Diving into the kaleidoscope of queer stories, amplifying LGBTQ+ authors one narrative at a time.
As society continues evolving and becoming more inclusive, so does the literary world. Transgender fiction has become increasingly popular, offering readers a unique perspective into the lives of transgender individuals. These stories explore the complexities of gender identity, the challenges of coming out, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Transgender novels allow us to understand and associate with the feelings of a marginalized group by the same LGBTQI+ community; their stories are as powerful and transcendent as any other member of the community, having to deal with identity issues, misgendering and the ideals our families, religion and society put on us while you try to be who you are without all of that weight.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the best transgender fiction stories available, from thought-provoking novels to moving memoirs.
Whether you’re looking to gain a better understanding of transgender experiences or enjoy a good read, these stories are sure to captivate and inspire you while helping you to learn and be respectful and feel what it is like to be in their shoes at least through a fiction novel; these are the stories of many transboys and girls out there!
Don't have time to read them all? Why not try listening to them? Audible is a great platform for listening to audiobooks because it offers a wide selection of books, including bestsellers and exclusive content. With Audible, you can listen to your favorite books on-the-go, whether you're commuting, working out, or doing household chores.
The Audible app also has features like adjustable narration speed, a sleep timer, and the ability to create bookmarks, making it easy to customize your listening experience. Additionally, Audible offers a membership program that gives members access to a certain number of audiobooks per month, making it a cost-effective option for avid listeners.
A great resource for people who want to maximize their time and make the most out of their daily activities. Try a free 30-day trial from Audible today, and you'll get access to a selection of Audible Originals and audiobooks, along with a credit to purchase any title in their premium selection, regardless of price (including many of the books on this list!)
For ebook lovers, we also recommend Scribd, basically the Netflix for Books and the best and most convenient subscription for online reading. While they have a catalog comprising over half a million books including from many bestselling authors, for some of the books on this list, you'll still have to purchase individually - either as a paperback or eBook to load on your Kindle - due to publishing house restrictions.
In this article we will cover...
- This is How It Always Is: A Novel by Laurie Frankel
- Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
- Detransition, Baby A Novel by Torrey Peters
- Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
- Didnt Nobody Gives a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham
- Nevada: A Novel by Imogen Binnie
- Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
- Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
- I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
This is How It Always Is: A Novel by Laurie Frankel
“This Is How It Always Is” by Laurie Frankel is a novel that tells the story of a family with a transgender child named Claude. The novel explores themes of identity, family dynamics, and the challenges of navigating a world that often struggles to understand and accept those who are different.
One of the unique aspects of the book is how it portrays the complexity of gender identity. Rather than simply presenting a binary view of gender, the novel recognizes and celebrates the diversity of gender expression and identity. The story is also told with warmth, humor, and compassion, making it a deeply moving and engaging read.
Why we love it: The book is beautifully written and explores a subject that is often ignored or not worked on, all characters are important and memorable, and you will fall in love with this book as you cry through the events of it.
It has a powerful message about accepting who we are or the people we love and inspiring and uplifting others. Empathy and compassion are two words that perfectly describe this book, and it’s what you will find and be left with when you finish it. Q
Quotes from the book that captures its essence:
“You can’t tell people what to be, I’m afraid,” said Rosie. “You can only love and support who they already are.”
“I wish for my child, for all our children, a world where they can be who they are and become their most loved, blessed appreciated selves.”
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
Light from Uncommon Stars” by Ryka Aoki is a novel that tells the story of two women, one a transgender immigrant violinist named Shizuka and the other a demon named Lanterne who trades eternal damnation for a chance at redemption. The novel follows the two as they navigate their challenges and ultimately come together powerfully and unexpectedly.
One of the unique aspects of the book is how the author plays with different genres creating a unique storyline with love, redemption, fantasy, and aliens. What will you do to get a chance at redemption? Most importantly, when you are a trans woman who struggles to survive abuse and rejection.
This book is an adventure. The characters are vivid and memorable, and the storyline will capture you from page one. Seeing what people are willing to do just to be themselves to get redemption is extraordinary Ryka Aoki portrays what it is like to be a trans girl and the decision she takes along the way just to be who she is despite what her family or friends believe of her.
