15 LGBTQIA+ Books That Aren't About Coming Out

While talking about queer discrimination is important, sharing queer joy is, too.

1. Girl Crushed by Katie Heaney

Ember / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: Quinn and Jamie are best friends and girlfriends — then they break up right before senior year, and Quinn feels lost. That is, until she meets Ruby, her new crush and the newly single lead singer of a local band. However, the more Quinn falls in love with Ruby, the more she misses Jamie — and she guesses that Jamie misses her too. After all, Quinn and Jamie are working together to save their favorite queer coffee shop. Who will Quinn choose — and who will choose her back?

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

2. Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson

Scholastic Press / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: Olivia decides to get her mind off of her recent breakup and the stress of senior year starting by attending a music and arts festival with her best friend. Toni is about to start college, but she doesn’t want to go. She heads to the same festival to follow in the footsteps of her musician-turned-roadie father, whom she recently lost. Olivia and Toni meet, help each other on their journeys, and realize they need each other (and music) more than they previously thought.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

3. Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June

HarperTeen / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: As the only gay kid in his small Washington town, Jay feels tired of hearing all his friends talk about their heterosexual hookups and relationships. He dreams up his own list of “firsts” he’s excited to have, aka his “gay agenda.” Then, to his surprise, Jay’s family moves to Seattle, where he attends a high school with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community. He excitedly marks off items on his gay agenda, but still misses his friends back home. Jay learns how to embrace the unexpected.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

4. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Harper Voyager / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: Rosemary joins a diverse crew on a journey in space. The adventure they have is chaotic, dangerous, and exciting, in which Rosemary must learn to trust the “oddballs” who have become her new family. This book is a great sci-fi story about learning to find and embrace your chosen family.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

5. Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

Balzer + Bray / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: As a Black, queer, and transgender teen boy, Felix is afraid he’ll never fall in love. But when an anonymous student posts his deadname and photos of him pre-transition, he decides he wants revenge — which leads to being in a love triangle. Felix learns more about who he is and the love he deserves.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

6. Faith: Taking Flight by Julie Murphy

Balzer + Bray / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: Faith, a curvy, bisexual teen, lives a pretty normal life — other than just finding out she can fly. When she realizes people and animals are disappearing from her town, she knows she has to step in to help. Since this puts her loved ones in danger, she has to confront her past and strengths to keep everyone safe.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

7. At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp

Sourcebooks Fire / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: Ironically, the teens at the Hope Juvenile Treatment Center have no hope. When the guards start acting weird and don’t show up, the teens work together to escape — and encounter soldiers. They find out there’s a quickly spreading infectious disease in the world, so they stay at Hope, where no one is looking out for them. They have to figure out who can be trusted and how to survive. This book has neurodivergent, disabled, nonbinary, aromantic, and asexual representation.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

8. Instinct by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

Vision / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: “The Dealer” keeps murdering people and leaving a playing card at each scene — which, presumably, hints at who the next victim will be. With the police struggling to find out who “The Dealer” is, Dr. Dylan Reinhart, a gay intelligent expert who focuses on murder, steps in alongside Elizabeth Needham, a detective. But with so much knowledge of how murderers think and work, will Dylan become one of them?

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

9. Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

Park Row / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: After earning her PhD in astronomy, Grace and her friends go to Vegas to celebrate. While there, she gets drunkenly married to a woman she hardly knows, which is unlike her. But when she gets home and realizes how unfulfilled and burnt out she feels, Grace decides to spend the summer with her new wife, Yuki. She learns what she’s been running from — namely, adulthood and family scars — and more about who she is and what she wants.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

10. Gender Euphoria by Laura Kate Dale

Unbound / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: This anthology includes joyful stories by 19 transgender, nonbinary, agender, genderfluid, and asexual writers. You’ll read about the confidence, pride, elation, freedom, and ecstasy they feel from moments of gender euphoria, such as times when they embraced themselves or were embraced by others.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

11. Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney

Hogarth / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: Frances is an observant woman who’s writing and studying in Dublin. Her best friend, Bobbi, is beautiful (and she knows it). The two meet a photographer one night, Melissa, who’s charming and sophisticated. Frances begins to flirt with Nick, Melissa’s husband, which turns into a strong yet strange level of intimacy. Frances must work on keeping her relationships in order — with Nick, her father, and Bobbi — as she leans into spontaneity and desire. This book features both bisexual and lesbian characters.

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

12. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

St. Martin's Griffin / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: Alex, a bisexual man, becomes America’s “First Son” and is the perfect fit as he’s charismatic, smart, and handsome. But he has issues with Henry, the Prince of Wales. A fake truce turns into a budding romance between the two, which begs the question: What will happen to their campaigns? And how do we find the bravery to be who we are?

Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

13. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

Penguin / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: Following the lives of 12 characters who are mostly women, Black, and British, this book shares stories about family, friends, history, lovers, and more. It’s diverse in gender and sexual orientations, including characters who are trans, pansexual, and gender-free.

Buy it on Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

14. The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth

HarperTeen / Via amazon.com

What it’s about: Do you have a love-hate relationship with how characters usually fall in love doing the same activities, such as stealing something or going to a fair? This book is the one for you. With her mom diagnosed with early onset dementia, Saoirse doesn’t believe in happy endings or plan on falling in love. But then she meets Ruby, who says they can't have fun doing all those cliché things without falling in love? But, as you can probably guess, that loophole doesn’t go as planned.

Buy it on Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.

15. Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly

Forever / Via read-forever.com

What it’s about: London, the first openly nonbinary contestant on a well-loved cooking show, shares their pronouns with the viewers. They're on the show to prove falling in love wasn’t a part of the plan. But then they meet Dahlia, another contestant, who falls flat on her face — literally — and the two grow close. They enjoy silly adventures together, but as the kitchen heats up, they must figure out if their relationship will survive on the outside.

Buy it on Bookshop or from your local indie bookstore via Indiebound here.