Book Recs: Twitter’s Favourite Trans Books

The other day I asked people on Twitter to give me their 5 favourite trans books. Now, I’m using trans here as an umbrella term to include all non-cis identities, so you will find recs with nonbinary characters, genderqueer characters and more.

And let me just say, the responses were great and I managed to compile a list of so many gems! And a lot of them seem to be rather overlooked, which is just another bonus & very good news to people starved for rep, who have already read all the popular titles.

Of course, as always on this blog, books by LGBT authors are marked with a 🌈 emoji. Please let me know if I got something wrong, so I can correct it!

See also: 100+ books by trans & nonbinary authors

MY RECS

🌈 River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey (nonbinary mc, pan/bi male mc, bi fat female mc, aroace Latina mc)
🌈 Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live by Sacha Lamb (gay trans Jewish mc, gay trans li, side sapphic couple, side trans character)
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu (nonbinary Chinese-American li, bi/pan Chinese-American mc using a hearing-aid, side interracial sapphic couple)
Fanfik by Natalia Osińska (trans gay mc, gay li)
🌈 I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (nonbinary mc with anxiety & depression, Black bi li, Bahraini pan nonbinary Muslim side chacater)

CHARLOTTE’S RECS

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo (nonbinary mc, sapphic characters, Vietnamese inspired characters & setting)
🌈 Hold Me by Courtney Milan (Mexican trans mc, bi Thai-Chinese mc)
Witch, Cat and Cobb by J.K. Pendragon (trans mcs, lesbian mcs)
Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee (trans mc, nonbinary side characters, lesbian mc, gay characters, East Asian inspired characters & setting)
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho (nonbinary mc, gay side characters, Chinese inspired characters & setting)

🌈 Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee (nonbinary mc, lesbian & bi side characters, side polyamorous relationship, East Asian inspired characters & setting)
Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night by Katherine Fabian & Iona Datt Sharma (Jewish genderqueer mc, genderqueer side characters, Hindu bi mc, bi side character, sapphic side character, polyamorous relationship)
Pyre at the Eyreholme Trust by Lin Darrow (bigender mc, pan li)
🌈 Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg (trans mcs)
Elephants and Corpses by Kameron Hurley (trans mc)

ARTUR @joyfulrivers‘s RECS

🌈 Conundrum by Jan Morris (memoir)
Fanfik by Natalia Osińska (trans gay mc, gay li)
Die by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans & Clayton Cowles
Niepełnia by Anna Kańtoch
🌈 The Black Tides of Heaven by J.Y. Neon Yang (nonbinary characters, mlm mc, East/Southeast Asian inspired characters & setting)

KAPPA @kappa_books‘S RECS

🌈 I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (nonbinary mc with anxiety & depression, Black bi li, Bahraini pan nonbinary Muslim side chacater)
🌈 No Man of Woman Born by Ana Mardoll (trans and nonbinary mcs)
🌈 The Black Tides of Heaven by J.Y. Neon Yang (nonbinary characters, mlm mc, East/Southeast Asian inspired characters & setting)
🌈 Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore (genderqueer mc)
🌈 Somebody Told Me by Mia Siegert (bigender mc)

LIZZY @lizzy_someone‘S RECS

🌈 Nevada by Imogen Binnie (trans mc)
🌈 Little Fish by Casey Plett (trans mc, trans character)
🌈 Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live by Sacha Lamb (gay trans Jewish mc, gay trans li, side sapphic couple, side trans character)
Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night by Katherine Fabian & Iona Datt Sharma (Jewish genderqueer mc, genderqueer side characters, Hindu bi mc, bi side character, sapphic side character, polyamorous relationship)
I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman (trans gay Indian-Italian mc with anxiety, queer hijabi Muslim mc, bi side characters)

BARE MINIMUM BOOKWORM @BareBookworm‘S RECS

🌈 I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (nonbinary mc with anxiety & depression, Black bi li, Bahraini pan nonbinary Muslim side chacater)
🌈 Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live by Sacha Lamb (gay trans Jewish mc, gay trans li, side sapphic couple, side trans character)
Not Your Villain by C.B. Lee
🌈 Peter Darling by Austin Chant (gay trans mc, gay li)
Hold Me by Courtney Milan (Mexican trans mc, bi Thai-Chinese mc)

APRIL @aprilreads414‘S RECS

George by Alex Gino (trans mc)
🌈 Birthday by Meredith Russo* (trans mc)
🌈 I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (nonbinary mc with anxiety & depression, Black bi li, Bahraini pan nonbinary Muslim side chacater)
Dreadnought by April Daniels (trans lesbian mc)
Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta & Cori McCarthy (Black nonbinary side character, sapphic Arab mc, bi li, gay mc, Black gay side character)

MOONY READS @moony_reads‘S RECS

🌈 Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (nonfiction) tw sexual assault, police brutality, homophobia, transphobia
🌈 Nevada by Imogen Binnie (trans mc)
🌈 I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (nonbinary mc with anxiety & depression, Black bi li, Bahraini pan nonbinary Muslim side chacater)
🌈 Our Dreams At Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani (nonbinary character, gay mc, f/f relationship) tw homophobia, bullying, suicidal ideation
The Deep & Dark Blue by Niki Smith (trans mc)

LAURA @QueerlyAsexual‘S RECS

Their Troublesome Crush by Xan West (Jewish autistic demi queer fat trans mc, Jewish disabled queer fat mc, polyamorous relationship)
🌈 Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (f/nonbinary relationship, pan mc)
The Weight of Living by M.A. Hinkle (trans lesbian mc, Mexican-American lesbian mc)
Reverb by Anna Zabo (trans mc, pan mc, lgbt side characters)
Why We Fight by T.J. Klune (biracial bigender mc)

