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We hope you love our recommendations! Some may have been sent as samples, but all were independently selected by our editors. Just FYI, BuzzFeed collects a share of sales and/or other compensation from the links on this page.
Romance, historical, fantasy, oh my! So many fun ways to add rainbows to a dreary winter.
Release date: Jan. 5
What it's about: The Reverie author changes up genre with this contemporary romance that's no less sparkling, about a passionate bedazzler named Raffy who's pumped to show off his skills at a huge cosplay competition (especially if it means proving to his terrifying mother that she's not the only one in the family with worthwhile art skills), only to find himself facing off against his ex, Luca. Then Raffy and Luca are forced to partner up, bringing old insecurities and clashing approaches to the surface...but maybe bringing up some other old feelings, too.
Get it from Amazon, Bookshop, Target, or your local bookstore via Indiebound.
Release date: Jan. 19
What it's about: The fourth installment of Schmidt's literature-centric Bookish Boyfriends series is its first gay romance, and uses the work of Sherlock Holmes as its backdrop. When a mystery blooms at Reginald R. Hero High, Huck and Win team up to solve it, and of course find more than they bargained for in the process. (Love. They find love. It's an adorable romance series.)
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Jan. 19
What it's about: Lo's tackled fantasy, sci-fi, and thriller, and now the queer YA icon shakes things up again with her first historical since her story in The Radical Element. Set in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1954, it centers on a Chinese American lesbian named Lily who's fallen in love with a girl named Kathleen, but is keenly aware of all the potential dangers, especially with her father at risk of deportation. All she wants is to love freely, but can she find the strength and courage to when everything is working against them?
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Jan. 19
What it's about: Tanya is a bisexual expert tavern wench and has no plans to be anything but, until her guardian dies and she finds herself at risk of losing everything. Now she must journey to the queen to request the tavern remain in her name and control, and along the way she encounters thieves, magic, and more than one potential love interest. But the journey to court is only the beginning...
Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Jan. 19
What it's about: Hutchinson's made his name on gay YA that embodies the word "speculative," and he's back to do it again with this story of a boy named Noa who wakes up on a spaceship with two other teens named DJ and Jenny, with none of them having any idea how they got there. They do know Qriosoty is about to explode, though, so they've got to work together to get to the bottom of the mystery that has them all ensnared, while Noa also contends with his growing feelings for DJ.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Jan. 26
What it's about: Fans of Sharpe's notable murder mystery Far From You had better get ready, because her newest is every bit as twisted, gritty, and gloriously bisexual, if not more so. It's easy to see how this psychological thriller has already been picked up by Netflix, with its powerful story of a girl named Nora who's trapped in a bank robbery with her ex-boyfriend and newish girlfriend and has to use her wits to save them and everyone else inside. It helps that she has a wildly checkered past thanks to her mother's affinity for sweetheart cons that's had Nora playing different identities for most of her existence. And she'll have to call on the skills of every girl she's been in order to keep the life she has and the people she loves.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Feb. 2
What it's about: Andre's liver transplant came with a seriously unexpected side effect: he's inherited its original owner's ability to travel through time. Fortunately, the donor's parents figure it out pretty quickly and task their surviving son, Blake, with helping Andre through his complicated new skill. But the more lessons Andre gets from Blake, the more drawn he is to the boy who's been shutting off his heart ever since his brother's death. Which is only one of Andre's romantic complications. The other is Michael, the other boy he's falling for...on his travels back to 1969.
Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Feb. 2
What it's about: Ace orphan Karis is doomed to a life in the Scriptorium, forced to the serve the scribes in their question to unlock the magic of an automaton army. But when her search for her brother leads her to wake a hidden automaton, she finds a partner in her quest. Alix's father is notorious for being the nation's greatest traitor, but he has no idea of the story behind the crime. Which means they both have secrets to unlock, mysteries to solve, and very little time before the Scriptorium hunts them down.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Feb. 9
What it's about: Stamper keeps up the themes of mental health and finding new life away from home in this sincere and heartfelt coming-of-age, which sees a stressed-out gay Kentucky boy named Marty heading off to London for the summer to play oboe in a music program...or so his parents think. In actuality, Marty bombed the audition, but he does plan to play music however he can. He also plans to stay overseas, to make a new life for himself far away from the homophobic, church-centric one he had back home. But between anxiety, readjusting to life without his old best friends, and meeting a new boy who may not bring out the best in him, Marty 2.0 still has plenty of issues that can't be solved with a passport.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Feb. 9
What it's about: Anne Bonny and Mary Read are two of the most notorious female pirates of all time, and Maggs and Wells bring them to life in this graphic novel that modernizes their dangerous times on the high seas. Together, couple Anne and Mary have to save their fellow pirates from a man who wants to abolish piracy altogether, or die trying.
Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Feb. 23
What it's about: Phoebe's life philosophy has always been that love is for losers; certainly she's not interested in romance. At least that's true until she meets Emma, and now Phoebe's forced to confront the fact that everything she ever believed about love and her capacity for it is a lie.
Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Feb. 23
What it's about: This urban fantasy's fully queer (including L, G, B, T, and Q) cast includes a half-fae, a Fury, a fae prince, and the prince's guardian, each of whom holds a key to the murder mystery rocking the city of Toronto. They'll have to work together to stop the murders and bring the party responsible to justice or risk all the hell that'll break loose if faeries are exposed to the human world.
Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Feb. 23
What it's about: Billed as Stranger Things meets Inglorious Basterds, this historical Nazi-punching fantasy follows five queer teens who meet up in the German forests and decide to fight back against the regime that's destroying their lives, with the help of dark energy from a shadow world they've accessed through a portal. From the author who brought the incredibly dark, queer revenge fantasy A Darkly Beating Heart and the utterly chilling Cold War Sekret duology, you know this book is going to have some seriously sharp teeth.
