15 LGBTQ+ Books Releasing In 2023 That Should Be On Your Radar

It's looking like 2023 is going to be a good year for queer lit, this list highlights some of my most anticipated queer reads that I believe should be on everyone's radar!

1. Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett

Penguin Random House / Via penguinrandomhouse.com

Release Date: January 10

Summary: Mahalia Harris never got her sweet sixteen, but she can give herself the coming out party of her dreams. A singing, dancing, rainbow-cake-eating celebration of queerness. But this idea will take a lot of work and money, and it won't be easy to throw the party of her dreams. Will Mahalia's dream party end before it's even begun?

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

2. As You Walk on by by Julian Winters

Penguin Random House / Via penguinrandomhouse.com

Release Date: January 17

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Theo Wright has a plan. Encouraged by his father, he has what he believes is a foolproof strategy for success, which involves excelling at his magnet school and making sure to get scouted by college recruiters so he can go to Duke on an athletic scholarship. But for now, all Theo wants is the prom night of his dreams with his crush, and when his best friend Jay dares him to prompose at a party, he decides to take his chances. 

When Theo's promposal goes terribly wrong, he runs off to a vacant bedroom to calm down at the crowded party. He plans to spend the night alone, but the more the party rages on, the more he finds he's not alone when, one by one, his classmates join him to avoid the expectations that await them on the other side of the door. 

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

3. Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni

Penguin Random House / Via penguinrandomhouse.com

Release Date: January 31

Summary: When Nar decides to leave her non-Armenian boyfriend after a horrible proposal, she knows she needs to find someone who shares her idea of romance. So, when Nar's mother suggests that she attend Explore Armenia, a month-long series of events in the city, she goes along with it in hopes of finding someone. However, the person who gets her attention is not at all what she expected. Erebuni is a woman who is just as dedicated to her witchy pastimes as she is to preserving her Armenian identity. When Erebuni becomes Nar's wing woman, the trip starts to feel a whole lot less like an obligation, and more like an adventure. The more time the two spend together, the more Nar feels connected to her roots, and the closer she gets to becoming ready to come out to her family and be an out-and-proud bisexual and authentically herself for the first time in her life.

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

4. My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron

macmillan publishers / Via us.macmillan.com

Release Date: March 7

Summary: It's 1885 in London, and 17-year-old law clerk Gabriel Utterson has returned to the city for the first time since his life — as well as the life of his closest friend, Henry Jekyll — was destroyed by a scandal that got them both expelled from the London Medical School. Rumors of the true nature of the relationship between the two boys have followed them for years, but now Gabriel has a chance for a new beginning. The only thing is, he doesn't want one without Henry, who has become cold and distant since the events of the previous spring, and worst of all, his letters have stopped arriving.

Longing for answers and desperate to know what's become of Henry, Gabriel begins to watch the Jekyll house. While watching the house, Gabriel runs into Hyde, a strangely familiar and charismatic younger man with white hair who claims to be friends with Henry, making Gabriel jealous as Henry continues to act as if Gabriel means nothing to him. However, the secret behind Henry's change of heart is only a small part of a deeper mystery of monsters of all kinds that prowl in the London fog, and not all are out for blood...

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

5. Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald

Penguin Random House / Via penguinrandomhouse.com

Release Date: April 18

Summary: Aspiring cinematographer Luna Roth has finally come out as bisexual at the age of 24, and it's proving to be more difficult than she had anticipated. While she definitely has the support of her best friend and fellow queer Romy, she has no interest in coming out to her conservative parents, and with no sexual history to build off of, she feels awkward flirting with girls at all. Aside from that, Luna feels that it's more important for her to focus her energy on escaping her emotionally abusive talent manager in order to finally work under an actual director of photography. 

When Luna runs into uber-famous actress Valeria Sullivan, she believes she's found a solution to more than one of her problems. She can use Valeria's interest in her cinematography to get a job on the set of Valeria's own directorial debut, and if she's reading all the signs right, as a bonus, Valeria could also be Luna's ticket to losing her virginity. When Luna enlists Romy's help with her plan in exchange for helping her best friend with her own career, and Valeria begins to reciprocate feelings for Luna, things get complicated fast. Will Luna be able to keep up the act in order to hold on to her best friend, and get the job she longs for and the girl?

