If you’ve ever looked for stories with queer protagonists or characters, you might have realised many popular suggestions don’t explore a range of queer perspectives. Although they’re always a good read, I wanted to explore some of the lesser talked about queer stories that hopefully might make it onto your TBR…

1. It Came From the Closet – Various Authors

Starting this list off with a book for the film fans, It Came From the Closet features authors who are all members of the LGBTQ+ community writing about the horror films that shaped them. These writings consider the connection between the horror genre and the queer experience and discover that there might be a much more direct correlation than you’d think. This one is a must-read for queer horror fans like myself.

“In this wonderful and only somewhat disturbing book (the subject is horror, after all), queer and trans writers explore the horror films that have shaped them and most reflected their own experiences. Horror, the anthology argues, while often full of misogyny and anti-trans, homophobic tropes, is also uniquely subversive and queer.” - Shondaland

2. Last Night at the Telegraph Club – Malinda Lo

Lily Hu - a teenager living in 1950s San Francisco, and daughter to Chinese immigrants begins to question her sexuality when she’s taken to a gay bar by her friend Kath. Last Night at the Telegraph Club might be one of the more well-known books on this list but it’s definitely worth the hype. This book follows its protagonist through fear, uncertainty, discovery and an embracing of sexuality. As someone who isn’t usually a fan of historical fiction, Last Night at the Telegraph Club is definitely an exception and one you’ll want to read more than once.

^{Last Night at the Telegraph Club is set in 1950s San Francisco}

3. The Price of Salt – Patricia Highsmith

For fans of the 2015 film Carol, you’ll want to check out The Price of Salt. Patricia Highsmith’s book which was published 63 years earlier was actually the book that inspired it, and was later republished under the same name as the film. The book explores a married woman’s unexpected romance with a woman she meets working at a shop, leading her to put everything on the line for her newfound love. If you’ve somehow managed to avoid the film up until now, I’d recommend reading The Price of Salt first.

4. The House in the Cerulean Sea – T J Klune

Although exploring the real issues and topics that come with being queer through literature is important, sometimes all you want in a book is a fantasy story with a queer protagonist. In The House in the Cerulean Sea, a pleasant, solitary man Linus Baker has his world turned upside down when he is tasked to visit six dangerous children to find out if they will bring about the end of the world. The great thing about this book is that it’s queerness isn’t the central plot point and is merely just a normal part of the story. If you’re looking for a cozy, fun read with lovely storytelling, The House in the Cerulean Sea is definitely one for you.

"A delightful tale about chosen families, and how to celebrate differences." - Library Journal

5. Cemetery Boys – Aiden Thomas

For fans of stories that mix the real with the fantastical, Cemetery Boys might be one for you. In this book, in a turn of events while attempting to prove his gender to the people around him, Yadriel inadvertently ends up summoning a ghost. Stories featuring trans characters are few and far between which makes Cemetery Boys all the more special. Instead of focusing on realism, Cemetery Boys manages to explore the genuine issues that can come with being trans, through the means of a fantasy ghost story. If you’re like me and you’re not as interested in reality as you are fantasy, Cemetery Boys is a must read. The book’s author, Aiden Thomas is transgender himself, so for people looking for queer stories they can trust with how LGBTQ+ matters are handled, books like this are a must read.

^{Cemetery Boys manages to explore the genuine issues that can come with being trans}

6. The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern

You might know Erin Morgenstern from her famous writing in The Night Circus. What you might be unaware of however, is that she also wrote the 2019 book, The Starless Sea eight years later.  The book follows the protagonist Zachary Rawlins who is a book enthusiast who one day, when delving through library shelves, finds a book he never expected - one detailing a memory from his past. As an added bonus, The Starless Sea features a romance between Zachary and another boy. Like Cemetery Boys, the story doesn’t centre around its queerness, but treats it as a normal part of Zachary’s life interweaved in Morgenstern’s captivating writing.

7. Love in the Big City – Sang Young Park

For those of you who are fans of realism and exploring the complexity of human connections, Love in the Big City might be more up your street. It follows the life of a man named Young whose romantic encounters often stem from Tinder matches. When even his closest friend finds love and moves on, Young must face his coldness and understand what it means to possibly find his one love. Sang Young Park emulates what it means to be queer in the 21st century, and I’m sure everyone who decides to read this will find some connection to Young’s character. The book is also translated from Korean, meaning anyone wishing to read it in its original language also has that option if they prefer to read the original.

^{Love in the Big City is set in Seoul, the heart of South Korea}

8. Tell Me How to Be – Neel Patel

First loves are notoriously memorable and often even painful to look back on. Tell Me How to Be perfectly captures this concept and looks at the added complications when the romance happens to be queer. What I love about this book is that it explores two entirely different perspectives- a mother and her son; and considers how change can completely flip a family’s dynamic. This book deeply explores both romantic and platonic relationships and is guaranteed to make you feel every emotion with it.

"At turns heartbreaking and uplifting...Neel Patel upends stereotypes, especially Indian-American masculinity. He's at his most remarkable when illuminating the experience of queer men making sense of their sexuality, and allowing themselves to hope for a happy ending with the men they love." - Buzzfeed 

9. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is arguably one of the most worthwhile books on this list. It looks at the life of a Vietnamese-American boy, writing letters to his mother who is unable to read. Although most of you will probably agree that nothing can beat reading a physical book, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is one of those that I would actually argue is better to listen to as an audiobook. It’s hard to capture the book’s beauty better than when it’s read to you by the author himself. Ocean Vuong manages to encapsulate his listeners completely within his writing, making you lose track of time with his beautiful, often heart-breaking descriptions of pain, love, childhood, and growing up.

^{On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is arguably better to listen to as an audiobook}

10. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V. E. Schwab

This book has been put at the bottom of the list because technically it’s not an LGBTQ+ book, but I’ve still included it here because it treats the protagonist’s sexuality as nothing out of the ordinary. The book narrates the effects on a woman who makes a deal with the Gods to be free. Unforeseeably however, she is then tricked into living forever, unable to be remembered by anyone for more than a few seconds, that is until she meets a man at a bookstore who remembers her. Addie’s story isn’t explored chronologically, meaning previous romances are often revealed in entire chapters. Granted, Addie LaRue’s main love interest is a man, but some of her romances are with women, which is not treated as something to address as out of the ordinary.

If you’re looking for a brilliant character to get attached to and aren’t as concerned with the LGBTQ+ aspect being a main plot point, I’d 100% recommend following Addie through her *very* long life.

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Eliza Walton  Broadcast Production| Undergraduate Student | England Hello, my name’s Eliza and I am a second-year student studying Broadcast Production here at QUB. In being part of the LGBTQ+ community, I’m very passionate about queer rights and seek to bring awareness to the experiences of young queer people across the UK and Ireland. My interest in broadcast has led to a passion in, and knowledge of LGBTQ+ media (especially film) and I love bringing these ideas and concepts into my writing.