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In a world bound for an epic flood, only a chosen few are guaranteed safe passage into the new world once the waters recede. The Kostrovian royal court will be saved, of course. But the fate of the court’s Royal Flyers, is less certain. Hell-bent on survival, Principal Flyer, Natasha Koskinen, will do anything to save the flyers. But unbeknownst to Natasha, her newest recruit, Ella Neves, is driven less by her desire to survive the floods than her thirst for revenge.
2021 is the year of queer fake dating books, and I am all for it. We’ve finally reached the point where mainstream publishing is letting us play with tropes instead of just insisting on tragiqueer and/or coming out stories, and dare I say it, we do these tropes better. Here are just a few queer fake dating YA books out this year. (Bonus: they also all have main characters of color.)
Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
This one is by a Book Riot contributor! It follows two very different Bengali teenagers living in Ireland. When Humaira (“Hani”) comes out to her friends as bisexual, they insist that she can’t really know that unless she’s dated a girl. She blurts out that she is dating a girl: the prickly and ambitious Ishita (“Ishu”). Ishita reluctantly agrees to go along with this plan, as long as Humaira helps her to get elected head girl, which would look good on her college applications. But will they develop real feelings?? It’s a fake dating romance, so you can probably guess that part, but it’s a great ride.
Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee
Noah runs a popular blog called the Meet Cute Diary, where he collects stories of trans people’s picture-perfect meet cutes… except they’re all fake: he writes them himself. When he gets called out, he decides the only way to save his blog is to prove they’re real by saying that one of the meet cutes is his and faking a relationship worthy of Instagram. But Noah soon learns that scripted romance is a little different from the real thing.
I loved how flawed and realistic Noah was as a main character. He has a lot to learn, but I was rooting for him the whole time. There’s also a side character who is trying out different pronouns who steals the show.
Love and Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura
Nozomi is spending the summer in San Francisco when she meets Willow and immediately starts crushing on her. Willow is still mourning her last relationship, though, so they plan to fake date to make her ex jealous. Meanwhile, Nozomi has a plan to prove to Willow that she’s a perfect match for real–but her lies are starting to spin out of control…
This one is high on my TBR, not least because of that adorable cover!
All the Links Fit to Click
Pride month has begun in earnest, which means that it’s hard to sift through all the queer book news. On the one hand, hooray! On the other hand, about 90% of it is the same titles rehashed over and over again in various “books to read for Pride” lists. I did manage to find some good ones in the haystack, though, and here they are!
- Here’s a history of Pride in children’s books, plus a database of 700+ LGBTQ kids’ books.
- Autostraddle interviewed Leah Johnson and called her the Toni Morrison of queer YA.
- A queer librarian reflects on how she–and her male-partnered relationship–would be categorized in the Dewey Decimal System.
- Here’s a reading list on queerness and work.
- Want to read sapphic romance but aren’t sure where to start? Try this guide.
- The Halifax public library (that’s in Canada) and Halifax Pride are in conflict over the library carrying an anti-trans title.
- Here are some LGBTQ books for kids.
- These queer books are great poolside or beach reads.
- Here are queer 2021 releases by authors of color that you should know about.
- If you’re in the U.K., support your queer bookshops.
- You had me at “goblin lesbians in the desert comic”.
LGBTQ Book Riot Posts
- You should participate in the 48 hour Queer Blackathon readathon this month!
- 6 Audiobooks for Pride Month
- Announcing the Winners of the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards
- 8 Queer Romances to Read for Pride Month
- Quiz: Which LGBTQ YA Thriller Should You Read Next?
New Releases This Week
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Doubting Thomas by Michael Clark Davison (Gay Fiction)
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (F/F Epic Fantasy)
The Sea Is Salt and So Am I by Cassandra Hartt (Bi Girl YA Contemporary)
Love and Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura (F/F YA Contemporary)
Fifteen Hundred Miles From The Sun by Jonny Garza Villa (Gay M/M YA Romcom)
The Marvelous by Claire Kann (Sapphic and Questioning YA Thriller)
Monstrous Design (Dangerous Remedy #2) by Kat Dunn (Sapphic YA Fantasy)
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Queen of All by Anya Leigh Josephs (Sapphic YA Fantasy)
Girls at the Edge of the World by Laura Brooke Robson (F/F YA Fantasy)
Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria (Bi Girl YA Fantasy)
Almost Flying by Jake Maia Arlow (Sapphic Middle Grade)
Both Can Be True by Jules Machias (Genderfluid Middle Grade)
Renegade Rule by Ben Kahn, Rachel Silverstein, Sam Beck (Sapphic Comics)
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How Do We Relationship? Vol. 3 by Tamifull (F/F Manga)
Hola Papi: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons by John Paul Brammer (Queer Memoir)
Care of: Letters, Connections, and Cures by Ivan Coyote (Non-Binary Memoir/Essays)
Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi (Non-Binary Memoir)
That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me on Twitter @Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books on the first Tuesday of the month, and I post weekly New Releases videos on the Book Riot Youtube channel. You can bet I sneak in as many queer titles as I can.
Happy Pride, and happy (queer) reading!