Carry On

My Favourite LGBT+ Reads

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June is LGBT+ pride month, so it’s all about celebrating the LGBT+ community. Here are some of my favourite books with LGBT+ books, so you can celebrate the month by reading! They are all outstanding books to their own, and the fact that they have an LGBT+ protagonist makes me love them even more!

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
With all the awful things happening in the LGBT+ community at the moment, this is really the book everyone needs at the moment. I know quite a lot of people have read it already, so if you haven’t, you need to get on it! I loved this book so much the first time, yet I recently re-read it and enjoyed it just a little more. It’s so important, because it’s a completely happy LGBT+ novel.

 It tells the coming out story, which is usually portrayed as super stressful, and overall a really negative experience. In this book, however, Simon tells his parents he’s gay, and it goes really well for him. His parents accept him completely, his friends are fine, and everything is okay. It’s so important because it will show people that it doesn’t have to be a negative experience, and give the courage to do as Simon did

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
I’m pretty sure lots of people have read this already, but it’s still one of my favourite books (maybe of all time!!) because of how cute the romance was, and the author’s writing. I loved the magic aspect of the book, and although I would primarily class this book as a romance (because that’s what it focuses on), I was really pleased to read some diversity in the fantasy genre.

 The characters really stood out for me, too. The main character, Simon, is still discovering his sexuality throughout the book, whereas one of the other main characters, Baz, knows he’s gay. I liked this aspect of the book, because it showed a story of self-discovery and identity through an exciting and cosy fantasy story. I also thought that the romance scenes were perfect, because they were super happy, which is really the representation we need. I’m glad this fantasy didn’t follow the trope of ‘dead gays’ too!
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
I would class this book as LGBT+ fiction, but there was almost no romance in it (and none for the narrator). I really enjoyed the book because of this, as the characters’ sexualities were still explored, but this one wasn’t a coming out story either, and focused more on friendship. The platonic relationships in this book were so much more complex than most romances in other books (which is often true to real life!!), which I thought was important, because more often than not, friendships are overlooked.


I was really impressed with all the diversity in this book. I didn’t know how well the author had woven it into the story - it never felt like token diversity, yet like it was just naturally there (like in real life!!). The characters in this book were many different aspects of the LGBT+ spectrum. There was an agenda character, demisexual gay character, and the main character was bisexual, too! I liked how the other themes explored in the book were more prominent than these, because people need to learn not to trivialise people’s identities that they haven’t heard of before.


Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
This book was one of my favourite books of last year, because it was so well written, and so so important. It’s about a black girl in the 1950s, in a mainly white school. The racism was so intense to read about, but was done in such a historically accurate (I think!) and sensitive way. I loved the main character because she was so caring and kind, yet mentally strong and managed to not let anything stand in her way. This book was one of self discovery and sexuality, and I loved the way race and being gay was explored in this context. I think this book should be required reading for everyone, because it’s sadly relevant to today’s society, and teaches a story of love and acceptance.

Half Bad and Half Wild by Sally Green
This is my favourite series of all time, so of course, I couldn’t recommend books without featuring it! It’s so exciting and dark, and the books had me gripped throughout. There isn’t much focus on identity and romance, yet Nathan (the troubled protagonist) is discovering his identity throughout the series, which intertwines so well with the way he’s trying to find belonging in a world that tries so exclude him, and where he doesn’t belong in either side.

 I would have loved this book even if Nathan wasn’t bisexual, but the fact that it was just made the book perfect! There was a really sweet romance between him and another guy (Gabriel... my precious cinnamon bun), which was so lovely. I recommend the first two books for this reason, however, the ending to the series could be taken as problematic to the LGBT+ community (as me and Anna have been discussing ever since she finished!), so I can’t recommend it for that reason until I’m sure (and sure that no-one will get mad at me for recommending a problematic book!).

