25 Books That Should Be On Your TBR This Pride Month

June 1, 2021 | 12:00 PM

25 Books That Should Be On Your TBR This Pride Month

By Team Fierce Reads
25 Books That Should Be On Your TBR This Pride Month

Happy Pride Month, book lovers!

Can you think of a better way to celebrate Pride than stacking your TBR pile with incredible LGBTQ+ reads? We’ve got book recs for every genre—spooky paranormal, heart pounding thrillers, romantic contemporary, epic fantasy, moving memoir, and more—which means we have a book rec for every reader! Check out the full list now and don’t miss a single page.

PARANORMAL

The Fell of Dark by Caleb Roehrig

What's a boy to do—in Caleb Roehrig's YA paranormal romance The Fell of Dark—when his crush is a hot vampire with a mystery to solve?    

Ironspark by C.M. McGuire

A teen outcast must work together with new friends to keep her family and town safe from murderous Fae while also dealing with panic attacks, family issues, and a lesbian love triangle in C.M. McGuires's kick-butt paranormal YA debut.  

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

A trans boy determined to prove his gender to his conservative Latinx family summons a ghost who refuses to leave in Aiden Thomas's paranormal YA debut Cemetery Boys.  

What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo

Rose Szabo's thrilling debut is a dark fantasy novel about a teen girl who returns home to her strange, wild family after years of estrangement, perfect for fans of Wilder Girls. This exquisitely terrifying and beautiful tale will sink its teeth into you and never let go.  

THRILLER

The Friend Scheme by Cale Dietrich

Part thriller, part romance, The Friend Scheme is another twisty #ownvoices YA novel from Cale Dietrich, author of The Love Interest.    

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Gossip Girl meets Get Out in Ace of Spades, a YA contemporary thriller by debut author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé about two students, Devon & Chiamaka, and their struggles against an anonymous bully.  

She's Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard

An electric romance set against a rebel art scene sparks lethal danger for two girls in She's Too Pretty to Burn, an expertly plotted YA thriller by Wendy Heard.

 

Darling by K. Ancrum

A teen girl finds herself lost on a dangerous adventure in this YA thriller by the acclaimed author of The Wicker King and The Weight of the Stars—reimagining Peter Pan for today’s world.  

CONTEMPORARY

I Kissed Alice by Anna Birch

For fans of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and Fangirl, Anna Birch's I Kissed Alice is a romantic comedy about enemies, lovers, and everything in between.  

Love is for Losers by Wibke Brueggemann

In this wry and hilarious queer romantic comedy, fifteen-year-old Phoebe realizes that falling in love is maybe not just for losers.    

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

High school nemeses fall in love in this queer YA romcom perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Casey McQuiston.    

The Marvelous by Claire Kann

From the author of Let’s Talk About Love and If It Makes You Happy, this exuberant YA novel follows six teens locked together in a mansion, contending for a life-changing cash prize in a competition run by a reclusive heiress.  

Sasha Masha by Agnes Borinsky

As Alex grapples with his identity, he finds himself trying on dresses and swiping on lipstick in the quiet of his bedroom. He meets Andre, a gay boy who is beautiful and unafraid to be who he is. Slowly, Alex begins to realize: maybe his name isn't Alex at all. Maybe it's Sasha Masha.  

May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor

A trans boy enters a throw-down battle for the title of Homecoming King with the boy he dumped last summer in ZR Ellor's contemporary YA debut.    

It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland

In Miel Moreland's heartfelt young adult debut, It Goes Like This, four queer teens realize that sometimes you have to risk hitting repeat on heartbreak.    

The Sea is Salt and So Am I by Cassandra Hartt

I’ll Give You the Sun meets Normal People in Cassandra Hartt's The Sea Is Salt and So Am I, a stunning YA contemporary debut that asks if the secrets we keep and the people we love can change who we are.  

SCI-FI/FANTASY

Black Wings Beating by Alex London

In this first young-adult fantasy novel in a trilogy, Alex London launches a soaring saga about the memories that haunt us, the histories that hunt us, and the bonds of blood between us.  

Ruinsong by Julia Ember

In Julia Ember's dark and lush LGBTQ+ romantic fantasy Ruinsong, two young women from rival factions must work together to reunite their country, as they wrestle with their feelings for each other.  

In the Ravenous Dark by A.M. Strickland

A pansexual bloodmage reluctantly teams up with an undead spirit to start a rebellion among the living and the dead, in this dark YA fantasy by A.M. Strickland, author of Beyond the Black Door, whom Richard Kadrey calls “a storyteller of both grace and power.”  

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta

Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose—and falling for each other—in Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series.  

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

Set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Winner’s Trilogy, beloved author Marie Rutkoski returns with an epic LGBTQ romantic fantasy about learning to free ourselves from the lies others tell us—and the lies we tell ourselves.  

The Ballad of Ami Miles by Kristy Dallas Alley

A teen girl on a quest to find her long-lost mother finds herself on a journey of self-discovery in Kristy Dallas Alley's moving YA debut, The Ballad of Ami Miles.    

MAGICAL REALISM

The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore

When two teens discover that they were both sexually assaulted at the same party, they develop a cautious friendship through her family’s possibly magical pastelería, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, and the swallows returning to their hometown, in Anna-Marie McLemore's The Mirror Season.  

GRAPHIC NOVEL

Flamer by Mike Curato

It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes—but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.

MEMOIR

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.

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