New LGBTQ Books Out June 18, 2024

Award-winning Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi is giving scandal, seedy underbelly, sex, lies, and corruption — and it all starts with a breakup. Aima, unwilling to wait any longer for Kalu to marry her, breaks it off with him. Kalu then goes to his friend Ahmed’s sex party, and from that point on, the narrative is full of chaos. The main characters — who are eventually joined by two Nigerian sex workers — are thrown into the darkest parts of Lagos, and must navigate all the rot.

Unreformed Victorian rakes are just a good time, and Kit Griffith is living his best life on the British seaside. A former painter, he decided to leave his former sisterhood of women artists to live life freely as a trans man, and he’s still galavanting and — let’s say — making merry with vacationers. The problem? His move away from his artist community seemed to take away his creativity. So now, he’s selling bicycles, which is why, when Muriel Pendrake, a spicy botanist, tries to commission Kit for illustrations, Kit knows he shouldn’t accept. But Kit wants Muriel’s help in proving women’s cycling abilities to an all-male club…and he wants her for other things, too.

This is being described as a Get Out/Parasite kind of thriller, so it’s no surprise that there’s news of a Netflix adaptation coming out soon (starring Blake Lively). In it, young queer couple, Charlie and Eve, are house flippers who have just scored a major steal in a beautiful neighborhood. One day, when they’re in the middle of fixing up the house, a man and his family show up, saying that they used to live there years ago, and asks if he can show his kids the house. Then ole boy proceeds to bring in all the bad juju. Basically, as soon as he and his family enter the house, weird things start happening, including one of the family’s children going missing and uncanny goings-on in the basement. On top of all that, the family is also overstaying their welcome, and Eve suddenly can’t find Charlie.

CeCé Telfer has been through everything from living out of the back of her car to withstanding transphobia, and here, she showcases the perseverance it took to make it as an Olympic runner. After growing up in Jamaica, she made her way to Toronto, the U.S., and eventually the Olympics, where she is the first openly transgender woman competing.

Hinako is a high school student who has a lot of problems — she lives alone in a seaside town, constantly feels like she’s drowning…and apparently seems delicious. One day, a monster tries to eat her and she passes out while struggling, only to wake up to find out that a mermaid has saved her. And now wants to eat her, too! Except, the mermaid wants to wait a bit, to give her time to mature into something that tastes good. A win is a win, I guess? Hinako, being the girl that she is — remember all those problems — doesn’t try to escape this fate and instead befriends the mermaid. couldn’t be me