Hello everyone. Today I am putting my English major to use and ranking some of the queer books I read this year. As much as I would love to rate all the gay books I read, that would be practically every single book my eyes glanced upon, so I won’t be doing that. Plus no one wants to read a twenty page blog post and I surely don’t want to write one. So instead, here are my favorites, plus a few that dramatically let me down. 

1. Filthy Animals – Brandon Taylor 

Filthy Animals is a linked short story collection following a young man named Lionel, and his romantic and sexual exploration with two ballerinas. Lionel is struggling to make connections, especially since his recent suicide attempt. This novel focuses heavily on human connections and the way people hurt each other. Half of this collection is stand-alone stories, my favorite being “Anne of Cleves.” 

I would like to personally thank my creative writing professor for having our class read Brandon Taylor because my life was changed. Taylor is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, and that says a lot because being a creative writing major has made me become a book snob like you wouldn’t believe.

Taylor’s writing is rhythmic and accessible. It’s lyric in moments and honest all the way through. His characters are real people with real flaws. Taylor’s characters are queer, people of color, rich and poor. His diversity isn’t for the sake of diversity but simply because that shows humanity. This was truly a fantastic read. 

Rating: 8/10

Would I recommend it? Yes, absolutely. 

I’m giving it eight points because there were a few short stories I didn’t care for as much as others. However, that is not to say they weren’t well written and interesting. 

2. The Great Americans – Brandon Taylor

Another Brandon Taylor “novel” that deserves its own commentary because it was that good. Now, I say this is a “novel” because that’s what the cover told me, but really it was a linked story collection, with longer stories than FA. 

This was more lyric than Filthy Animals, and the stories were longer and all connected to each other. I was more invested in these characters. This was largely focused on a poet and some ballet dancers. I’m a sucker for the arts. For stories about young, queer adults, Taylor does a fantastic job of pushing the story forward through witty and honest dialogue. Taylor also goes deep into the mind of his characters, always writing in third person. He’s become a huge inspiration for my own work and I look forward to reading more of his writing. 

Rating: 8/10

Would I recommend it? Definitely! 

I’m docking points because I really wanted this to be a novel. The first short story was fifty pages, and I was invested in the main character. I was disappointed to switch to another story. Additionally, a few of the characters were similar, and I had to jog my memory to make sure I was understanding the story right for who I was reading about. 

3. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth – Andrew Joseph White 

TSBIT is a Victorian gothic horror where an autistic trans boy communes with spirits and battles ableism, misogyny, and transphobia in 1883 London. 

I am rarely a sci-fi/fantasy/horror reader, but this novel was very well done. Usually I hate world building and think there’s never enough, but this world was laid out well enough and close enough to ours where I could jump right into the novel and never be confused. 

This was my most captivating read all year. I thought about this book for weeks after. A realm between the human and spirit world. A school for disobedient girls. T4T romance. I was hooked. Even the cover art was jaw-dropping. 

I also read White’s debut novel, Hell Followed With Us, which was good and very strange, but not as good as TSBIT. Now I’m reading his third novel, Compound Fracture, which is currently not my favorite read. If you’re going to read any Andrew Joseph White novel, make it TSBIT. 

Rating: 9/10

Would I recommend it? Yes. 

4. This Book is Gay – Juno Dawson 

This book is gay? More like this book is bad. Dawson attempted to write a nonfiction book surrounding queer issues and queer people’s experience, but what came out of it was a horrible read. I couldn’t finish it. No wonder this book is banned. It was terrible. “Jadey…I don’t think that’s why they ban books.” I know. But in this case I’ll allow it. 

The writing was bad. The jokes were not funny. And the stereotypes were abundant. That’s all I have to say about that. Truly a terrible read. 

Rating: 2/10. 

Would I recommend it? Only to my enemies. 

5. Here We Go Again – Alison Cochrun 

Two ex-childhood best friends have to get together for a cross country road trip per their dying former English teacher’s request.  Of course, these two friends are hella gay and have feelings for each other and end up falling back in love. 

Alison Cochrun always writes demisexual characters and for that I must personally thank her. It’s always a nice surprise to pick up a novel and have discussions of asexuality. 

It turns out when one of the characters in your novel is dying…they’re actually going to die. This book made me sob. Tears were pouring out of my eye sockets. I shed approximately a million tears. Read this at your own risk. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Would I recommend it? If you want to cry and read about gay people, yes. 

6. Exhibit – R.O Kwon

R.O Kwon was a guest author at my university this year and hearing her read and answer questions was a very cool experience. She came dressed in all black and read a scene involving kink and queer women. Awesome.

Exhibit follows a Korean woman named Jin, who is struggling with her marriage as her husband suddenly decides he wants kids and she doesn’t. At a party, she meets a ballerina named Lidija, and they hit it off. Jin starts an affair with Lidija while exploring her interest in BDSM, something her husband isn’t comfortable with. 

I was disappointed by this novel. Don’t get me wrong, the writing was beautiful. It was phenomenal. However, it was prestigious. There were lyric lines that made me stop and re-read because they were so good, but they added absolutely nothing to the plot. While the premise of the book was interesting, a young woman getting into BDSM while having an affair with her husband, it wasn’t flushed out enough. There were many subplots going on that were unnecessary and never finished. There were so many interesting ideas about relationships, kink, family bonds, curses and superstitions, career goals, feminism, but it was all too much to really dive deep into the themes and say something. 

For a book about kink it was shockingly vanilla. 

Rating: 6/10

Would I recommend it? Unfortunately no. 

7. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V.E Schwab 

A young woman named Addie makes a bargain that for eternal life every person she meets will forget her. For hundreds of years she lives a life of solitude until she meets Henry. 

If you know me, you know I never take a BookTok recommendation. I have been let down time and time again. Thankfully, this book was recommended to me by a friend, and only later did I see it on BookTok.

This novel started out slow, but grew to be complex and interesting. The writing was absolutely beautiful. The plot was interesting. I thought it would be gayer. There were hints of bisexuality. Nothing crazy…Because Addie lived for so many years, it was interesting to see her live across centuries. Turns out you experience a lot when you live for over 300 years. 

However, I would say this is overhyped. I’ve seen people be absolutely mesmerized with this novel and wish they could read it for the first time again. That’s a bit extreme. It’s certainly not a five star read, but it is very well done. This novel is euro-centric and mostly heterosexual, so do with that information what you will. 

Rating: 8/10

Would I recommend it? Sure! 

Alright. That’s all. Hopefully 2025 will be full of pure, perfect literature.