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson
I read this earlier this year, and it’s one of my favourite books this year. It’s one of my favourite books of all time! Unlike some of the other books featured in this list, I would say this book is pretty much entirely centered around being transgender (however it certainly isn’t a bad thing!!). I’d read very few books about transgender people before this, and because I’m cisgendered, I didn’t know much about what it’s actually like to be transgender. As well as being stunningly beautiful and heart breaking, it was really educational, and I’m more sensitive, respectful, and open-minded after reading this book.

 In addition to this, the book explored themes of family, identity, and friendship, too. David’s (the protagonist) friends were so caring and positive to his identity, yet Leo (the other protagonist) didn’t have the same experience. The contrast between their experiences was something so hard to read, yet the ending was so heartwarming, and made me smile so hard! Again, this is another LGBT+ book that had a happy ending, which is so important to see and read, especially in YA fiction.

5 Stars

3 Reasons why you should read The Art of Being Normal

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The Art of Being Normal
By Lisa Williamson
Series: None (Stand alone)
Source: Waterstones
Format: Paperback
Pages: 357
Published: 1st January 2015
Genres: Young Adult, LGBT+, Contemporary, 

Two boys. Two secrets.

David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth – David wants to be a girl.

On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal – to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in year eleven is definitely not part of that plan.

When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long...


I read The Art of Being Normal a few months ago, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. It’s become one of my all-time favourite books because I loved it so much! I can’t recommend it highly enough, but if you’re still unsure on whether to read it why don't you trust me?!, here are some reasons why it should be your next read!

1. The Writing

Lisa Williamson has become one of my favourite authors, even after reading just one book by her. She's a really talented writer, and this book proves it. It's written with a dual POV, which I’m usually wary of, because sometimes it can become confusing, or sometimes I like one person’s voice much more than another. However this was certainly not the case - I loved reading about David and Leo equally, and could tell their voices apart distinctly. I liked seeing depth from both of them, and it added so much to the story. I’m really glad it was written this way, because it meant I was able to see different perspectives on the story.

2. The Characters

This is a purely character driven novel, but it’s done so well! I instantly adored all of the characters, but especially the main characters, David and Leo. David was like a fluffy puppy for me - he was instantly loveable, and I just wanted to give him a hug all the time. He was innocent yet I never found him annoying, and I cared about him so so much. At many points you could call his story pretty tragic, but the way that he was always so full of optimism and hope made the book uplifting and truly inspirational. 


Leo was our other main character. He was different to David in the sense that he was initially shown as grumpy and miserable. However, the book was written from both of their perspectives, so we got to see both sides to the story. I loved reading about Leo just as much as I loved reading from David’s voice, because he had more depth to him. His character developed so much throughout the book, and I loved seeing how it unraveled for him.

He was precious to me too, because a lot of bad things happened to him in the book as well. He handled it differently to David, with much less of David’s enthusiasm - some may think he was too predictable because of this, but I thought he was the complete opposite to that. It made him so much more interesting, because we got to see inside his walls and outer shell that he put up. He had his reasons for everything he did, which sometimes were truly devastating. I wanted to give him a huge hug too at times, because of how badly he was treated! I think Leo was my favourite character due to how much depth he had, and how much I loved finding more and more about him. 

3. The Important Messages

Another reason to read this book is how important it is. No matter what your gender identity is, I think the messages conveyed will be beneficial to everyone. This story is about transgender people, and I think the issues raised about the topic are dealt with such sensitivity and care. I’ve met the author in person (I know, I fangirled so hard!! She was so lovely!), and she was talking about to the extent she researched this book, which I think proves more of her skill, and more of how well it's written. It’s so educational, and if I could, I would make it compulsory for everyone to read this! It teaches acceptance, love, and compassion without ever being boring or patronising, so you just need to read it!


As you can tell, I absolutely adored The Art of Being Normal! As well as all the reasons listed above, it was a highly emotional read, and was the first book ever to make me cry first time around. It was also super addictive. Read it so we can gush together! ☺