Book Releases: LGBT YA Books of January-June 2021

At this point it’s a tradition: I’ve already made a compilation posts about 2019 LGBT YA books & about 2020 LGBT YA books (first half of the year and second).

So it’s absolutely no surprise to anyone that I’m here with a list of LGBT YA books of 2021, right? Well, the first half of the year anyway. Over 175 of them! Have I missed any?

The books are (more or less) in a chronological order of publication, and I tried to be as specific with the rep as it was possible, given I have only read a few of them so far myself. Which of course means, please correct me if I’m wrong. As always, books by LGBT authors also have a rainbow emoji next to the title. Enjoy and preorder!

See also: LGBT YA books of July-December & 2019-2021 releases by rep

JANUARY

One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite (Black lesbian mc)
🌈 Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala (gay mc, bi li, m/m relationship)
Siege of Rage and Ruin by Django Wexler (bi mc, f/f relationship)
A White Rose in Bloom, Vol. 1 by Asumiko Nakamura (f/f relationship)
The Prince and the Thief by P. S. Scott (m/m relationship)

You Have a Match by Emma Lord (sapphic mc, sapphic Filipino American side character)
Soul of Cinder by Bree Barton (bi mc)
🌈 Earth Reclaimed by Sara Codair (nonbinary and trans mcs)
🌈 Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (f/f relationship, Chinese American mc)
🌈 A (Complicated) Love Story Set in Space by Shaun David Hutchinson (m/m relationship) tw sexual assault

Wench by Maxine Kaplan (bi mc, sapphic li, gay side characters) tw magic involving self harm
Wider than the Sky by Katherine Field Rothschild (bi father, past polyamory)
🌈 Girl on the Line by Faith Gardner (bi mc with bipolar II disorder) tw past suicide attempt
Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore (poc bi mc) tw parental abuse
Shadow City by Francesca Flores (bi mc)

🌈 The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (bi mc, bi/pan li with endometriosis, f/f relationship) tw child abuse, domestic abuse, violence, threats of rape, implied torture, implied child sexual abuse
The Night Belongs To Us by Katie Brown (lesbian mcs, f/f relationship) tw homophobia, underage drinking
A Study in Cloud Formations by Clark Guire (achillean mc, m/m relationship, sapphic character)
Get a Clue by Tiffany Schmidt (m/m relationship)
Influence by Sara Shepard & Lilia Buckingham (f/f relationship)

🌈 Gut Feelings by C.G. Moore (gay mc with familial adenomatous polyposis)
The Boy I Am by K.L. Kettle (gay mc)

FEBRUARY

🌈 Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackson (Black gay mc, gay lis)
🌈 What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo (gay character, bi characters) tw blood, gore body horror
🌈 The Boy From the Mish by Gary Lonesborough (Indigenous Australian gay mc & li, Indigenous Australian achillean side characters)
All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue (sapphic mc, bi genderfluid li, lesbian side characters) tw homophobic violence, religious homophobia
Stormbreak by Natalie C. Parker (bi mc)

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (sapphic side relationship, trans side characters)
🌈 As Far As You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper (gay mc, m/m relationship) tw outing, homophobia, f-slur, disordered eating
Curse of the Divine by Kim Smejkal (2 bi mcs, nonbinary & trans characters)
A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Vol. 6 by Makoto Hagino (f/f relationship)
Blue Flag, Vol. 6 by Kaito (m/m relationship)

Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke (f/f relationship)
Renegade Flight by Andrea Tang (side Korean sapphic character, side Latinx sapphic character)
🌈 What’s the T? by Juno Dawson (nonfiction)
🌈 Project Pay Day by Brent Hartinger (gay mc)
The Shadow War by Lindsay Smith (sapphic mc, f/f relationship, m/m relationship)

Love is for Losers by Wibke Brueggemann (lesbian mc & li)
🌈 A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth (lesbian mc with depression, pan mc, gay mc, bi mc, genderfluid side character) tw blood, gore, body horror, death, drugs, past suicide, suicide ideation, toxic relationship
🌈 Mazie by Melanie Crowder (sapphic characters)
This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria (ace mc, gay character, nonbinary character)
🌈 Billions of Beautiful Hearts by Kevin Craig (nb/nb relationship)

