Reads Rainbow Awards 2022: The Results

After weeks of voting, the time has finally come to announce our award winners! From the very start, all the way through to this point, these have been voted for by you guys! These are your favourite 2022 releases. And, in the interests of not keeping you any longer, let’s get going!

Related: Reads Rainbow Awards 2019, 2020 & 2021.

Adult contemporary fiction

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
Husband Material by Alexis Hall
A Whisper of Solace by Milena McKay

Adult mystery & thriller

Lavender House by Lev A. C. Rosen
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
Strange Attractors by Ana K. Wrenn

Adult historical fiction

Babel by R. F. Kuang
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall
Infamous by Lex Croucher

Adult horror & paranormal

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Adult fantasy

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
A Restless Truth by Freya Marske
Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk

Adult science fiction

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell
The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard

YA contemporary fiction

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

YA mystery & thriller

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala
Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado
Aces Wild by Amanda DeWitt

YA historical fiction

Self Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore
One for All by Lillie Lainoff
A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar

YA horror & paranormal

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White
Youngblood by Sasha Laurens
The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco

YA fantasy

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

YA science fiction

Godslayers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown
The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Middle grade & picture books

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith
The Last Hope in Hopetown by Maria Tureaud

Graphic novels & comics

Fence: Rise by C. S. Pacat & Johanna the Mad
Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulsen
Chef’s Kiss by Jarrett Melendez & Danica Brine

Poetry

Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
100 Queer Poems ed. by Mary Jean Chan & Andrew McMillan
50 Things Kate Bush Taught Me About the Multiverse by Karyna McGlynn

Nonfiction

Bad Gays by Huw Lemmey & Ben Miller
Girls Can Kiss Now by Jill Gutowitz
Bi by Julia Shaw