12 LGBT Books That Will Make You Cry

By Riya Pant

You don’t have to wait until Pride month to pick up a book surrounding homosexuality and queer couples. Literature has never been so diverse and representative of the minor communities. So, to fill your hearts and move you to tears, we curated this list of 12 LGBT books you must read at least once. 

For more convenience, find all these books at Books Mandala and have them delivered right to your doorstep. 

The lucky list - Rachael Lippincott

The Lucky List follows our main character Emily as she tries to hold on to her mother’s memories after her untimely death due to cancer. She meets a new girl in town, Blake and spends the summer with her checking off all the activities in her mother’s highschool wishlist.

This young adult/ coming of age book deals with realistic problems like loss of a parent, friendships along with coming to terms with your own sexuality and will have you ugly crying into your pillow. I mean, you shouldn’t expect any less from the author of Five Feet Apart. 

They Both Die At The End - Adam Silvera

Anything by Adam Silvera is worth reading and breathtaking.This book features a gay Puerto-Rican main character and a bisexual Cuban character (first of all, the representation in this book is applaudable!) who discover that they only have a day to live. An app called ‘Last Friend’ enables dying people to meet with each other so they can spend their last moments together.

Imagine you get a call at midnight saying ‘You have 24 hours to live’. We can’t even imagine what it would be to know you have no more than a day to fulfill your wishes, to live your life to the fullest, to forgive and ask for forgiveness, to bid your goodbyes; think of all your dreams, all your regrets and all the time you wasted on nothing worthwhile. 

This book will have you crying one moment and laughing the other. The romance is absolutely beautiful and natural and this book will linger in your mind long after you’ve finished it. 

The Song Of Achilles - Madeline Miller

‘The Song of Achilles’ is an adaptation of Homer’s Iliad as told from the perspective of Patroclus. If you’re a Greek geek, this book is for you. 

Achilles, a charming hero, deemed “the best of all the Greeks”, and an exiled prince Patroclus brought together by chance, form an inseparable and a tender bond. They soon discover their feelings are more than brotherly love. A never ending saga of war and wrath and a thousand emotions brought together so beautifully, it makes this book utterly devastating and just one of the best books in this list. 

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

This might be the subtlest book on homosexuality on this list. However, this is as good a read as any. The three main characters are Basil Hallward, Lord Henry Wotton and Dorian Gray. Basil Hallward is an artist who after painting a picture of Dorian Gray becomes obsessed with him because of his beauty. Dorian then meets a friend of Basil’s, Lord Henry, and becomes intrigued with his ways of thinking. 

The vaguely portrayed interest and love that Hallward possesses for Dorian has been a matter of speculation ever since this book’s first publication. Get ready to dive into this wonderful imagery and depiction of art, love, friendships and beauty which absolutely deserves its place as a classic in literature. 

Maurice - EM Forster

Set in the early 1900s, we follow our main character Maurice Hall since he is fourteen through highschool, college and to his father’s firm. This book shows how he deals with life while in a secret relationship with his Cambridge friend Clive Durham and later with a gamekeeper Alec Scudder. Written when it was highly unconventional and a criminal offence for two men to be in love, this book wasn’t published for 57 years until Forster’s death in the early 1970s. 

Truly ahead of its time, this book is one of the prime novels revolving around homosexuality. 

Orlando - Virginia Woolf

Orlando had his heart broken at a very young age and is left in complete ruins. He eventually finds solace in reading and writing and thus begins writing poems. He ysteriously undergoes change of sex at the age of 30 and navigates life as a woman in Elizabeth’s England. In the context of the plot, it isn’t explained, but through this, Woolf does a great job at dissecting the gender roles within society. 

This is a deeply personal and ambiguous novel dedicated to her close ‘friend’ which also is a matter of speculation of Woolf’s sexuality.

Red, White and Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the First Son of the US, who is bisexual. Henry Windsor is a Prince of England and is a closeted gay man. Neither of them can come out publicly because of the families they are born into and the expectations put into them.They find themselves in a situation of pretend friendship for the media when an official meeting ends in a messy situation. The subtle enemies to lovers trope in this book is unlike any other unnatural and difficult-to-believe stories. 

The romance is absolutely gorgeous and the difficult lives they lead makes you root for them with everything in your body, just hoping it all works out. 

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong

This book uses a fragmented narrative to explore the life of Little Dog, a son born to Vietnamese immigrants into the USA. This letter from a young boy to his mother who doesn’t know how to read is filled with flashbacks to his childhood when he was bullied at school, abused by his mother, and protected by his grandmother. 

It is a book about the love between a mother and a son, a boy trying to find a place in a new society and an intimate portrait of his life as he falls in love with a boy, Trevor.

A wonderful and aching read, this book will wreck you and make you fall in love with the characters.

I’ll Give You The Sun - Jandy Nelson

This is the heartbreaking story about a pair of twins Judy and Noah, who are inseparable. Noah is a gay, quiet artist who falls in love with a boy-next-door, while Judy is a fiery force who handles all the talking. Years later, something changes both the twins in equally devastating ways, that they are barely talking.

Spanning 3 years, the earlier stories are told by Noah and the latter by Judy. If only they can find a way back to each other, they’ll have a shot at their happy lives again. 

This novel isn’t just another love story; it is transformative, lyrical and deeply tear-jerking.

More Happy Than Not - Adam Silvera

Another Adam Silvera masterpiece to tug at your hearts!

Sixteen year old Aaron Soto is struggling to find happiness after a family tragedy leaves him reeling. With the support of his girlfriend, Genevieve, he has slowly started to see the light in the dark. But it's his new best friend that makes him loosen up and confront his past. Aaron is slowly learning more about himself through Thomas that threatens to sabotage his new found contentment. 

A heartbreaking novel that touches on race, class, depression and sexuality; a debut novel that has set the standard unbelievably high. A further proof that anything by Adam Silvera is worth reading and breathtaking.

The Well Of Loneliness - Radclyffe Hall

‘The Well of Loneliness’, published in 1928, was for decades, the best-known lesbian novel in English. 

It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, born to upper-class, aristocratic parents. She finds love with Mary Llewellyn, when they meet while serving as an ambulance driver during World Wide I. But their happiness together is confined by societal norms and rejection. Hall depicts the exclusion faced by ‘sexual inverts’ (homosexuals). This incredible work of literature and its treatment of sexuality and gender continues to be studied and debated.

Carry on - Rainbow Rowell

‘Carry On’ is a young adult fantasy novel that follows the final year of schooling of protagonist Simon Snow at Watford, a magical school in England. 

Simon is a hopeless wizard who can’t make his wand work half the time and now there’s a magic eating monster running around wearing his face. He is the ‘worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen’, according to his nemesis and roommate, Baz. 

This gay and magic-filled romance between Simon and Baz is the perfect enemies-to-lovers trope made even better by the wizardrous adventures they go through. 

This book is the perfect combination of happy, sad, hopeful, shocking and disgusting and you will not be able to put down this series once you start. 

We hope these books become perfect companions for you whether you are struggling with your own identity or you just want to read some good queer themed books. Read Pride with pride!