Why we love it: The elements that the author incorporates to tell this story are one of a kind, creating a universe with demons, aliens, and everything to deliver this iconic book, it deals with many important issues related to identity and the imaginary and how the author describes the story it lures you into finish it, not only you will fell in love with all the characters in between, but you will make their struggles your own, that’s how powerful this novel is.
Quotes from the book that captures its essence:
“The world is changing, you know. A pity you aren’t ready to live in it.”
“Tomorrow is tomorrow. Over there is over there. And here and now is not a bad place and time to be, especially when so much of the unknown is beautiful.”
Detransition, Baby A Novel by Torrey Peters
Detransition, Baby” by Torrey Peters is a novel that follows the lives of three characters: Ames, a trans woman who has recently detransitioned; Katrina, a cisgender woman who is Ames’s ex-girlfriend; and Reese, a young trans woman who becomes pregnant with Ames’s child. The novel explores themes of parenthood, gender identity, and the complexities of relationships.
One of the unique aspects of the book is how it challenges traditional narratives of gender and family. Rather than presenting a binary view of gender, the novel explores the fluidity of gender identity and how it intersects with other aspects of our lives, including our relationships and roles as parents.
This is the kind of novel everyone should read, either if you belong to the LGBTQI+ spectrum or not; it changes the way we see things and how we act around them, having someone to detransition, a trans woman who is surrogate of a trans couple and how this people each with their struggles have to come together for their desire of motherhood.
I mean, the author is playing with a powerful subject, and it sends a message that families don’t need to be binary or love.
We are taught from an early age how babies come from daddy and mommy and how a family should be preserved, but in reality, family and love come in all forms, no matter the gender or sex of our partners or parents. The only important thing is that there is love, comprehension, and the desire to triumph.
Why we love it: It’s a risky book, it plays with the subject of a conventional family, and it twists it; here we have three different souls who are united as one for the main purpose, how sometimes an unconventional family is the right one for some people and the only one that works for them, and how sometimes we have to deconstruct things to fix them.
Finally, the book’s celebration of diverse perspectives and experiences is a powerful reminder of the importance of empathy and understanding in today’s world.
Quotes from the book that captures its essence:
“Many people think a trans woman’s deepest desire is to live in her true gender, but it is to always stand in good lighting.”
“She knew that no matter how you self-identify ultimately, chances are that you succumb to becoming what the world treats you as.”
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Manhunt” by Gretchen Felker-Martin is a science fiction novel that follows the story of a group of trans women who are forced to fight for their survival against a violent and oppressive government.
This iconic trio spends their days traveling as they hunt feral men and harvest their organs. It’s a strong counterpart to every gender-normative apocalypse story ever written. The novel explores resistance, identity, and the struggle for justice.
In an apocalyptic work where all men are turned into horrible deadly monsters who form packs as they survey the world looking for easy prey. The only survivors of this contagious and deadly plague are women and trans men, while trans women have to hunt for sources of estrogen to keep themselves alive and avoid the plague at all costs.
This is a work of art; reading this story and seeing how trans people are treated daily and how they must act in this apocalypse, and everything they must do to remain alive shows us how unbalanced our world is and how hard they have it.
Why we love this: We like the creative way it portrays the violence and discrimination trans face every day of their lives in a society that turns out to be hard to live by. While exploring the themes of identity and resistance, it’s a statement about trans rights and equality with powerful characters and their unique stories and relationships.
Quotes from the book that captures its essence:
“It was actually good that the world had ended because now no one could make her play Settlers of Catan.”
“Community is when you never let go of each other. Not even after you’re gone.”
Didnt Nobody Gives a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham
Didn’t You Make Me Happy: Did Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta?” by James Hannaham is a novel that tells the story of Carlotta, a trans woman who, due to the events of a four of July weekend, ends up in prison, where inmates and guards abuse her.
She takes her new name Carlota right after her conviction and is then released in conditional freedom to return to a changed world where she must try to recover what she left when she was locked up, living with a family who doesn’t understand nor approve of her new identity while trying to avoid at all costs any minor parole that could take her back to prison.
This novel takes us on a ride of what it is to be a trans black woman, all the challenges that those labels come with, abuse and rejection being most of them, as she fights to show everyone who she truly is despite their ideals.
