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We’re more than halfway through the year, and there are still so many excellent queer books coming out in 2025. My list of upcoming releases I want to pick up is unconquerable, but I thought I would share with you ten of the books I will be prioritizing the most. I’m in my sapphic fantasy era, apparently, but I’m also looking forward to reading trans satirical horror, a queer video game memoir, trans essays, and a gay Palestinian take on Mrs. Dalloway.
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Simplicity by Mattie Lubchansky (July 29)
I loved Mattie Lubchansky’s previous graphic novel, Boys Weekend, a satirical trans horror story, so I can’t wait to pick up her newest one. Simplicity follows a trans man living in the walled city of New York in 2081. He’s hired to do an anthropological survey of the cult of Simplicity in the Catskills. He’s charmed by this community, but he begins to have visions of monstrous and beautiful creatures—and then members of Simplicity start to go missing.
A Game in Yellow by Hailey Piper (August 12)
First off, that cover is perfectly creepy. This horror novel follows Carmen and Blanca, who are getting bored of their kinky sex life, until they discover a play called The King in Yellow. Reading it will drive you mad… but sample just a few pages, and you’ll experience euphoria. As they play on the razor’s edge between pleasure and the void, Carmen starts to yearn to escape into the world of the play. Queer Lovecraftian erotica horror? Why not!
Both/And: Essays by Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Writers of Color by Denne Michele Norris with Electric Literature (August 12)
Just what it says on the tin! This anthology of essays by trans and gender non-conforming writers of color explores “stories of joy, heartbreak, rage, and self-discovery” from a nonbinary molecular biologist, a star of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and even the inimitable author Akwaeke Emezi. With this and So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color by Caro De Robertis, 2025 is a good year for trans nonfiction.
This Vicious Hunger by Francesca May (August 26)
One pattern I’ve seen in queer lit this year is gothics, and I’m here for it. I especially can’t resist a sapphic gothic like this one. Thora is a widow looking to start a new life studying botany at a prestigious university. There, she is intrigued by a woman tending to the garden beneath her window at night. She learns that Olea has an ailment that keeps her confined to the garden, and as their relationship intensifies, Thora becomes obsessed with finding a cure. Tanya Pell, author of Her Wicked Roots, calls this a “queer fairy tale of toxic romance that echoes with longing.”
Three Parties by Ziyad Saadi (August 26)
Queer Palestinian refugee Firas Dareer has planned his 23rd birthday party meticulously, setting it up to be his opportunity to come out to his friends and family. But despite his best efforts, things are already falling apart, with several scandals amongst the guests threatening to overshadow his day—and that’s not to mention the love triangle he’s currently in. This novel takes place over the course of a single day, a la Mrs. Dalloway.
Of Floating Isles: On Growing Pains and Video Games by Kawika Guillermo (September 2)
I don’t play many video games, but I watch a lot of video essays about them. What can I say: I love media criticism. In this memoir, Guillermo explores the roles video games have played in his life as a queer mixed-race person from a religious family. He writes about how they can be a source of frustration and comfort, escapism and connection. He also discusses how video games can reveal things about our world.
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White (September 9)
I loved The Spirit Bares Its Teeth and Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White, and now he’s making his adult debut. Given how dark and gory his YA horror is, I can only imagine what his adult horror will be like. In this, Crane is one of the last humans on Earth, living only to serve the alien hive. There have been some upsides to the end of the world, though, including that he’s been able to transition and has met Levi. But when Levi gets him pregnant and the hive demands Crane give birth, Crane will do anything to stop it.
Fate’s Bane by C.L. Clark (September 30)
I loved The Unbroken by C.L. Clark, and book two in the series was even better, so I will read anything they write. Strangely enough, they have two books out on the same day: this standalone novella and The Sovereign, the final book in the Magic of the Lost trilogy. I’m most looking forward to The Sovereign, but I will be reading both. Fate’s Bane, a “tragic sapphic adventure,” follows two women from rival clans who fall in love. They could be the key to ending the feud—but it would come with a terrible price.
The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong (October 14)
One of my favourite subgenres is queer cozy fantasy, so I’m really looking forward to this one. Look at that cute cover! It has a flying cat! It follows Certainty, a struggling novice mage, who is paired with the brilliant and cold Mage Aurelia to help out in a small, non-magical town. As they work together, Aurelia and Certainty begin to question the Mage Guild’s hoarding of magic, which could be put to use to make the lives of the people in this town better.
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri (October 21)
Aaand one last sapphic fantasy book. I loved The Jasmine Throne, so I’m excited to a) read the rest of the trilogy and b) read this standalone romantasy novel. It takes place in an England “fuelled by stories,” where the witch Simran and knight Vina are fated to fall in a tragic kind of love, lifetime after lifetime. To make matters worse, an assassin is targeting stories like theirs. But this time, they’re determined to write themselves a better ending.
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