Book Releases: LGBT YA Books of July-December 2021

Hopefully I got y’all used to those YA posts enough that you were actually waiting for this one. If not, just don’t tell me. But if yes, sorry for the wait and enjoy! There are over 105 LGBT YA books here, surely you will find at least a dozen or two to fall in love with.

And like always, a rainbow emoji indicates that the book is by an LGBT author.

Related: LGBT YA books of January-June 2021 & more LGBT YA releases

JULY

🌈 Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson (Black bi mc, Black lesbian mc, f/f relationship, Black sapphic side character) tw shooting, revenge porn
🌈 The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass (Black gay mc, Black gay li, gay side characters)
There’s Magic Between Us by Jillian Maria (pan mc, f/f relationship)
🌈 Up All Night ed. by Laura Silverman (short stories; bi disabled mc, sapphic mc, nonbinary li, Jewish bi mc, gay mc, gay li, lesbian & bi characters)
🌈 The Mythic Koda Rose by Jennifer Nissley (lesbian mc)

Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell (m/m relationship)
It Ends in Fire by Andrew Shvarts (bi mc, nonbinary side character) tw violence
🌈 Flash Fire by T. J. Klune (gay mc with ADHD, bi li, lesbian side characters)
🌈 Three Seeking Stars by Avi Silver (f/nb relationship)
Wings of Shadow by Nicki Pau Preto (bi mc, gay mc)

🌈 The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters (bi mc, f/f, pansexual side character, nonbinary side character) tw domestic violence, sexual assault (mentioned), drugging/roofies, abduction/imprisonment, gun use, violence against women, systemic racism (discussed), blood, body horror, death/dying, grief, animal attack, pet death (brief mention), emetophobia
🌈 Afterlove by Tanya Byrne (British Indo-Guyanese mc lesbian mc, lesbian li)
Enquanto eu não te encontro by Pedro Rhuas (m/m relationship)
🌈 I Am Not Starfire by Mariko Tamaki & Yoshi Yoshitani (sapphic mc & li)
A Glimpse of Light & Glory by M.J. Wood (demi mc, Korean-American gay li)

AUGUST

🌈 The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould (lesbian mcs, f/f relationship, bi Latino mc, gay mc) tw murder, homophobia, homophobic violence, attempted drowning, child death
🌈 Like a Love Song by Gabriela Martins (bi Jewish li, lesbian Pakistani American side character, bisexual Brazilian American side character)
🌈 Cheer Up!: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier & Val Wise (half-white Latinx trans sapphic mc, lesbian mc, f/f relationship, side nonbinary character) tw transphobia, sexual harassment, fatphobia
Edie in Between by Laura Sibson (f/f relationship)
The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad (lesbian mcs, trans & nonbinary mcs) tw misogyny, child endangerment, abandonment, abduction, human trafficking, prostitution, abuse (physical, mental, emotional, verbal, sexual), rape (mention), infidelity, bullying (mention), suicide (mention), death (mention), grief, victim’s guilt, blood, violence

🌈 A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee (lesbian mc with anxiety & psychotic depression, lesbian li, nonbinary side character) tw animal death
🌈 The Sisters of Reckoning by Charlotte Nicole Davis (Black sapphic mc, bi li, lesbian side characters, Black trans side character) tw past sexual abuse, mentions of child prostitution, torture
🌈 Both Sides Now by Peyton Thomas (trans achillean mc, gay li) tw racism, transphobia, homophobia, misgendering *
Tobyn: The It Girl by Ashley Woodfolk (lesbian mc)
Like Other Girls by Britta Lundin (butch lesbian mc, Asian American sapphic li)

🌈 Fresh by Margot Wood (bi mc, sapphic li, sapphic side characters) tw sexual assault
🌈 Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden (m/m relationship) UK/US release in 2022
Julie and the Phantoms: Whatever Happens by Candace Buford (gay mc)
The Forever Place by J. C. Lillis (m/m relationship)
Forestborn by Elayne Audrey Becker (m/m relationship)

The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith (side sapphic character)
The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino (side f/f relationship)
Untouched by Jayme Bean (bi mc)

SEPTEMBER

The Misadventures of an Amateur Naturalist by Ceinwen Langley (f/f relationship)
The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros (Romanian Jewish gay mc, Lithuanian Jewish gay li, Ukrainian Jewish gay li) tw antisemitism, mentions of past rape, mentions of past pedophilia, body horror (chapter 42), blood, gore, violence, murder, drowning, vomiting, fire, immolation
🌈 The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh (bi mc)
🌈 A Clash of Steel by C.B. Lee (Chinese cast & setting, f/f relationship)
🌈 The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl (bi mc, bi li, f/f relationship, bi side character) tw blood, gore, violence

🌈 We Are Not Broken by George M. Johnson (memoir)
🌈 To Break a Covenant by Alison Ames (lesbian mc, bi li) tw animal death, death of a parent, gore
🌈 Act Cool by Tobly McSmith (trans mc, trans side character) tw transphobia, homophobia, misgendering, deadnaming, suicidal thoughts and ideation, religion, conversion therapy
The Night When No One Had Sex by Kalena Miller (sapphic mc, f/f relationship)
🌈 La chica de hielo by Andrea Tomé (bi mc)

🌈 Dark Rise by C. S. Pacat (bi male mc)
🌈 Major Detours by Zachary Sergi (m/m relationship)
Witch Rising by Paige McKenzie & Nancy Ohlin (sapphic mc, Black trans mc, sapphic biracial (Black, white) mc, sapphic Latina mc)
🌈 A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell (fat bi mc, pan nonbinary side character, trans side character, ace side characters)