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

6. This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham

Sourcebooks Fire / Via fantasticfiction.com

Release Date: April 25

Summary: Three years ago, a pathogen of unknown origin was released into the atmosphere due to the melting of arctic permafrost, causing a small percentage of people to undergo a transformation now widely known as the Hollowing. Those impacted by the transformation became slowly intolerant to normal food and over time, were only able to live by consuming the flesh of other humans. Those who refused to eat the flesh of others became feral quickly, turning on everyone around them, including their friends and family. Luckily, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that was able to satisfy those affected by the Hollowing, allowing humanity to slowly return to normal. Or, as normal as they could be when a large portion of the population is holding on to a lasting distrust of those affected by the Hollowing, who they've dubbed ghouls.

Zoey, Celeste, Val, and Jasmine are all ghouls living in Southern California, and about to graduate high school. As a celebration before graduation, they decide to attend a music festival in the desert. The girls bring nothing but a cooler filled with seltzers and SynFlesh, ready for a party. Things go wrong quickly when on the first night of the festival, Val goes feral and ends up killing and eating a boy. When more and more festival guests start disappearing around them, the girls discover that someone is drugging ghouls in order to make them go feral. And they're the only ones who can stop it.

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

7. Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

Balzer & Bray/Harperteen / Via goodreads.com

Release Date: May 2

Summary: Imogen Scott is a top contender for World's Greatest Heterosexual Ally. She has a queer little sister who knows less about queer media discourse than she does, has never missed a Pride Alliance meeting, and even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, who is a fellow high school senior and is never afraid to keep Imogen's biases in check. And then, there's Lili, who is newly out and thriving with a group of queer college friends. When Imogen goes to visit Lili at college, she is thrilled for her, as any good ally would be. And she's bringing her ally A game, ready to support Lili in any way she can, even if that means having to tell a few little white lies. When Lili tells her that she's lied to all of her college friends and told them that she and Imogen used to date, and that they all think she's queer, Imogen goes along with it. Although, the more time Imogen spends with Lili's college friends, and especially the chaotic, freckle-faced Tessa, she starts to wonder if the truth may be that she's been queer all along.

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

8. The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordon and Mark Oshiro

Disney Books / Via rickriordan.com

Release Date: May 2

Summary: Nico di Angelo has been through so much as the son of Hades, from the premature deaths of his mother and sister, to being outed without his consent, to losing his friend Jason during the Trials of Apollo. Nico does, however, have one ray of sunshine in his life, literally: his boyfriend, Will Solace, the son of Apollo. So far, the two have been able to overcome any obstacle or foe while working together. Except now, Nico finds himself plagued by a voice calling out to him from the darkest part of the Underworld. Nico believes the voice to be that of Bob, a reformed Titan whom he, Percy, and Annabeth were forced to leave behind in the Underworld when making their own escape from Hades's realm. These dreams, along with Rachel Dare's latest prophecy, are all it takes to convince Nico that Bob is in some kind of trouble, and in need of his help. Nico insists on going on this quest despite the resistance of Mr. D and Chiron, and, of course, Will insists on going along. But can a being made of light survive in the darkest place in the world? And what about this prophecy telling Nico he will have to "leave something of equal value behind?"

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

9. They Hate Each Other by Amanda Woody

Penguin Random House / Via penguinrandomhouse.com

Release Date: May 9

Summary: Jonah and Dylan absolutely loathe one another, and despite their friends seeing their hatred as a cover for lust, neither one of them sees the other that way. But rumors of what's between the two of them spread like wildfire after the two of them wake up, mortified, in one bed after homecoming. The two decide that the only way to salvage their reputations is a fake dating ploy — if they can convince their friends that they're together long enough to end things publicly, the debate of their compatibility will be settled once and for all. Only, the more time the two spend together, the more they really get to know each other, and may actually start to see each other clearly for the first time.

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

10. If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude

Penguin Books / Via penguin.co.uk

Release Date: May 9

Summary: Avery Byrne has three major secrets: She's queer, she's in love with her best friend, and she's suffering from undiagnosed clinical depression. As fate would have it, on the day that Avery had decided to jump into the river near her college campus and end her life, the world discovers that there is an asteroid headed for the planet and they all have only nine days left to live. In hopes of sparing those close to her any more pain, Avery decides that she has to get through these last nine days. As time starts to run out, secrets begin to come to light, and Avery starts to see the small glimmers of hope in the finite number of days she has left.

