My Favorite Queer Books of 2024

This book is a perfect example of why I don’t like making “best of” lists before the end of the year: it came out in December, and it immediately became one of my favourite reads of the year. I loved this literary speculative story about two sisters who began their lives together as snakes in Tang Dynasty China. Now, they couldn’t be more different: Su is a conservative politician’s wife in Singapore while Emerald scrapes by as a queer sugar baby living in New York City with an artist friend. It’s a beautiful and bruising story about racism, assimilation, and the complexities of found family. I don’t know how to talk about this one succinctly, but you can read my full review at the Lesbrary.

Content warnings: Rape, transmisogyny (this is a significant plot, not just mentioned in passing), pregnancy trauma, misogyny, homophobia.

Theo and Kit were childhood best friends who fell in love and were inseparable into their twenties…until a fight on the way to their dream vacation changed everything. Now, it’s four years later, and the voucher for this food and wine-tasting tour across Europe is about to expire, so Theo books the trip solo at the last possible moment—only to find that Kit had the same idea. Stuck on the same trip for weeks, they hesitantly begin to rebuild their friendship. Along the way, they make a bet about who can sleep with someone first in each of the cities they visit.

This may be my new favorite romance novel. The descriptions of food and drink, plus the beautiful locales, make this feel so decadent. It’s steamy and sweet at the same time, with a heavy dose of yearning. I also loved the nonbinary and bisexual representation.

This is a fun, sexy queer romance about Mel, a bartender at a cocktail lounge. When Bebe walks in, they have immediate chemistry. Bebe is married and polyamorous, and Mel thinks this is the perfect opportunity to try casual dating—her divorce has left her jaded about love. But despite her best efforts, Mel finds herself falling for Bebe—and making things even more complicated, she might also have feelings for Bebe’s nonbinary wife, Kade. I really enjoyed the different relationship dynamics each of the combinations of these three people had, and it also has a snowed-in scene, which is a trope I can’t resist.

How does the pitch “lesbian romcom about death” sound to you? This is about two women, Logan and Rosemary, who used to be childhood best friends, but now they’re rival English teachers at the same school. When their shared mentor’s dying wish is to be driven to his cabin in Maine, they reluctantly agree to go on a road trip with him together. They’re total opposites: Logan is messy and out of control, Rosemary is the model teacher and is always in control. They soon learn they have a lot more in common than they thought, though, including that they both have ADHD. I loved every part of this. As a queer former English teacher with ADHD, it hit close to home.

Inspired by Carmilla, An Education in Malice is a dark academia gothic set at a 1960s women’s college, where Laura joins an exclusive and demanding poetry class. This gave me exactly the vibes I want from a dark academia vampire novel: angsty, erotic, and obsessive. It’s atmospheric and immersive, and it’s one I wish I could give my 19-year-old self, because she would be obsessed.

The author of genre-defying novels like An Unkindness of Ghosts and Sorrowland is back with a take on haunted houses like no other. The Maxwell siblings grew up the only Black family in their neighborhood, in a house haunted by unexplained phenomena. Their mother refused to give the house up, so they endured—but as adults, they avoid it at all costs. When their parents die, they’re forced to walk inside again to determine what led to their demise. This is a queer, trans haunted house story that is more about the aftermath of being haunted—and real-life horrors—than it is about the setting. Check out the content warnings, including child sexual abuse, before picking this one up, but it’s a powerfully written, unsettling, and unforgettable read that I cannot get out of my head.