the prices are high. 

3. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

"I told you I like your stupid face."

I have written about this book so many times on this blog and have said it thousands of time before that this book displays such diversity, and people love this book for it. Out of the six main characters in this book, 3 are part of the LGBTQ+ community. Jesper and Nina being bisexual, and Wylan being gay. Jesper and Wylan have to be one of the best ships ever! Now many show stans might ship Jesper and Milo the Goat, but Wylan will be cuter! 

Since this blog post is about LGBTQ+, I would only talk about that aspect of the book. Though I will link my full Six of Crows review if you want to check that out! To summarise, this book is about six characters who come together for different reasons but the same need (Kaz Brekker threatening them most times.) Wylan happens to be there only for leverage against the person who hired them, but he took the hearts of all the readers and as well as Jesper, who is a sharpshooter of the group. Jesper and Wylan together just make such a great fun couple. 

Nina is a heartrender, and she is in a relationship with Matthais. I do not want to spoil the book for anyone who hasn't read it, so I am just going to leave Nina at that because her story has a lot of spoilers for the next series King of Scars. So if you haven't read this book before the release of the show, you have to get your hands on this book soon. 

4.The Eldest Curse by Cassandra Clare

"My Warlock boyfriend accidentally founded a demon cult."

Anyone who has read or seen my blog knows how big a Shadowhunter fan I am. Half of my personality was developed by these books, and the Shadowhunter series also happened to be the first time I ever read about an LGBTQ+ couple. Magnus and Alec were my second best couple after Clace when I first read the books, but when I re-read the series, I realised why many people do not like Clace that much, and Malec became my best ship. Then Cassandra did us all a favour and released a book series for Malec! The Eldest Curse revolves around the adventures of Malec. 

The third book in this series is yet to be released, but the first two books are just so good. Magnus is an immortal warlock, and Alec is a mortal shadowhunter. Alec is tied by his shadowhunter law and his parents to not be with Magnus, and yet they overcome all of that and are together. These books are just so wholesome. Without spoiling anything, I want to point out that Shadowhunter chronicles will be coming to an end after finishing another series (which will also centre around an LGBTQ+ couple), and we will not get to see Magnus and Alec separated. In our mind, Malec always lives together. 

If you haven't read this series, I cannot emphasise it enough times that you should pick it up, even if to just see the story of Magnus and Alec playing out. 

 

That's all for the Top LGBTQ+ books that I have read. I also have a long-standing list of books that I have to read, so I thought, why not add those books to the list. Now I haven't read them, so I am just going to summarize them from the information I already have. So here are my top LGBTQ+ books I can't wait to read. 

1. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

This book has been released in June, but I have yet to read this. Red, White and Royal Blue was so good, and I just love McQuiston's writing. People have been excited about this book for so long, including me, but I have been so busy, and I just want to read this. 

August is a girl who doesn't believe in love and thinks she has to make her way through life alone, but then she sees Jane on the subway. Jane doesn't only happen to look like a 1970 punk rocker but is actually displaced in time. August will do anything in her will to help Jane, but she might have to go through things she's trying to escape. 

2. Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I hadn't really heard about this book that much until it was all over Booktok. Every Reel I watched featured Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and I want to see what's the hype about. 

So I decided to get a go at this book but still haven't come around reading it.  

Evelyn Hugo is a famous actress and wants to tell her story to someone. She chooses an unknown magazine reporter, Monique Grant, for this job. Evelyn tells the story of her life in fame, her seven husbands and friendships and love. Evelyn and Monique's life gets entangled in many ways by the end of the story.

3. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

A part of me is very excited about this book, yet a part of me doesn't want to read it. It's obvious in the title that they are going to die, which means I'll spend an entire day depressed. It's a big dilemma.  It also got quite popular on Booktube and Booktok. Everyone was reading it, and I would, too, if I didn't know they die at the end. 

Matteo and Rufus are two complete strangers but meet each other for the first time on September 5, when they realize they are both going to die at the end of the day. They meet together through an app known as The End Day and try to make their last day as spectacular as they can. If you are that YOLO type of person, then this book is pretty much for you. 

There are other books like Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman and Simon VS the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, which I do want to read. Still, I have watched the movies before reading them, and so I am not that excited about the books.