Tag Archives: Coming Out Themes

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of coming out themes. See also Outing and Homophobia.

Role Playing by Cathy Yardley

Maggie is an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old hermit. But when her college-aged son makes her a deal―he’ll be more social if she does the same―she can’t refuse. She joins a new online gaming guild led by a friendly healer named Otter. So that nobody gets the wrong idea, she calls herself Bogwitch. Otter is Aiden, a fifty-year-old optimist using the guild as an emotional outlet from his family drama caring for his aging mother while his brother plays house with Aiden’s ex-fiancée. Bogwitch and Otter become fast virtual friends, but there’s a catch. Bogwitch thinks Otter is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Biphobia & public outing (on-page)
  • Sexism discussed
  • Divorce discussed
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Physical injury (broken foot)
  • Death of a parent from cancer recounted
  • Fatal car accident recounted

Jeremiah by Jayce Ellis

Jeremiah Stewart’s sexuality is no one’s business. Not that he’s hiding it. When—if—he finds the right one, he’ll absolutely introduce him to Mom. But a late-night brush with a sexy stranger in too much lip gloss has him rethinking nearly everything… To Collin Galloway, direction is a four-letter word. Sure, he hates his job, he hates living with his parents and he really hates watching everyone move on without him. But he doesn’t know what he wants to do, long-term, and he won’t figure it out by thirsting over Jeremiah, the superhot, superintense paramedic who is suddenly everywhere Collin looks. When Jeremiah’s… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & coming out themes
  • Parental infidelity mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy mentioned (secondary character)
  • Emesis (off-page)
  • Allergic reaction
  • Physical assault (protagonist’s brother fights him when he comes out as gay)

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed. That is, until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way. When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other—and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Coming out themes
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Homelessness mentioned

Lover Birds by Leanne Egan

When Isabel Williams moves to Liverpool, she criticises seemingly everything in Eloise Byrne’s life – her city, her accent, her trademark boldness – so if, when she catches Isabel staring, Eloise feels her pulse race, it must be because they hate each other. It surely couldn’t be for any other reason, could it? Eloise needs to get her ADHD under control in time for A-Levels, but when she meets Isabel, school becomes the least of her concerns. What begins as outright contempt turns into an oddly satisfactory rivalry, but for their rivalry to shift further into romance, their relationship must withstand Isabel’s classism, Eloise’s distrust, and whatever secrets their friends are hiding from them..

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment
  • Lesbophobia & slurs
  • Coming out themes
  • Alcohol consumption

The Prospects by K.T. Hoffman

Hope is familiar territory for Gene Ionescu. He has always loved baseball, a sport made for underdogs and optimists like him. He also loves his team, the minor league Beaverton Beavers, and, for the most part, he loves the career he’s built. As the first openly trans player in professional baseball, Gene has nearly everything he’s ever let himself dream of—that is, until Luis Estrada, Gene’s former teammate and current rival, gets traded to the Beavers, destroying the careful equilibrium of Gene’s life. Gene and Luis can’t manage a civil conversation off the field or a competent play on it, but in the close confines… Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia mentioned & deadnaming recounted
  • Coming out themes
  • Alcohol consumption & smoking mentioned (secondary character)
  • Parent with alcoholism recounted
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Surgery & needles mentioned
  • Hospitalisation for fainting from dehydration after a panic attack
  • Minor sport injury (secondary character)
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Car accident recounted*

*Context : A protagonist had a panic attack while driving. Mentions of scars from top surgery, and the use of needles for testosterone injections and ear piercings. A protagonist is adopted by his uncle after his alcoholic mother abandoned him as a child.

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the World’s Greatest Ally title locked down. She’s never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There’s Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen’s biases in check. And then there’s Lili—newly out and newly thriving with a cool new squad of queer college friends. Imogen’s thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that she’s finally visiting Lili on campus, she’s bringing her ally A game. Any supp.. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Biphobia & internalised biphobia
  • Coming out & outing (theme)
  • Alcohol consumption

The Long Run by James Acker

Sebastian Villeda is over it. Over his rep. Over his bros. Over being “Bash the Flash,” fastest sprinter in South Jersey. His dad is gone, his mom is dead, and his stepfather is clueless. Bash has no idea what he wants out of life. Until he meets Sandro. Sandro Miceli is too nice for his own good. The middle child in an always-growing, always-screaming Italian family, Sandro walks around on a broken foot to not bother his busy parents. All he wants is to get out and never look back. When fate—in the form of a party that gets busted—brings these two very different boys together, neither of them could’ve predicted finding a love that … Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & slurs
  • Hate crime
  • Coming out & forced outing
  • Child abuse (on-page, secondary chracter)
  • Death of a parent from cancer
  • Physical assault with knife
  • Bullying

Chasing Pacquiao by Rod Pulido

Self preservation. That’s Bobby’s motto for surviving his notoriously violent high school unscathed. Being out and queer would put an unavoidable target on his back, especially in a Filipino community that frowns on homosexuality. It’s best to keep his head down, get good grades, and stay out of trouble. But when Bobby is unwillingly outed in a terrible way, he no longer has the luxury of being invisible. A vicious encounter has him scrambling for a new way to survive–by fighting back. Bobby is inspired by champion Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao to take up boxing and challenge his tormentor. Then Pacquiao publicly… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & slurs
  • Hate crime
  • Coming out & forced outing
  • Child abuse (on-page, secondary chracter)
  • Death of a parent from cancer
  • Physical assault with knife
  • Bullying

Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See

Less than a year away from graduation, seventeen-year-old Joy is too busy overachieving to be worried about relationships. She’s determined to be Caldwell Prep’s first disabled valedictorian. And she only has one person to beat, her academic rival Nathaniel. But it’s senior year and everyone seems to be obsessed with pairing up. One of her best friends may be developing feelings for her and the other uses Caldwell’s anonymous love-letter writer to snag the girl of her dreams. Joy starts to wonder if she has missed out on a quintessential high school experience. She is asexual, but that’s no reason she can’t experience… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Acephobia including mentions of a teenager being disowned by queerphobic parents
  • Forced outing & coming out themes
  • Sexual assault (nonconsensual kiss)
  • Parental divorce discussed
  • Asthma attack
  • Mentions of fertility & premature labour

Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore

New York City, 1922. Nicolás Caraveo, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Minnesota, has no interest in the city’s glamor. Going to New York is all about establishing himself as a young professional, which could set up his future—and his life as a man—and benefit his family. Nick rents a small house in West Egg from his 18-year-old cousin, Daisy Fabrega, who lives in fashionable East Egg near her wealthy fiancé, Tom—and Nick is shocked to find that his cousin now goes by Daisy Fay, has erased all signs of her Latina heritage, and now passes seamlessly as white. Nick’s neighbour in West Egg is a mysterious young man… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical racism & colourism
  • Period-typical transphobia & homophobia
  • Period-typical sexism
  • Coming out themes
  • Cheating mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & gambling
  • Emesis
  • Gun violence
  • Boating accident
  • Mentions of soldier’s military experiences in WW2