Book Releases: 2019 Books With Non-Cis Protagonists

Here’s another compilation post about trans & nonbinary books that all came out in one year. This time the year is 2019. Sometimes you just gotta go back in time, right?

Like always, I decided to only feature books with main characters or love interests who aren’t cis. (Or really important side characters, like parents). Of course, it’s not just YA, there are adult books on this list as well. And it absolutely is not all one genre.

For this post in particular, I’m sure I have missed some books. Please leave a comment, if you know of any books I should add! And as always, books by LGBT authors have a rainbow emoji next to the title.

See also: trans & nonbinary books of 2021 and of 2020; 100+ books by trans & nonbinary authors; twitter’s favourite trans books.

🌈 What Makes You Beautiful by Bridget Liang (trans mc, side m/m relationship, side trans character)
🌈 The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson (gay mc, trans li)
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (bi trans mc)
🌈 Highway Bodies by Alison Evans (bi mc, nonbinary bi mc, trans sapphic mc, lgbt side characters)
🌈 Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve (genderqueer Turkish lesbian mc)

🌈 The Vela by Yoon Ha Lee, Rivers Solomon, Becky Chambers, S. L. Huang (trans lesbian mc, nonbinary mc)
Squad by Mariah MacCarthy (bi female mc, trans li)
Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter (Black bi/pan mc, pan gnc mc, bi/pan nonbinary mc) tw foster brother/sister incest, codependency, parental neglect, emotional abuse, sexual assault, on-page death, body horror, mentions of suicide
A People’s History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian (trans mc, sapphic mc)
🌈 The Queen of Cups by Ren Basel (nonbinary mc, trans li)

🌈 A Knight to Remember by Ceillie Simkiss (nonbinary mc, nb/m relationship, trans mc)
You Must Not Miss by Katrina Leno (trans li, bi character)
Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor (genderfluid mc)
Castle of Lies by Kiersi Burkhart (bi mc, nonbinary mc) tw mentions and threats of rape, violence, incest (cousins)
Everything Grows by Aimee Herman (lesbian mc discovering gender identity)

🌈 I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver (nonbinary mc with anxiety & depression, Black bi li, Bahraini pan nonbinary Muslim side charater)
🌈 The Lost Coast by Amy Rose Capetta (Filipino lesbian with chronic pain mc, nonbinary mc, Black bi mc, sapphic mc)
Zenobia July by Lisa Bunker (trans mc)
🌈 The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos (trans li, lesbian side characters)
The Red-Stained Wings by Elizabeth Bear (trans woman mc)

🌈 What We See In The Smoke by Ben Berman Ghan (bi, gay, pan & genderqueer characters)
🌈 Reverb by Anna Zabo (trans man mc, pan mc, side achillean characters)
🌈 When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff & Kaylani Juanita (trans mc)
🌈 The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall (bi female mc, trans mc)
🌈 Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith (trans mc)

🌈 Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee (sapphic, achillean, nonbinary and trans mcs)
Stage Presents by Aidan Wayne (f/f relationship, trans mc)
Please Send Help by Gaby Dunn & Allison Raskin (genderfluid bi mc)
🌈 Dithered Hearts by Chace Verity (nb/f/f relationship, side m/m relationship)
🌈 The Ascent to Godhood by J. Y. Yang (nonbinary mc)

🌈 The Black Veins by Ashia Monet (bi Black female mc, Puerto Rican queer mc, trans ace mc, bi Black male mc)
🌈 Rom and Yuli by Amara Lynn (nonbinary mc)
Desdemona and the Deep by C. S. E. Cooney (trans mc)
🌈 Lord of the Last Heartbeat by May Peterson (nonbinary mc)
The Truth Is by NoNieqa Ramos (trans li) tw racism, homophobia, transphobia, mass shooting, sexual assault, animal death

🌈 Grease Bats by Archie Bongiovanni (trans genderqueer mc, sapphic mc)
🌈 Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman (trans mc, f/f relationship)
🌈 Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (Black trans mc)
Demon in the Whitelands by Nikki Z. Richard (nonbinary mc)
The Rat-Catcher’s Daughter by K. J. Charles (trans mc)

🌈 Gamechanger by L. X. Beckett (nonbinary & bi mcs, lesbian side characters)
Freeing Finch by Ginny Rorby (trans mc)
I Am Water by Meg Specksgoor (nonbinary mc, genderfluid character)
🌈 Homesick by Nino Cipri (trans and nonbinary characters)
🌈 Call Me Max by Kyle Lukoff & Luciano Lozano (trans mc)

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu (bi/pan Chinese-American mc using a hearing-aid, nonbinary Chinese-American li, nb/f relationship, side interracial f/f relationship)
🌈 The Trans Space Octopus Congregation by Takács Bogi (trans mcs)
Shine of the Ever by Claire Rudy Foster (queer & trans mcs)
Pax Novis by Erica Cameron (nonbinary mc, sapphic parents)
Sword Dance by A.J. Demas (genderfluid mc)

I’m also aware of 2019 books by following authors, but decided not to include them for the reasons as stated:

Meredith Russo’s ex-partner has detailed abuse suffered while with Russo, for which Russo was arrested/charged.
Mackenzi Lee’s 2020 release consistently misgendered a trans mc in the blurb (though now corrected), and included tropes such as forced outing of the trans mc and predatory gay characters.

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