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

11. Fake Dates and Moon Cakes by Sher Lee

Penguin Random House / Via penguinrandomhouse.com

Release Date: May 16

Summary: Dylan Tang wants nothing more than to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs — not just in memory of his late mother, but to bring some much-needed publicity to his aunt's struggling Brooklyn-based Chinese takeout restaurant. It's safe to say Dylan doesn't need any distractions, so when a charming, wealthy, and adorable guy named Theo enters his life, he's reluctant to get involved in any way. The two live lives that are worlds apart, but somehow, Theo keeps showing up, somehow even convincing Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons. While the romance is only supposed to be pretend, Dylan finds himself falling for Theo for real. But when Theo's rich family reveals their true colors, Dylan realizes he can't risk the mooncake festival in order to deal with rich-people problems. Can he save his family's business and his heart, or lose it all?

Get it from Book Depository or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

12. The Luis Ortega Survival Club by Sonora Reyes

Harpercollins Publishers / Via harpercollins.com

Release Date: May 23

Summary: Ari Ruiz is an autistic high school student who never speaks, and is therefore largely ignored by her peers, despite wanting nothing but to be noticed. So, of course, when cute, popular Luis starts paying attention to Ari, she finally begins to feel seen. When Luis's attention quickly becomes something more, the two have sex at a party — and while Ari didn't exactly say no, she definitely didn't say yes. Before Ari even has a chance to process what happened, word spreads about what happened at the party, and boys start seeing her as an easy target who won't say no. Then, Ari finds a letter in her locker that leads her to an unlikely group of students ready to expose Luis as the predator he is. Ari finds genuine friendship, and even romance among this group, but in order to get justice, she will have to come to terms with what Luis did to her that night, and risk everything by coming clean.

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

13. No Perfect Places by Steven Salvatore

Bloomsbury YA / Via bloomsbury.com

Release Date: May 30

Summary: Described as Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You the Sun meets Dawson's Creek with a dash of HBO's Euphoria, Steven Salvatore's latest YA novel follows twins as they both find very different ways to deal with their father's incarceration and untimely death. More complications arise when one twin discovers a secret third sibling and keeps it from his sister, creating rifts in an already turbulent relationship.

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

14. Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See

Scholastic / Via goodreads.com

Release Date: June 6

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Joy is a year away from graduation and way too busy overachieving to think about relationships. Her only focus is to become Caldwell Prep's first disabled valedictorian, and the only thing standing in her way is her academic rival, Nathan. But when people begin pairing off around her, Joy starts to wonder if she's missing out. Sure, she is asexual, but that's no reason she can't experience romance and first love, too, right? So, she writes to Caldwell Cupid, the school's anonymous romance advisor, to help her sort out these new feelings. It doesn't take long before Joy starts to fall for the voice behind the letters, but when the letter writer turns out to be the last person she'd ever expect, falling in love might mean risking what she wants most. 

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

15. Teach the Torches to Burn: A Romeo & Juliet Remix by Caleb Roehrig

macmillan publishers / Via us.macmillan.com

Release Date: August 22

Summary: In this queer remix of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, 17-year-old aspiring artist Romeo dreams of finding someone who loves him for who he is, someone with whom he can live a quiet life. But as heir to the Montague family, he's encouraged to give up his "womanly" dreams of being an artist and uphold their family honor, especially when it comes to their family's centuries-old feud with rival family, the Capulets. Worst of all, Romeo is expected to marry a woman, one from a good family who is approved by his parents to produce acceptable heirs. But the more time Romeo spends being forced to get to know eligible maidens, the harder it gets to hide his biggest secret: He's only attracted to other boys.

In an attempt to distract himself from his troubles for a night, Romeo and his cousin decide to sneak into a Capulet party, where he meets the most beautiful and captivating boy he's ever met: Valentine, the younger brother of one of his closest friends, and a Capulet. When it becomes clear that the feelings between the two boys are mutual, a tender romance begins, one which they must hide from not just their family and friends but the world in general. When conflict between their two families escalates, Romeo and Valentine find themselves at risk of losing each other forever, in one way or another. 

Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.