🌈 Girl Haven by Lilah Sturges & Meaghan Carter (trans mc, Black lesbian character, sapphic characters)
Muted by Tami Charles (Haitian American lesbian mc, Dominican American sapphic li)
Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney & Robyn Smith (lesbian parents)

MARCH

🌈 Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera (gay mc)
🌈 Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft (bi mc, sapphic side character) tw gore, murder, implied torture, descriptions of surgical procedures
🌈 Follow Your Arrow by Jessica Verdi (bi mc, past f/f relationship)
🌈 Phoenix Flame by Sara Holland (bi mc)
🌈 I Think I Love You by Auriane Desombre (bi mc, lesbian mc, f/f relationship)

🌈 That Way Madness Lies ed. by Dahlia Adler (lgbt characters; short stories)
🌈 Can’t Take That Away by Steven Salvatore (genderqueer mc) tw suicidal ideation, depression, assault, transphobia, misgendering, homophobia, bullying, Alzheimer’s, death of a grandparent
🌈 Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley (bi/pan mc, lesbian mc, f/f relationship)
🌈 Ravage the Dark by Tara Sim (bi mc)
🌈 Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales (bi mc, m/f relationship, bi side character, trans side character, Vietnamese American lesbian side character, gay side character) tw biphobia, internalised biphobia, toxic parents, drugs, alcohol, vomiting

🌈 Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora (gay mc, Black gay li, trans side character) tw implied human experimentation, abuse, descriptions of gore, starvation, drug abuse
City of Spells by Alexandra Christo (sapphic characters)
Sea and Flame by Tallie Rose (f/f relationship)
🌈 Magic Mutant Nightmare Girl by Erin Grammar (bi mc)
🌈 The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore (pan mc) tw past rape

Five Ways to Fall Out of Love by Emily Martin (bi li)
Noelle: The Mean Girl by Ashley Woodfolk (sapphic mc, lesbian li)
🌈 Bruised by Tanya Boteju (f/f relationship) tw death, self-harm, bullying, mention of domestic abuse
Flamefall by Rosaria Munda (gay mc)
🌈 She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard (sapphic mc, Latinx sapphic mc, f/f relationship) tw death by drowning, emotional parental abuse

Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare (bi mc, gay mcs, lesbian mc)
🌈 Junior Hero Blues by J.K. Pendragon (m/m relationship)
Untold: Defining Moments of the Uprooted ed. by Gabrielle Deonath & Kamini Ramdeen (nonfiction)
Bright World by Stan Stanley (nonbinary mc, lesbian side character)
Martian Ghost Centaur by Mat Heagerty (achillean dads)

First Team by Robbie MacNiven (gay mc, gay character) tw violence, homophobia, vivisepulture, death, fanaticism
What Love Looks Like by Jarlath Gregory (gay mc, trans character) tw bullying, homophobia, internalised homophobia, transphobia, racism

APRIL

🌈 The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch (gay mc, achillean li, trans character, gay characters) tw homophobia, racism, f-slur, past car accident, past death of a parent, vomiting
Zara Hossain Is Here by Sabina Khan (Pakistani American bi mc)
Oculta by Maya Motayne (gay mc)
Poison Priestess by Lana Popović (bi mc)
🌈 Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve (trans mc, lesbian side character, bi Japanese American side character, Black gay side character, trans & nonbinary side characters) tw mention of suicide, transphobia, violence, fighting, deadnaming (name is not mentioned), misgendering, outting, unsupportive parent, dysphoria, lesbophobic slurs

Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders (bi/pan mc, trans female bi/pan li, nonbinary characters)
🌈 She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (f/f relationship, Indian American sapphic li)
🌈 In Deeper Waters by F. T. Lukens (bi/pan mc, achillean li)
🌈 These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy (lesbian mc & li)
The Key to You and Me by Jaye Robin Brown (lesbian mc, sapphic li & characters)

🌈 Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli (gay character, bi li)
Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart (sapphic side characters)
🌈 Green Glass Ghosts by Rae Spoon & Gem Hall (nonbinary mc)
🌈 Death’s Champion by Karen Frost (f/f relationship)
🌈 The Outrage by William Hussey (m/m relationship)

