Best Young Adult Books with Mild LGBT Themes

Dear readers, I was reading an M/M romance erotica that was really disappointing me (off with Insta-Lust’s head!) when I decided to make a list of the best Young Adult books with mild LGBT themes I’ve read in my life. (Click on the covers to buy.)

Here it goes.

1. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

This is really a coming-of-age YA novel. It’s mainly about friendship, family, trust, loyalty and being honest with ourselves and with who we truly are. It’s beautiful, though it’s not focused on romance. Still, the LGBT theme is there.

 

2. Nimona  

This is an action-filled fantasy graphic novel with sweet man-man scenes. It’s never explicit, and the theme is often implicit, but it’s impossible not to ship Ballister & Goldenloin. One of the best graphic novels I’ve ever read!

3. The Girl at Midnight

 This book is very reminiscent of The Mortal Instruments and Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It’s a fantasy adventure featuring a lot of characters (like in TMI) and two of them are gay. One controls magic and the other one is a… You know what? I’ll leave it to you to discover. It’s a small part of the story, which is why it’s featured in this list, but I love the couple and can’t wait to see more of them.

4. The Game of Love and Death

 This is a very special book. The premise is extremely curious – which is why I read it in the first place – and it touches a lot of subjects, such as racism, sexism and homophobia. The LGBT theme is peculiar because the couple is unexpected. I don’t want to say more, because there’s so much to discover!

5. Winning

 This is a book about winning. It stars a character determined to be the queen and who is ready to neutralize anything and anyone standing in her way. It’s told from four different points of views and one of the narrators is lesbian. I loved how authentic it felt. Plus, the whole story is extremely entertaining.

 

6. My Most Excellent Year

Now this is a book you will never forget. The humor is omnipresent and it’s told from letters, e-mails, journal entries, essays, etc. It’s really one of the most original books I’ve ever read. It features three different high school students all linked to one another in different ways. One of them is gay and desperate to fall in love. It’s really sweet.

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 I haven’t added the most obvious ones, like The Mortal Instruments or The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Other YA books with mild LGBT themes that aren’t bad are the Half Bad trilogy, The Darkest Part of the Forest, Fangirl and Damsel Distressed. They just didn’t make the cut. If you have other recommendations, please include them in the comments!

Feel free to complete the following poll. I love getting feedback from my readers.

Thank you for reading.

LOLA

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