Get it from Bookshop, Target, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 2
What it's about: The world is always in need of more f/f YA rom-coms, and Desombre thankfully delivers with her Much Ado About Nothing-inspired debut about two girls who are polar opposites and competing for the same prize: a trip to an LA film festival. When cynical Sophia returns from Paris and crashes romantic Emma's movie-making plans, things quickly turn competitive. But between their friends' matchmaking schemes and their own bonding over their respective struggles, the two might just be a happily ever after in the making.
Get it from Amazon, Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 2
What it's about: Back with her first queer YA lead since The Summer I Wasn't Me, Verdi's newest takes on social media, the art of influencing, and biphobia. It stars Instagram semi-star CeCe, a bi teen girl who's best known for being half of the world's cutest queer couple, together with her girlfriend, Sylvie. But when Sylvie breaks her heart, CeCe's lost; she doesn't know who she is without Sylvie, and she worries her followers don't either. Then she meets Josh, who knows nothing about internet culture or who CeCe is online, and it's a refreshing change...until they're caught dating and everyone starts questioning CeCe's queerness, despite her always having been openly bi.
Get it from Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 2
What it's about: This Gothic fantasy debut stars Wren Southerland, a bisexual now-former member of the Queen's Guard who took her magic use too far and lost everything, including the girl she loved. When she gets a chance at a new job — curing a servant's mysterious illness — she jumps to take it, only to find that the patient isn't a servant at all, her new home is full of deadly secrets, and it's highly possible neither of them will make it out alive.
Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 2
What it's about: This sequel to Infinity Son picks up immediately after the first book's utterly jaw-dropping conclusion with one brother on the brink of death after a tragic decision and the other racing to find a cure. Meanwhile, Ness and Maribelle have their own dangerous problems, and when everything comes to a head, the fight for peace may yield anything but.
Get it from Amazon, Bookshop, Target, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 9
What it's about: No one knows bisexual Darcy is the mysterious advice giver behind Locker 89...except for hot, irritating Alexander Brougham. When he catches her in the act, Darcy will do anything to have him keep her secret, since she knows the truth coming out will not do good things for her best friendship with Brooke, who also happens to be her Great Unrequited Crush. In this case, "anything" involves helping him get his ex-girlfriend back, which is no bigs...until Darcy's herself has a change of heart and finds herself finally moving on from Brooke to the very boy she's supposed to be helping land someone else.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 9
What it's about: In Gathos City, the wealthiest of the wealthy don't have to worry about fatal lung rot the way the rest of the population does; after all, that's the whole purpose of breeding Genetically Engineered Medical Surrogates (GEMs). The city even has a way of preventing GEMs from escaping the lab, by making them dependent on a governmentally dispensed medication. But Nate did get out, and he's been surviving thus far in the lawless region of the Withers, at least until his supply of meds is cut off by a violent eruption and the boy he loves is attacked. Now he has to choose between betraying the friends who've been keeping him alive until now or staying with them despite almost certain death.
Get it from Amazon, Bookshop, Target, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 9
What it's about: Carey Parker is tired of defending their identity at school; it's just too much on top of wondering why one of their best friends is no longer speaking to them and watching their beloved and inspirational grandmother succumb to Alzheimer's. But when a potential romance with a hot boy rears its head just as Carey starts making progress in therapy, it all comes together at the perfect time to give them the confidence to try out for the school musical, Wicked. Carey knocks it out of the park, but that isn't enough for the bullies who can't stand that a genderqueer student has taken a role for "girls." They'll have to stand up to both demons of the past and those who seek to leach happiness out of their present to pave the way for the future they deserve.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 9
What it's about: When Tamsin is cursed by her coven with the inability to love unless she steals it from others, Wren is the perfect solution for the powerful witch: she's made of magic, and she can't even use it. What she can do is offer Tamsin a deal: if Tamsin can find the witch responsible for the magical plague killing Wren's father, Wren will give up her love for said father. It's a tricky deal and even trickier quest, especially when love brews in the most unexpected of places.
Get it from Amazon, Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 9
What it's about: This near-future psychological thriller flips The Great Gatsby on its head (and gender axis) with the story of Fern, a fish out of water living a placid life on Commodore Island while nearby Seattle burns. Or at least things are calm until Ivy Avila moves to town, and suddenly Fern finds herself living out loud, finally feeling when the charismatic former starlet takes her under her wing. But then Fern's precious, quiet island starts to crumble and burn, and Fern has to figure out who she'll be when she emerges from the ashes.
Get it from Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 16
What it's about: YA's master of queer magical realism's newest is their most contemporary yet, the beautifully haunting and all-too-relevant story of a girl named Graciela who's sexually assaulted at a party, along with a boy she doesn't know. When Lock shows up at school, Ciela realizes he has no idea what happened to them, and she's determined to hide the truth to keep them both safe. But as they grow closer, the secrets between them weigh heavy on her heart, and may tear them apart.
Get it from Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
Release date: Mar. 23
What it's about: Daya can't stop bruising herself, and she doesn't want to, since it helps her cope with the death of her parents. When her best friend introduces her to roller derby, it feels like an instant perfect fit: what better than a sport that will deliver huge bruises at every turn? But Daya isn't used to being part of a team, and she certainly isn't used to opening herself up to others. But if she wants to stay a Honey and see whether there's really something there with Shanti, the team's beautiful manager and sister of its aggressive jammer, she'll have to learn to let her softer side show.
Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.