Our Readers Curate: A list of LGBTQ books that explore possibilities with love

Like they say that people should be able to look into the mirror and see all kinds of possibilities, these books will make you wander around all kinds of possibilities when it comes to love. So grab all of these books to your reading spot beside the window seal, turn on your favourite playlist and get ready to fall in love with these overwhelmingly beautiful LGBTQ+ young adult books.

BOY MEETS BOY by David Levithan

“We hold hands as we walk through town. If anybody notices, nobody cares. I know we all like to think of the heart as the center of the body but at this moment, every conscious part of me is in the hand that he holds. It is through that hand, that feeling, that I experience everything else.” As everyone says this book is The Gay Utopia World. This light-hearted and upbeat story revolves around sweet cupcakes like characters- Paul and Noah with Paul’s diverse and dope gang- Tony, Infinite Darlene(the drag queen), Joni, Ted, and Paul’s ex- Kyle. This book is funny, romantic, messy, heartbreaking and full of pride and acceptance. Somewhere you will relate to the heartbreak but then you will end up imagining what a wonderful world to live in.

CARRY ON by Rainbow Rowell

“I let myself slip away... Just to stay sane. Just to get through it. And when I felt myself slipping too far, I held on to the one thing I'm always sure of - Blue eyes. Bronze curls. The fact that Simon Snow is the most powerful magician alive. That nothing can hurt him, not even me. That Simon Snow is alive. And I'm hopelessly in love with him.”

This book does something to your heart- it messes it up a bit and makes you squeeze it a bit more. Simon Snow is the ‘chosen one’ but quite a messy one too (bet, you have already heard of one). Baz is just some perfectly dangerous vampire that you wish you knew (but make such a wish only if you are a Simon!). They both are a whole firecracker couple together (you will feel it in your stomach). You might end up finding yourself wanting more of that SIMON and BAZ .

WHAT IF IT’S US by Becky Albertali and Adam Silvera

“He laces our fingers and shrugs. And I’m dead. I am actually dead. There’s no other way to explain it. I’m sitting in fucking Herald Square, holding hands with the cutest boy I’ve ever met, and I’m dead. I’m the deadest zombie ghost vampire who ever died. And now my mouth isn’t working. It's like I'm stunned into silence. That never happens.”

What happens when two of the best authors collab, they make a masterpiece! This story is a masterpiece with Hamilton and Dear Evan Hanson written all over it. Romance between Arthur and Ben- a match made in New York’s post office- is explosively magical and their story is no less than a musical. They want their love to be perfect so that you may come across many do-overs which makes this book a cute package of giggles and butterflies with beautiful heartbreaks.

LEAH ON THE OFF BEAT by Becky Albertali

"I cant help it. I am Slytherin. And I'm the worst kind of Slytherin. I'm the kind who's so stupidly in love with a Gryffindor, she can't even function. I'm the Draco from some shitty Drarry fic that the author abandoned after four chapters.”

A badass drummer and an amazing artist, Leah Burke who is just as self conscious about herself like every other teen. Her squad and especially her gay bff, Simon don’t know about a part that she has confined in a closet that- she is bisexual. With all of this tension she is on her way to find a right note to hit. Exciting, relatable and a perfect girl meets girl book. But only to be read after Simon vs Homo Sapiens  to love those fun- packed characters a bunch more.

AUTOBOYOGRAPHY by Christina Lauren

“Love fails for a million reasons - distance, infidelity, pride, religion, money, illness. Why is this story any more worthy? It felt like it was. It felt important. Living in this town is suffocating in so many ways.
But if a tree falls in the woods, maybe it makes no sound. And if a boy falls for the bishop's closeted son, maybe it makes no story.”

This novel is as sparkly as its cover. Tanner has relocated to Utah, and despite his loving and accepting parents, the Mormon territory he lives in throws numerous hurdles at him for loving a no- less-than- an- angel, Sebastian (a bishop’s son who was meant to help him write a book but end up being his soul mate). You will love to read how Sebastian's smile ruins Tanner and how this story unfolds into a beautiful emotional ride.

RISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER SECRET OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Saenz

"There is a famous painting, Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper. I am in love with that painting. Sometimes, I think everyone is like the people in that painting, everyone lost in their own private universes of pain or sorrow or guilt, everyone remote and unknowable. The painting reminds me of you. It breaks my heart.”

You might end up refusing to put down this book..because that is how the magic of Benjamin works. Ari is angsty and he has a bitterly annoying but beautiful perspective of everything. Dante and Ari don't have anything in common when their universes collide but slowly they start walking on a path to discover themselves and what universe has in its bag for them. A blissful lyrical novel.

SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertali

"But I'm tired of coming out. All I ever do is come out. I try not to change, but I keep changing, in all these tiny ways. I get a girlfriend. I have a beer. And every freaking time, I have to reintroduce myself to the universe all over again.”

This is the journey of Simon Spier, finding his love, BLUE. The way he questions the so called ‘defaults’ of the society with his own way, is overwhelming and you might shed pearls out of your eyes in the process of falling in love with Simon and his rock solid squad. ( Leah, Nick and Abby) You will cry with him, laugh with him and at the same time think ,“There shouldn’t even be a default.”

I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN by Jandy Nelson

“I gave up practically the whole world for you,” I tell him, walking through the front door of my own love story. “The sun, stars, ocean, trees, everything, I gave it all up for you.”

Twins are meant to be inseparable, but in this immensely beautiful book, Noah and Jude have their own broken lives to narrate. Noah falls in love with a charismatic next-door boy, and Jude is an overly messed up, bad ass girl. This book will make you realise what a book can do to all your senses. It gives you the depth of a relation tangled with a fragile string. You will get to ride galaxies of metaphors and you definitely will fall in love with the way Noah and Jude remake their universes.

Our readers' curate. This article is part of our readers sending us their contributions. If you would like to share an opinion, a personal experience of beating a stereotype or even a viewpoint on something that has been occupying your mindspace, just send it over to stories@shethepeople.tv