The Serpent’s Curse by Lisa Maxwell (lesbian mc)
🌈 This Can Never Not Be Real By Sera Milano (sapphic mc, lesbian mc)
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland (bi mc, lesbian mc)
On This Unworthy Scaffold by Heidi Heilig (bi bipolar mc)
🌈 Cute Mutants, Vol 4: The Sisterhood of Evil Mutants by S. J. Whitby (genderfluid mc, lesbian, bi, ace, trans & nb characters)

I Am Chris by R Kent (trans mc)
Chaos on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer (f/f relationship)
🌈 The Other Side of Magic by Ester Manzini (f/f relationship, side m/m relationship)
🌈 Here Goes Nothing by Alexander C. Eberhart (m/m relationship)
Way of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell (sapphic mc)
🌈 Amulet of Wishes by Rita A. Rubin (bi mc)

MAY

🌈 When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan & Robin Stevenson (gay mc, sapphic mc, pan nonbinary li, sapphic and achillean side characters)
🌈 Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee (Afro-Puerto Rican, Japanese & American trans bi mc, gay li, Cuban nonbinary ace character with anxiety, Cuban lesbian character)
All Kinds of Other by James Sie (trans gay mc, gay mc)
🌈 Indivisible by Daniel Aleman (Mexican American achillean mc)
Any Place But Here by Sarah Van Name (f/f relationship)

🌈 Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler (Russian Jewish bi mc, Syrian Jewish sapphic character)
The Other Side of Perfect by Mariko Turk (side m/m relationship)
Baby & Solo by Lisabeth Posthuma (achillean mc)
War of Dragons by Jessica Cluess (lesbian character)
🌈 Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman (gay mc, bi mc, sapphic, ace & trans characters)

It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland (f/f relationship)
🌈May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor (trans gay mc, m/m relationship) tw transphobia, misgendering, deadnaming, homophobia, physical violence & assault, stealing, arson, death of a family member, racial & ableist slurs, threats of knife violence, targeted harassment & bullying
🌈 Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan (lesbian mc, bi li)
Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater (gay mc, bi li)
In the Ravenous Dark by A.M. Strickland (pan mc, lesbian lis, ace nonbinary side character, m/f/f side polyamory)

🌈 Off the Record by Camryn Garrett (Black bi mc) tw sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault
🌈 The Boi of Feather and Steel by Adan Jerreat-Poole (nonbinary mc)
🌈 Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar (sapphic Indian Bengali mc, bi Bangladeshi Bengali Muslim mc)
🌈 Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth (lesbian mc & li, bi side character)
🌈 Pumpkin by Julie Murphy (gay mc, sapphic mc)

Aetherbound by E. K. Johnston (queer mc, trans character)
🌈 Coming Home by Rebecca J. Caffery (gay mc, pan mc, m/m relationship)
Fence: Disarmed by Sarah Rees Brennan (m/m relationship)
The Ivies by Alexa Donne (sapphic mc)
Tools of a Thief by D. Hale Rambo (f/f relationship)

Struck by Victoria Kinnaird (m/m relationship, lesbian character, nonbinary character)
Can’t Say It Went to Plan by Gabrielle Tozer (f/f relationship)
A Marvel of Magick by Ericka T. Page (achillean mc)
🌈 Lucky Girl by Jamie Pacton (bi mc)
A Gay Polyester High School Romance 2 by S.W. Ballenger (gay mc, m/m relationship)

The Hollow Inside by Brooke Lauren Davis (f/f relationship)
🌈 Wynd, Book One: Flight of the Prince by James Tynion IV & Michael Dialynas (achillean mcs)
🌈 Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow by Mariko Tamaki & Natacha Bustos (lesbian mc)
Things to Do Before the End of the World by Emily Barr (sapphic mc, f/f relationship)

