It’s Wednesday! This means it’s time for Top 5 Wednesday, a weekly meme created by Lainey @ Ginger Reads Lainey and now hosted by Sam @ Thoughts on Tomes. You can check out and join the Goodreads group here.
I’m very excited about this week’s topic because it’s my favorite LGBTQ+ books. These don’t have to specifically be books that revolve around an LGBTQ+ character or have that theme as a focal point, but it can also be a book with LGBTQ+ characters in it. I’m always on the lookout for books with LGBTQ+ in them so I’m always open for suggestions in the comments if I don’t mention your favorite one.
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This book deals with a lot of issues and one of those issues is a friend of the main character dealing with being gay and how to come out. I think Chbosky dealt with this well and it wasn’t the main theme in this book but it was part of the story and impacted the main character.
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. This book is one of my favorite books of all time. The book is about Aristotle and Dante (who would’ve guessed?) and they start out as friends but throughout the book Dante discovers that he likes boys. This book is a coming-of-age story about two friends who discover who they are and who they could be. It’s a beautiful story, and not only are the main characters gay, but they’re hispanic as well so there’s racial diversity as well.
- The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. This one is subtle, and I just finished the third book in this series the other day but I do know that two of the main characters get together in the last book and they’re both guys. That’s all I’m going to say because I don’t want to spoil anyone like I spoiled myself. There have been subtle hints in the first three books in the series, though, and I’m excited for the last book (but also scared, I don’t want to leave my raven boys!)
- The Young Elites by Marie Lu. This one is subtle as well but I’m trying to include some fantasy in this list because LGBTQ+ seems to mainly stick within contemporary books. One of the characters in this book is someone who ‘pleases’ people for a living. He’s ‘pleased’ both men and women so I think he’s bisexual. I’m not an expert in this field of classification but I’m pretty sure this counts.
- The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. You probably all know who I’m talking about here. I’m a huge Malec shipper so how could I not include them on this list? Not only are two of the main characters in this series gay (though I would like to think of Magnus as bi) but there are also other characters in this series that got the confidence to come out because of Alec and his relationship with Magnus. I think it’s so well done in this series and not forced at all, which I love. Also, can we just appreciate how well they portray it in the TV show? I watch that show 90% of the time because of Malec. Don’t lie, you do as well.
I hope you liked this list! And feel free to recommend some LGBTQ+ books for me to read because I’m always on the lookout for more! Let me know what some of your favorite LGBTQ+ books are as well.
The Book Prophet 
I love The Raven Cycle so I hope you enjoy book 4 when you read it!
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I’ve read it and I loved it!
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I actually think Magnus is canonically bisexual in the books! I have this quote stuck in my head of him describing himself as “a freewheeling bisexual” and the show picked that up (if I remember correctly)! I’m a HUGE Malec shipper myself! 😀
If you’re looking for more books featuring LGBT+ characters I would definitely also recommend Shades Of Magic by Victoria Schwab and Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows! Or have you read them already?
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Oh yeah I remember that quote now! The show does show his bisexuality. I didn’t know Shades of Magic and Six of Crows had LGBT+ characters!
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I literally JUST got to the relationship in The Raven King yesterday!! I couldn’t believe what was happening. I didn’t expect THEM together but they make a great pair!
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Lol I wouldn’t have expected it either if I hadn’t gotten spoiled.
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Yesss I adore the romance you’re talking about in The Raven Cycle series! I love them so much ❤ I was so thrilled when I got to that book! Also, The Perks of Being A Wallflower has a bizarre place in my heart where I forget about it all the time, but whenever it's mentioned and I start remembering the story again, I remember just how much I loved it 🙂
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That same thing happens to me with Perks! It’s so strange, but I always forget it but when I remember it I remember how much I loved it.
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Malec is truly an iconic ship! I looovvve them ❤️ I haven’t read The Raven Cycle yet but I’ve been hearing about the romance for a while and I need to read it ASAP! Lovely choices 🙂
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I love them as well ❤ The Raven Cycle is AMAZING!
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Savannah! Oooh! I didn’t know you ship Malec too! 😀 haha I love them so much, they’re my ultimate OTP xD
And ooh, can’t wait for you to read the final book of TRC.
And Ari and Dante are such sweethearts ❤
Love your list~ 😀
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Malec is life! OTP forever! I can’t wait to read it either, but I’m scared to because then it’d be over! But isn’t Maggie Stiefvater writing a trilogy surrounding Ronan?
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I haven’t finish TRK yet, although I’ve already reached the scenes that I wanted to read haha
And yes, at least, that’s what I’ve read on Tumblr.
Btw, have you read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller?
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No I haven’t but it’s actually on my TBR, I believe.
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Can I butt in here for a sec? Maggie actually confirmed on Twitter that she’s writing/planning to write a Ronan centric trilogy in the future! And it won’t feature the relationship being broken up, which I really enjoy!
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