Happy Pride! 5 Queer Books to Read During Pride Month

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If there’s anything I enjoy more than reading, it’s reading about boys kissing boys and girls kissing girls and anything and everything in between. The gayer the book, the better.

So, in honor of pride month, here are some of my favorite queer books that you should absolutely be reading. There is no better time to obsess over a gay romance than now. Right now. Like, literally. Put down your phone, drive to your nearest book store, and buy a book about gay people kissing. It’s pride month, I don’t make the rules.

And while there are so many amazing queer books to choose from, maybe I can give you a few ideas.

A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft

Genres: fantasy, romance, queer, dark academia

Page count: 384

Lorelai has one shot to prove herself worthy of becoming Brunnestaad’s next naturalist. Only then will she have the freedom to see the world that she so desperately craves. She has one shot, and one person standing in her way: Sylvia von Wolff, her longtime academic rival. Sylvia is as beautiful as she is insufferable and has plagued Lorelai’s existence throughout her entire academic career.

When both Lorelai and Sylvia are chosen to accompany their mentor on an expedition to search for a fabled spring, they are pitted against each other once again to earn the attention of Brunnestaad’s King, a fight Lorelai is sure she will lose. Until their mentor is suddenly murdered and the only people Lorelai and Sylvia are sure are innocent are each other.

Lorelai finds herself at the head of the expedition with the most unlikely ally at her side. Together they must find the spring, stop a murderer, and save a kingdom. Dangers are lurking at every corner, but nothing is more dangerous than the feeling of falling for the one person you cannot, and should not, have.

The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi

Genres: romance, historical fiction, queer

Page count: 485

Nineteen years old, and freshly a knight, Harry de Lyon is desperate to prove himself worthy of his title. But when he is invited on a secret mission into Scotland, knighthood suddenly isn’t what he expected it to be. Knighthood isn’t supposed to be storming a crumbling Scottish keep, slaughtering its inhabitants, and kidnapping a savage, half-starved boy. But, suddenly, it is and Henry is horrified.

Although his blade remained unstained, Harry will remember this day for as long as he lives. And so will the boy.

As the only one to show the boy any sympathy as they transport him back to England, the others decide to make him the boy’s keeper. In a prison disguised as squirehood, Harry is to train him, keep him hidden, and convert him to the English cause.

It is an impossible task, with the boy, Iain mac Maíl Coluim, fighting him tooth and nail every step of the way. Everything about him is a mystery, from the flawless French he speaks to his literacy in Latin. Even more so is the ethereal face hidden beneath his unruly hair and layers of dirt and grime. The more Harry grows to know Iain, the more it becomes evident that Iain is more important than he understands. And the more their growing passion for each other is harder to resist. Soon, Harry isn’t keeping one secret, but two, and both could ruin him if anyone were to ever learn the truth.

The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All (Vol. 1) by Sumiko Arai

Genres: manga, romance, queer

Page count: 200

Aya Osawa is one of the most popular girls at school. Pretty, fashionable, and always upbeat, it is hard not to notice Aya and even harder not to like her. Except there is a side to Aya that she doesn’t share with anyone: her love for rock music. Aya has always danced to the beat of her own rhythm, until she decides to take a chance on a random CD shop she has never noticed before.

That’s when she meets him, the stylish, mysterious boy behind the shop’s counter. She doesn’t know his name, or anything about him besides his impeccable taste in music, but he is suddenly all she can think about. And talk about at school for everyone to hear, including the quiet, unassuming girl who sits next to her.

Mitsuki Koga doesn’t know how she let this happen, but she suddenly finds herself at the center of Aya’s attention. Except Aya has no idea it’s her she’s been flirting with at the CD shop, that the cute, edgy boy who works there isn’t a boy at all. Mitsuki should put an end to it immediately, for fear of what might happen if Aya finds out, but instead of pushing Aya away, she finds herself flirting back. She finds herself wanting to get to know Aya more and more and suddenly there are more problems for her to juggle than just the secret of her identity.

Angels Before Man (Angels #1) by Rafael Nicolás

Genres: fantasy, queer, romance, mythology

Page count: 398

The day Lucifer was born was the day all the angels in Heaven were convinced God had finally made the perfect angel. Lucifer was beautiful beyond belief, God’s most ethereal creation. But with his perfection came attention and with the attention came a sense of unease. Especially under the attention of God. Because even as he was dressed in gold and jewels, showered in the praise and affection of others, Lucifer only felt shame and a timidness he wished desperately to break free from.

And then there was Michael. Michael, the strongest angel in Heaven, loved by all.

It is only after meeting Michael that Lucifer finally begins to understand what is missing from God’s perfect paradise, to understand what love truly feels like. And once he knows what he wants, there is little stopping Lucifer from taking it. But God doesn’t like to share his things, and Lucifer has always been God’s favorite.

Under the constraint of God’s gilded leash, Lucifer feels only the shame and anger of being denied the love he feels so deeply, and as he and Michael grow closer and closer, Lucifer knows what he must do in order to free himself and all the angels in Heaven.

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

Genres: fantasy, urban fantasy, young adult

Page count: 400

Gay disclaimer: it doesn’t get gay until the second book, but this series is so good it’s worth the wait, I promise.

In this universe, there are three Londons. There is Grey London, dull and magicless. Red London, alive and thriving with the pulse of magic beating steadily in its heart. And White London. There, it is only ash and darkness and a people desperately clinging to the magic that is eating them alive, slowly but surely. And there was once a Black London, too, but the door to there has long since been closed and barred, if a door remains at all.

Kell is the black-eyed prince from Red London, a magician with the rare ability to travel between the three Londons. As a Traveler, he serves as the ambassador of the Maresh Empire, carrying news and correspondence between the Londons. But Kell has a defiant hobby of smuggling magical artifacts in and out of the Londons for those willing to pay, a hobby with consequences more dangerous than he could possibly imagine.

Lila Bard has always wanted to escape, though she never knew it would come in the shape of a strange, black rock she pickpocketed off an equally strange man with two different colored eyes, one blue and one entirely pitch black. But if it is an adventure she is looking for, here it is. All she has to do is convince Kell to take her with him to Red London, something that should be impossible, even for a powerful magician like Kell.

But luckily Lila has always been good at defying odds and Kell is going to need all the help he can get to save his London from the danger he set into motion by smuggling a single black stone out of White London and into harmless, dreary Grey London.

And, of course, there’s more

This was probably the hardest list of book recommendations I’ve ever had to come up with because I have already recommended so many of my favorite LGBTQ+ books. I really wanted to share some of my favorites that I don’t talk about much, but this article would not be complete without mentioning my all-time favorites.

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #1) by Tamsyn Muir, which you can find in The Beginner’s Guide to Sci-Fi: 5 Book Recs Based on Your Favorite Genre.

Hazelthorn by C.G. Drews, which you find in 5 Books to Read After Finishing Heated Rivalry, and a full review of it here.

Winter’s Orbit (Winter’s Orbit #1) by Everina Maxwell, which you can also find in my Beginner’s Guide to Sci-Fi.

You Weren’t Meant to be Human by Andrew Joseph White, which you can find in 8 Horror Books to Add to Your Fall TBR.

The Call of the Sea (The Grail Cycle #1) by Kate Schumacher, which you can find in Like This Popular TikTok Book? Try Reading This!

And The Foxhole Court (All for the Game #1) by Nora Sakavic, also in 5 Books to Read After Finishing Heated Rivalry.

As always, happy reading and happy pride!