Category Archives: Queer Lit

Wonders of the Invisible World by Christopher Barzak

Aidan Lockwood lives in a sleepy farming town, day after unremarkable day. But when Jarrod, his former best friend, suddenly moves back home, Aidan begins to see clearly for the first time—not only to feelings that go beyond mere friendship, but to a world that is haunted by the stories of his past. Visions from this invisible world come to him unbidden: a great-grandfather on the field of battle; his own father, stumbling upon an unspeakable tragedy; and a mysterious young boy, whose whispered words may be at the heart of the curse that holds Aidan… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & homophobia

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story. As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a father mentioned
  • Murder
  • Torture mentioned
  • Poisoning
  • Kidnapping
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes

The Good Girls by Claire Eliza Bartlett

The troublemaker. The overachiever. The cheer captain. The dead girl. Like every high school in America, Jefferson-Lorne High contains all of the above. After the shocking murder of senior Emma Baines, three of her classmates are at the top of the suspect list: Claude, the notorious partier; Avery, the head cheerleader; and Gwen, the would-be valedictorian. Everyone has a label, whether they like it or not–and Emma was always known as a good girl. But appearances are never what they seem. And the truth behind what really happened to Emma may just be lying in plain sight… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Biphobia & slut-shaming
  • Statutory rape & sexual assault, grooming & teacher-student relationship
  • Disordered food & weight thoughts
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Death of a sibling recounted
  • Murder & gun violence

The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett

When Ekata’s brother is finally named heir, there will be nothing to keep her at home in Kylma Above with her murderous family. Not her books or science experiments, not her family’s icy castle atop a frozen lake, not even the tantalizingly close Kylma Below, a mesmerizing underwater kingdom that provides her family with magic. But just as escape is within reach, her parents and twelve siblings fall under a strange sleeping sickness. In the space of a single night, Ekata inherits the title of duke, her brother’s warrior bride, and ever-encroaching challengers from… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Attempted coerced marriage
  • Staged suicide
  • Emesis
  • Murder mentioned
  • Poisoning
  • Drowning
  • War themes

You Don’t Know Me but I Know You by Rebecca Barrow

There’s a box in the back of Audrey’s closet that she rarely thinks about. Inside is a letter, seventeen years old, from a mother she’s never met, handed to her by the woman she’s called Mom her whole life. Being adopted, though, is just one piece in the puzzle of Audrey’s life—the picture painstakingly put together by Audrey herself, full of all the people and pursuits that make her who she is. But when Audrey realizes that she’s pregnant, she feels something—a tightly sealed box in the closet corners of her heart—crack open, spilling her dormant fears and unanswered questions all over the life she loves… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Adoption (protagonist)
  • Teen pregnancy & abortion (protagonist)

This Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow

It doesn’t matter what the prize for the Sun City Originals contest is this year. Who cares that’s it’s fifteen grand? Who cares about a gig opening for one of the greatest bands to ever play this town? Not Dia, that’s for sure. Because Dia knows that without a band, she hasn’t got a shot at winning Sun City. Because ever since Hanna’s drinking took over her life, Dia and Jules haven’t been in it. And ever since Hanna left — well, there hasn’t been a band. It used to be the three of them, Dia, Jules, and Hanna, messing around and making music and planning for the future… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Toxic relationship recounted
  • Anxiety & magical thinking discussed
  • Alcoholism recovery with discussions of past alcohol abuse (protagonist)
  • Teen pregnancy & motherhood (protagonist)
  • Death of a boyfriend in a car accident recounted

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Transphobia & misgendering
  • Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
  • Rape & rape of a child
  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Child neglect & abandonment
  • Intimate partner violence & abuse
  • Eating disorder
  • Graphic attempted suicide, suicidal ideation & self-harm
  • Drug abuse
  • Graphic death of a child

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid book cover

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. When she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Bimisia
  • Homomisia
  • Lesbomisia
  • Forced outing
  • Paedophilia
  • Rape & statutory rape
  • Sexual assault & harassment
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic abuse
  • Cheating
  • Alcoholism, secondary character
  • Drug use
  • Suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Abortion
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Physical injury
  • Hospitalisation
  • Terminal breast cancer
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a partner
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of parents in a car accident
  • Blackmail
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The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained. When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sex work recounted
  • Graphic auditory & visual hallucinations (on-page)
  • Nightmares
  • Suicide & attempted suicide (on-page)
  • Self-injury (on-page) with mentions of intentional self-starvation
  • Physical injuries including burns & scars
  • Death of a friend & lover recounted
  • Death of a sister (on-page)
  • Death of a father from a fever illness (off-page)
  • Multiple graphic scenes of murder & attempted murder (on-page)
  • Mass murder & regicide mentioned
  • Knife & sword violence
  • Explosions
  • Fire including attempted murder by being burnt at the stake
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes including battle scenes, forced conscription & naval warfare
  • Animal death & dead bodies

Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

It’s not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old – including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire – Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most awesome high school musical. (less)

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Coming out themes
  • Homophobia & slurs
  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Bullying