There comes a time (usually after you’ve read all the fics) when you want to read a book similar in feeling to your favourite, but also different enough that it doesn’t just seem like a reread. Something to hit you right in that nostalgic spot.
That’s what I have here today: 10 LGBT books that kind of feel like The Raven Cycle. A lot of different themes going on, so let’s explore!
Related: quietly magical LGBT books & LGBT found family
The Wicker King
K. Ancrum
Goodreads | UK Bookshop
Rep: bi mc with anorexia, anxiety and depression, bi mc with peduncular hallucinosis, polyam relationship
TW: codependency, arson, violence, hallucinations, panic attacks, depression, parental neglect, abuse
Why Should I Read It?
My elevator pitch for this book always has been: if you liked the “When I’m gone, dream me the world” part of TRC, you will absolutely love this book. IT takes the intensity of that scene specifically & also their whole relationship in general, and somehow makes it even more intense. And canonically gay.
Wonders of the Invisible World
Christopher Barzak
Goodreads
Rep: gay mc & li
Why Should I Read It?
This is the book that The Raven Cycle aspired to be, and I stand by that. The plot is totally different, but the vibe is exactly the same. Only here, everything makes sense, everything is connected and planned, and the gay love is the very center of the story. Also the writing is beautiful.
The Bedlam Stacks
Natasha Pulley
Goodreads | UK Bookshop
Rep: achillean physically disabled mc, Peruvian achillean li
Why Should I Read It?
This is an adult book, don’t get it twisted, but if you want to venture into adult lit world, I highly recommend Pulley’s works. The similarities to TRC are not obvious, they’re more in how the book makes you feel. It’s magical in that quiet way (plot-wise), and it’s gay in the way that makes your heart ache. You will cry. You’re welcome.
From Dust, a Flame
Rebecca Podos
Goodreads
Rep: Jewish sapphic mc, Jewish lesbian li, gay character with ADHD, nonbinary side character
Why Should I Read It?
We’re not compering writing styles here (because Podos’ isn’t really purple prose at all), we’re comparing vibes. And those are spot on. It’s urban fantasy, yes, there are curses, yes, but From Dust, A Flame centers women & families (blood ones and found ones). Also it’s beautifully Jewish.
Release
Patrick Ness
Goodreads | UK Bookshop
Rep: gay mc, sapphic Korean side character
Why Should I Read It?
Like TRC, Release is the kind of book that’s hard to describe. A book that you have to experience for yourself. There are actually two timelines here, but in the end they are intertwined and create a whole story. One of the timelines is full on fantasy, a fairy tale even, while the other is contemporary focused on a gay boy struggling with sexuality, faith & a family.
The Dead and the Dark
Courtney Gould
Goodreads
Rep: lesbian mcs, bi Latino mc, gay mc
TW: murder, homophobia, homophobic violence, attempted drowning, child death
Why Should I Read It?
Have you ever thought what The Raven Cycle would be like, if it was paranormal, instead of vaguely fantasy? Well, now you don’t have to, because The Dead and the Dark exists! Also it’s very, very sapphic. It’s creepy in the most delicious of ways, and it relies heavily on the found family trope. Do I really have to keep talking?
Weak Heart
Ban Gilmartin
Goodreads
Rep: achillean mc with anxiety, Filipino achillean mc, sapphic mc, Black lesbian mc, nonbinary side character
TW: magic requiring self-harm, gore, blood, drowning
Why Should I Read It?
Weak Heart is kind of like if the characters from TRC grew up and also grew apart a little bit. But all the love they ever had for each other stayed, and now they’re piecing it all together. The way the magic is portrayed also feels very similar to TRC, how it’s neither here nor there, but at the same time absolutely everywhere.
Mamo
Sas Milledge
Goodreads
Rep: sapphic mc, Filipino sapphic mc
TW: mention of past child abuse
Why Should I Read It?
If what you loved most about The Raven Cycle was the folklore, then Mamo is absolutely for you. It show cases that in the most beautiful and loving of ways, while still having enough time to write a story about families and about love. Bonus point: it’s a graphic novel & the art is just gorgeous.
The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza
Shaun David Hutchinson
Goodreads
Rep: bi Cuban American mc, sapphic li, Muslim ace (questioning) side character
Why Should I Read It?
I would argue that all the books by Shaun David Hutchinson somehow have the same vibe as The Raven Cycle, no matter what the plot might be about. It’s in the writing, it’s in emotions being the most important, it’s in the dreaminess of the world & the absurdity of the plot. Here we have miracles & talking tampon boxes & the world coming to an end, but you will love it as much as teen walking the ley lines.
The Thirty Names of Night
Zeyn Joukhadar
Goodreads
Rep: Syrian American trans gay mc, Syrian American gay li, Syrian sapphic mc, Syrian trans li, Syrian sapphic li, Black nonbinary character
TW: islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, violence, death, blood
Why Should I Read It?
Okay, I will admit, this one only works if you really think about it. I might be stretching it a bit. But! If the love portrayed in TRC made you feel a lot, the (gay) love here will make you go absolutely feral. The writing itself is similarly lyrical, but less in the ‘purple prose’ way and more in the ‘beautifully drawn metaphors’ way. It’s a book about love, and family, and belonging, and grief… And it’s the most tender book you could ever imagine.
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