As two neurodivergent queer girlies with an interesting plethora of health problems between us, representation matters. Every time a book character with an illness, invisible or not, arrives on page, our world gets a little brighter.
This year, we've compiled recommendations for books featuring both queer and disabled representation in the hopes to brighten your shelves, too. With a vast array of genres and themes to offer, you're sure to find a new, inclusive read or five in this post!
Mental Health & Neurodiversity
Sapphic
Forget Me Not by A. E. Bratchford | sci-Fi verse novel/romance | anxiety, long term injury/prosthesis, ADHD | bi; lesbian; nonbinary side character | curvy FMC
The Storm Within Her by Ami Spencer | contemporary romance | mental health rep; grief | bisexual rep; non-binary author
The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall | YA romance | MC has anxiety | plus size rep
Heartsound by Clare Stevens | literary/historical | mental health
Don't Call Me Hero by Eliza Lentzski | romance | ex-military MC with PTSD
Tarnished by Erica Rose Eberhart | YA fantasy
Unworthy by J.A. Vodvarka | epic fantasy | PTSD | bi & lesbian
The Brute of Greengrave (and other stories) by Jemma Topaz | urban fantasy | autism | trans woman, lesbians
Truly Home by J.J. Hale | romance | MC has anxiety
Imago by M Zakharuk | gothic horror/dark fantasy/dystopian | autistic MC, side character with cane | nonbinary lesbian
Tell Me How It Ends by Quinton Li | fantasy | anxiety, autism, & ADHD | lesbian; nonbinary; aro/ace
A Vision of Ruin by R.P. Dunwater | dark fantasy | PTSD, grief ,& trauma | bi/polyamory
Achillean
Coup de Coeur by Halli Starling | historical fantasy/queer romance | mental health; trauma | gay, demi, genderqueer, genderfluid, poly, pan
The Prospects by K.T. Hoffman | sports romance | ADHD | trans
Sentence for Life by Maxime Jaz | dark romance | SA survivor MC with PTSD & anxiety
Dandelion by Merlina Garance | historical romance | autism | bi & Jewish characters
Queer
When the Stars Were Brighter by Alex Harvey-Rivas | speculative short fiction collection | trauma; autism; grief | sapphic polyam nonbinary author; nonbinary; lesbian; agender; genderfluid; non-gendered | Latina MC
Shadows Dark and Deadly by Andrea Marie Johnson | gaslamp fantasy | anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD | bi MC; why choose MM and FF pairings
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew by Joseph White | YA horror | autistic MC | trans character(s)
Something to be Proud Of by Anna Zoe Quirke | YA | autistic MC
The Courtship Saga by A.R. Kaufer | romance/fantasy | mental health
His Unexpected by Bailey Elizabeth | paranormal romance | ND | bi, demi, nonbinary
The Chasm by Branwen OShea | YA scifi/hopepunk | ND; amputee | ace; pansexual
Where Lost & Hopeless Things Go by Bryony Rosehurst | poetry | self-diagnosed autism, chronic illness, depression, & anxiety
Apocalypse Child by Carly Butler | memoir | trauma | bi | Indigenous
A Curse for Samhain by Dahlia Donovan | cosy mystery | autistic vampire, disabled side characters | gender fluid
The Living Waters by Dani Finn | fantasy | intellectual disability | asexual, nonbinary, & agender
Beyond Description by Emily Tiffany Joy | memoir | author has bipolar t1 | trans author
Synthetic Sea by Franklyn S. Newton | sci-fi, romance, mystery | ASD & PTSD | trans MMC; nonbinary MC; bi & pan
The Phoenix and the Sword by JC Snow | fantasy | amputee character & trauma recovery | MM storyline; agender rep; white, Chinese, & Black MCs | non-European setting
Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender | YA | ADHD & autism | trans
The Fealty of Monsters, Vol. 1 by Ladz | dark fantasy/gothic horror | ADHD; anxiety | nonbinary mc, lesbian mc, bi mc
To a Darker Shore by Leanne Schwartz | YA fantasy | autism | demi MC, sapphic SCs | fat rep
Vivi Conway & the Haunted Quest by Lizzie Huxley-Jones | MG fantasy | autistic MC, side character with limb difference | nonbinary side character
Under the Dragon Moon by Mawce Hanlin | urban fantasy | autism, ADHD, OCD, PTSD | trans queer MC; bi LI; trans side characters
Under Far Galaxian Skies by Natalie Kelda | fantasy | depression, anxiety, & C-PTSD | pan MC, queer normative world, & ace side characters
Angels by Rachel Churcher | YA | PTSD/C-PTSD
The Unbalancing by R.B. Lemberg | fantasy | neurodivergence | trans/nonbinary character