🌈 The Hollow Heart by Marie Rutkoski (poc lesbian mc, nonbinary lesbian mc, f/f relationship, poc gay side character) tw death, murder, poison, blood, executions
The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi (Filipino-Spanish bi mc, Haitian-French achillean mc)
Into the Dying Light by Katy Rose Pool (m/m relationship)
🌈 Before We Were Blue by E.J. Schwartz (Jewish sapphic mc with an eating disorder, sapphic li with an eating disorder) tw antisemitism
Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton & Aśka (queer disabled mc, nonbinary li)

🌈 Things We Couldn’t Say by Jay Coles (bi Black mc, bi li, m/m relationship, sapphic side characters) tw racism, racial profiling, religious homophobia, parental abuse (verbal, emotional)
🌈 Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Chinese-coded cast & setting, bi mc, bi characters, m/m/f polyamory) tw gore, murder, torture, mentions of rape, threats of rape, misogyny, femicide, suicide ideation, abuse, alcohol addiction
🌈 Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson (m/m relationship)
Some Faraway Place by Lauren Shippen (sapphic mc & li)
🌈 Sisters of Shadow by Katherine Livesey (sapphic mc)

Sidelined by Kara Bietz (gay mcs, m/m relationship)
🌈 The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider (bi female mc)
Two Winters by Lauren Emily Whalen (two bi female mcs, side sapphic characters)
🌈 Bloody Spade by Brittany M. Willows (pan mc, ace mc)
The Convincing Hour by Ann Roberts (sapphic mc)

Sex Education: The Road Trip by Katy Birchall (Black gay character)
Battle of the Bands ed. by Lauren Gibaldi & Eric Smith (anthology; bi mc)
Anne sin filtros by Iria G. Parente & Selene M. Pascual (bi mc, trans li, lesbian side character)
🌈 Baby Teeth by Meg Grehan (f/f relationship)

OCTOBER

🌈 Tonight We Rule the World by Zack Smedley (bi male mc, bi character) tw rape, physical & emmotional abuse, abusive relationship, gaslighting
Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall & Lisa Sterle (sapphic mcs)
Needlework by Julia Watts (gay mc)
🌈 Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Saenz (Mexican American gay mc & li)
This is Our Rainbow ed. by Katherine Locke & Nicole Melleby (anthology)

🌈 Our Way Back to Always by Nina Moreno (bi mc)
🌈 On Top of Glass by Karina Manta (memoir)
🌈 Thronebreakers by Rebecca Coffindaffer (pan mc)
🌈 City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn (bi mc, f/f relationship, achillean side characters) tw gun violence, emotional abuse, mentions of suicide, terminal illness
🌈 Jade Fire Gold by June CL Tan (side f/f relationship)

🌈 The Heartbreak Bakery by A. R. Capetta (agender mc)
Tink and Wendy by Kelly Ann Jacobson (bi mc)
The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl (lesbian mcs, sapphic demi mc, aroace mc, f/f relationship)
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen (sapphic characters)
Dragonblood Ring by Amparo Ortiz (trans side character, m/m side relationship)

Fall of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell (sapphic mc)
🌈 The Love We Hide by Damien Benoit-Ledoux (m/m relationship)
Urchin by Kate Story (nonbinary mc)
Specter Inspectors by Bowen McCurdy & Kaitlyn Musto (f/f relationship, nonbinary character)

NOVEMBER

Briar Girls by Rebecca Kim Wells (bi female mc, sapphic li, nonbinary side characters, sapphic trans side character) tw gore, immolation, amputation, magic requiring blood/self-harm
🌈 Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan (f/f relationship)
🌈 Going Viral by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc (sapphic mc, f/f relationship)
🌈 Faith: Greater Heights by Julie Murphy (fat bi mc)
Fat Angie: Homecoming by E.E. Charlton-Trujillo (fat sapphic mc)

The Reckless Kind by Carly Heath (disabled ace mc, achillean disabled mcs)
The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell by Kate Brauning (bi mc, f/f/m relationship)
Nightmare in Savannah by Lela Gwenn, Chris Sanchez & Rowan MacColl (f/f relationship)
Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong (m/m relationship, trans mc)
Kennedy Is King by Cameron James (gay mc, trans li, m/m relationship)

DECEMBER

🌈 The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska (Polish-coded cast & setting, lesbian mc, bi female mc, lesbian character, gay character, bi male character) tw child abuse, blood, body horror (brief), death, murder
🌈 If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich (gay Spanish American mc, bi mc with an eating disorder, m/m relationship) tw abusive parents, homophobia, drugs & alcohol use
🌈 Fools In Love, ed. Rebecca Podos & Ashley Herring Blake (lgbt short stories; bi mcs)
The Excalibur Curse by Kiersten White (bi female mc, sapphic li)

Boy Underground by Catherine Ryan Hyde (gay mc)
The Infinite Summer by Morgan Lee Miller (f/f)
🌈 The Coldest Touch by Isabel Sterling (lesbian mc, f/f relationship)
🌈 Here’s To Us by Adam Silvera & Becky Albertalli (gay Jewish mc with ADHD, gay Puerto Rican mc, achillean side character)
A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, vol. 8 by Makoto Hagino (f/f relationship)

* Please note that since this was posted, it has come to our attention that the book in question contains uncontested racism (e.g. having a South Asian character use the n-word without being called out, prioritising (white) transness above discussing the issues of racism that arise in the plot) and antisemitism (e.g. having the main antagonist be a rich Jewish girl who is often described as manly and hairy).

Please also note: we are aware of a further release – All of Us Villains – but have elected not to include this, on account of one of the authors having a history of bullying authors of colour.

Which book are you most looking forward to?

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