CRINI @xCrini‘S RECS

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (bi trans mc)
Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire (trans side character, f/f relationship)
🌈 The Black Tides of Heaven by J.Y. Neon Yang (nonbinary characters, mlm mc, East/Southeast Asian inspired characters & setting)
🌈 The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg (trans mcs, nonbinary side character 🌈,  past polyamorous relationship) tw deadnaming, misgendering, transphobia
Born to the Blade by Michael R. Underwood, Marie Brennan, Cassandra Khaw & Malka Ann Older (nonbinary mc)

LINDA @acrimsondaisy‘S RECS

🌈 Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (Black trans mc)
The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara (trans characters, other LGBT charactres) tw drug use, alcoholism, AIDS, death, abuse
🌈 Peter Darling by Austin Chant (gay trans mc, gay li)
🌈 I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (nonbinary mc with anxiety & depression, Black bi li, Bahraini pan nonbinary Muslim side chacater)
George by Alex Gino (trans mc)

SIA @raenbowgirl‘S RECS

🌈 Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (Black trans mc)
Darkling by Ray Brooklyn** (trans ms, m/m relationship, lgbt side characters) tw bloodletting, resurrection, violence, gore
The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum (trans mc, bi/pan side characters)
Armed in Her Fashion by Kate Heartfield (trans gay mc) tw misgendering 
🌈 Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans (nonbinary bi mc, trans gay mc, lgbt side characters) tw transphobia, misgendering, absent parent

ALEX LOGAN @AAlexLogan‘S RECS

The Melting Queen by Bruce Cinnamon (genderfluid mc)
Being Roy by Julie Aitcheson (trans mc, lesbian mc, gay side characters)
🌈 Peter Darling by Austin Chant (gay trans mc, gay li)
In the Silences by Rachel Gold (genderqueer mc, Black sappic li)
Heidegger Stairwell by Kayt Burgess (trans mc)

L.D. LAPINSKI @ldlapinski‘S RECS

🌈 Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (Black trans mc)
🌈 If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo* (trans mc, bi side character)
I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman (trans gay Indian-Italian mc with anxiety, queer hijabi Muslim mc, bi side characters)
🌈 I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (nonbinary mc with anxiety & depression, Black bi li, Bahraini pan nonbinary Muslim side chacater)
Fell Swoop by P. Kotila (trans mlm mc, m/m relationship)

ANDREW @fr0zencreek‘S RECS

🌈 Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith (trans mc) tw lesbophobia, transphobia, internalised transphobia, transphobic slurs, physical assault (graphic), suicidal ideation
The Burnt Toast B&B by Heidi Belleau & Rachel Haimowitz (trans mlm mc, gay mc, m/m relationship)
The Moon Within by Aida Salazar (trans major side character)
🌈 Birthday by Meredith Russo* (trans mc) tw transphobia, bullying, physical abuse, homophobia, f-slur, death of a parent, cancer, parental abuse, depression, self-harm, alcohol abuse, suicide attempt, suicidal ideation
🌈 Bad Boy by Elliot Wake (trans mc)

VARIOUS NOT LISTED BEFORE RECS FROM

@Moony Reads, @foxy mulder, @AndiKay, @Mads, @Sara Codair, @Crini & @Alex Logan

🌈 Sorted by Jackson Bird (memoir)
🌈 Trans Like Me by C.N. Lester (memoir)
🌈 A Year Without A Name by Cyrus Dunham (memoir)
🌈 Femme in Public by Alok Vaid-Menon (poetry)
🌈 Pansy by Andrea Gibson (poetry)

🌈 Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (Ogbanje mc)
Kim & Kim by by Magdalene Visaggio & Eva Cabrera (trans mc)
Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman (trans mc, Native American sapphic mc, f/f relationship)
American Boys by Soraya Zaman (nonfiction)
🌈 Into the Gray by Margaret Killjoy (trans sapphic mc, f/f relationship)

🌈 Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (Latino trans mlm mc, m/m relationship)
Five Unicorn Flush by T.J. Berry (trans character, bi character, gay characters, lesbian characters)
The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden (trans mc, mixed-race Irish and Xhosa mlm mc, m/m relationship)
🌈 Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time by K.M. Szpara (trans gay mc, gay characters)
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples (trans character, lesbian character, bi character, m/m relationship – not all of them appear in all volumes) tw death, suffering

To Survive on This Shore by Jess T. Dugan & Vanessa Fabbre (nonfiction)
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater (nonfiction)
Real Queer America by Samantha Allen (nonfiction)
🌈 Tomorrow Will Be Different by Sarah McBride (memoir)
🌈 Man Alive by Thomas Page McBee (memoir)

O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti (trans mc, m/m relatinship)
Moth & Whisper by Ted Anderson & Jen Hickman (genderqueer mc)
🌈 The Bride Was a Boy by Chii (memoir)
The Pervert by Remy Boydell & Michelle Perez (trans mc)
🌈 Super Late Bloomer by Julia Kaye (memoir)
🌈 Tranny by Laura Jane Grace (memoir)

* For the purposes of full disclosure, Meredith Russo’s ex-partner has detailed abuse suffered while with Russo, for which Russo was arrested/charged.

** Please note that since this post was published, several people have come forward to say that this author has been abusive towards them in a racist manner. In addition, this author has been exposed as attempting to co-opt a Latinx identity to rejoin the book/publishing community more than once.

So what are your 5 favourite books with trans rep?

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