Seure the Tempered by Rien Gray | fantasy romance | autism | nonbinary protagonist; plus size love interest of colour; all-queer cast/queer norm setting
Asking for a Friend by Ronnie Riley | MG contemporary | MC has social anxiety, BFF has ADHD
The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle by Steve Hugh Westenra | horror | ADHD, PTSD, & abuse | bi; gay; lesbian
Physical Health & Impairments
Sapphic
Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield | YA speculative romance | MC has IBS and uses cane | sapphic, Jewish MCs
Fragmented by Eliza Lentzski | romantic thriller | love interest is in a wheelchair; MC's family has history of schizophrenia | sapphic
A Quiet Universe by Kay F. Atkinson | scifi/horror | chronically poor health & degrading memory | transfem, lesbian
The Moon on a Rainy Night by Kuzushiro | YA manga | hard of hearing
So Lucky by Nicola Griffith | literary fiction | multiple sclerosis
The Santa Pageant by Lillian Barry | romance | PCOS; C-PTSD | lesbian, bisexual, non-binary
Hearing Red by Nicole Maser | apocalyptic romance | blind & asthmatic MCs
Out of the Blue by Sophie Cameron | YA fantasy | cystic fibrosis
The Planck Paradox by Taryn J. Dallas | romance | side character in a wheelchair; deaf side character; MC trains assistance dogs; other MC raises deaf community awareness | butch/femme
The Darkest Night by Victoria Hawthorne | historical suspense | Perthes' disease
Achillean
When the Rain Begins to Burn by A.L. Davidson | horror | anxiety, PTSD; insomnia; agorophobia; T1 diabetes/pump user; gay & bi rep
Golden Terrace by Cang Wu Bin Bai | historical | ambulatory wheelchair user MC
Queried Sick by Dallas Smith | romance | rheumatoid arthritis
Pit Stop by Ellis Mae | romance | prosthetic leg & PTSD
Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo & Ren Graham | YA graphic novel | MC uses a wheelchair
Icarus by K. Ancrum | YA mythology retelling | MC has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
Everything for You by Chloe Liese | romance | chronic pain
The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz | historical/fantasy/romance | MC has mobility issues & chronic pain, depression & anxiety
Just Stu by Merlina Garance | romance | chronic pain & scoliosis | pansexual & genderqueer characters
His Lordship's Coachman by Maxime Jaz | historical romance | MC with weak lungs in a wheelchair
Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi | fantasy | blind MC
Stars of Chaos by Priest | fantasy/steampunk | deaf & blind MC
Dear Mustafa by Steven Damron | historical romance | MC has AIDs
I Hear the Sunspot by Yuki Fumino | NA manga | hard of hearing | achillean
Queer
The Mann and the Lucky Channel by Achiru et. al | manga/urban fantasy | blindness, OCD, ADHD | lesbian; gay; bi; ace spectrum
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas | YA fantasy | deaf with use of sign language | Black, pan MC
The Elemental Pentalogy by Ariadne Pautina | fantasy | blind scientist; wheelchair-using artist; forensic pathologist with chronic pain; C-PTSD rep
The Reckless Kind by Carly Heath | YA historical | anxiety; spinal cord injury & Brown-Sequard syndrome; hearing loss due to Waardenburg syndrome; gay & ace characters
The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth | YA fantasy & mystery | chronic illness including fibromyalgia
Cage of Nightingales by Elizabeth Hopkinson | historical/fantasy/romance | facial & vocal scarring; wheelchair use; dwarfism | asexual, nonbinary MCs
Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites by Joy Demorra | romantasy | hard of hearing MC | poly MMF
One Killer Problem by Justine Pucella Winans | YA mystery | MC has IBS & anxiety/panic attacks | bi MC
Star Collapsed by Laura Winter | fantasy | broken back & chronic pain | bi
Scoring a Spouse by Liz Lincoln | MF romance | rheumatoid arthritis | bi FMC
Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkamp | YA mystery | chronic pain
Junker Seven by Olive J. Kelley | sci-fi romance | MC has burn scars, a prosthetic leg, & autism | trans MCs
In Shadowed Dreams by S. Judith Bernstein | urban fantasy | chronically ill MC | aro/ace mc
The Loudest Silence by Sydney Langford | YA | hard of hearing & anxiety
The Oath by T.M. Richardson | contemporary romance | terminal illness; mental health | bi, poly, why choose | Black
Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao | YA fantasy | MC uses cane & wheelchair
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