JUNE

🌈 The Witch King by H. E. Edgmon (trans gay mc, Black achillean li, Native American bi ace side character, nonbinary lesbian side character, sapphic side character, side polyam relationship, side sapphic relationship) tw transphobia, abuse (verbal and physical), blood, gore (chapter 14 & 15), panic attacks, fire, burning, mention of past sexual assault
🌈 The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver (nonbinary mc) tw tw death, grief, PTSD, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, self harm & suicide ideation, misgendering
🌈 Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June (gay mc, Chinese American gay li, gay genderqueer side character, gay side character) tw vomiting
🌈 The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons (biracial Black achillean trans mc, gay li, bi character, nonbinary character)
🌈 The (Un)popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez (transmasc pan bipolar mc, gay Jewish li) tw transphobia, deadnaming, misgendering

🌈 The Girl from the Sea by Molly Ostertag (lesbian mc, f/f relationship)
🌈 Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin (lesbian mc, bi li) tw domestic abuse, sexual assault, past child sexual abuse
The Love Song of Ivy K. Harlowe by Hannah Moskowitz (lesbian mc, f/f relationship, lesbian characters)
🌈 The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer (gay mc & li)
Better Together by Christine Riccio (sapphic mc)

Never Kiss Your Roommate by Philline Harms (lesbian mc, Black bi li with dyslexia, bi character, pan character, m/m relationship) tw outing, assault, kidnapping
🌈 Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Black lesbian mc, Black gay mc)
🌈 Girls at the Edge of the World by Laura Brooke Robson (f/f relationship)
🌈 Fire With Fire by Destiny Soria (Mexican-American bi mc, achillean characters) tw torture, blood
🌈 Fifteen Hundred Miles From The Sun by Jonny Garza Villa (Mexican American gay mc, Vietnamese American gay li, bi, gay, lesbian & pan characters) tw past & present parental abuse, physical abuse (chapter 14 & 28), homophobia, outing, mc gets kicked out

Violet Ghosts by Leah Thomas (trans mc)
🌈 Love and Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura (Japanese American lesbian mc, Japanese American lesbian li, Taiwanese American sapphic li, Black bi character, Japanese American gay character, Filipino American gay character) tw homophobia
🌈 The Sea is Salt and So Am I by Cassandra Hartt (disabled bi male mc)
🌈 Renegade Rule by Ben Kahn, Rachel Silverstein & Sam Beck (4 lgbt female mcs)
🌈 Queen of All by Anya Leigh Josephs (plus-sized neurodivergent lesbian mc, Black plus-sized li)

Gentleman’s Club by N.T. Herrgott (trans mc)
🌈 Monstrous Design by Kat Dunn (bi mc, biracial lesbian mc, gay side characters)
🌈 The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott (lesbian mc, biracial Japanese American lesbian li) tw death of a parent
🌈 Indestructible Object by Mary McCoy (bi mc, f/f relationship, polyamory, queer/nonbinary parents)
🌈 The Things We Don’t See by Savannah Brown (sapphic mc)

🌈 Darling by K. Ancrum (Russian bi ace li, lesbian character, bi character, mixed race (Irish & Ojibwe) bi character, Ojibwe bi character) tw violence, guns, blood, off page murder
🌈 Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta (f/f relationship, Korean-coded bi mc, Korean-coded lesbian mc) tw torture, violence, blood
🌈 This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron (Black bi mc, sapphic parents)
🌈 Stranger Things: Rebel Robin by A.R. Capetta (lesbian mc)
Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury (trans li, trans side character, lesbian demi side character)

The Papercutter by Cindy Rizzo (Jewish sapphic mc)
🌈 You’re The One That I Want by Simon James Green (m/m relationship)
🌈 Skate for Your Life by Leo Baker (memoir)
🌈 Continuum by Chella Man (memoir)
🌈 Confessions of a Teenage Closet Case by Alex Blades (m/m relationship)

A War of Swallowed Stars by Sangu Mandanna (Indian-coded cast, sapphic mc & li)
🌈 Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger & Sara Kipin (sapphic mc, f/f relationship)
🌈 Strange Creatures by Phoebe North (lgbt mcs)
The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin (bi mc)
The Marvelous by Claire Kann (lesbian mc, bi/pan mc)

Bear Boy by Justin Barker (memoir)
L.I.F.E. by Felyx Lawson (gay mc, m/m relationship)
A Millennial Daydream by V.A. Wonder (lesbian mc, f/f relationship)
Broken Web by Lori M. Lee (Asian-coded cast, bi mc)
Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde (m/m relationship)

Which titles are your most anticipated?

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