Why we love it: It’s a powerful story that will teach something to all readers, as we understand that sometimes our struggles are nonsense compared to others from the community and how much trans women struggle with, and how hard it is to live in a world that does everything in its power to rip you from your freedom, your identity and everything that lets you be you.
Nevada: A Novel by Imogen Binnie
“Nevada” by Imogen Binnie is a novel that follows the story of Maria Griffiths, a trans woman who embarks on a road trip across the United States in search of love and identity. We embark on this journey with Maria as she struggles to find her place in the world.
Maria meets James, someone who reminds her of her youth, and as she becomes his trans role model, she starts to understand herself. It’s a beautiful story that describes what it is like to be trans and teaches someone oblivious to what his body and brain are telling him.
It’s a story of self-love, acceptance, and embracing who we are, and we see a trans woman post transitions narrate the events, the transition of the pre-transition feelings and how fulfilling it’s to finally be in the body you identify as and can truly be yourself.
Why we love it: It’s a good book for those trying to get an insight into what it is like to be a trans woman and how difficult that journey it’s sometimes. The novel offers a deeply personal and intimate portrayal of the experiences of a trans woman, providing a valuable perspective on a topic that is often misunderstood and stigmatized.
Quotes from the book that captures its essence:
“Eventually, you can’t help but figure out that, while gender is a construct, so is a traffic light, and if you ignore either of them, you get hit by cars. Which, also, are constructs.”
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Felix Ever After” by Kacen Callender is a young adult novel that follows the story of Felix Love, a Black, queer, and transgender teenager who has never been in love and wonders why something so easy for others becomes hard for him. Proud of who he is, Felix yet wonders if being part of so many marginalized groups is what prevents him from being happy and finding love.
After the events of someone publishing his dead name and pictures of who he was before he transitioned and threads of transphobic messages, Felix plans his revenge to be later surprised with the outcome and who was behind everything. We go together with Felix as he struggles with who is sending those messages, him trying to get into the school of his dreams and finding love.
This book is everything you want it to be; it makes you appreciate everything you have been through, and it shows you how hard life can be for marginalized groups and how hard most of them have it; it’s not easy being trans in a world that does everything to keep them in the dark.
Why we love it: This book is relatable for anyone who has experienced the characters’ struggles. Many of us have been outed in school by people we trusted or even by bullies. Some of us have also faced cyberbullying, which can be an overwhelming and invasive experience.
This novel brings these experiences to light and allows us to reflect on our journeys of self-discovery. It’s a powerful reminder of the challenges we’ve faced and how far we’ve come. Reading this book can be a great way to gain perspective and appreciate our journey.
Quotes from the book that captures its essence:
“It’s easier, sometimes, to love when you know it’s a love you can’t have.”
“It’s easier to accept hurt and pain, sometimes, than love and acceptance.”
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Cemetery Boys is the story of Yadriel, who has a problem with his family accepting his new identity as a transboy.
Still, Yadriel is determined to prove to his family he can be a powerful brujo after performing a ritual with the help of his best friend and cousin Maritza where he tries to summon the ghost of his cousin to set him free but encounters another ghost, one of the bad boys of his class who isn’t ready to go to the afterlife yet. He joins him in finding the responsible one after his murder.
We embark on Yadriel and Julian in this story, full of magic, love, and identity, as the two boys go through the mystery of Julian’s death and try to find who killed his cousin in the process.
This beautiful novel takes us on the journey of Yadriel proving to his family not only can he be a powerful brujo but also a boy, something most of them don’t come to fully accept no matter how welcoming they turn out to be as they never stop being over-protective of him or let him do things a regular brujo Latinx boy of his family would.
Why we love it: It shows what it is like being queer or trans in a Latinx family that shows support or don’t, but here we see Yadriel is doing everything in his power to make them truly accept them, not halfway as his dad and grandma keep doing, but truly see him as the boy he has become.
And it’s a beautiful story of self-acceptance, identity, and love. And how important and powerful family love can change us for good or worse.
Quotes from the book that captures its essence:
Queer folks are like wolves,” Julian told him. “We travel in packs.”
“You don’t need anyone’s permission to be you, Yads.”
I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
In this heartbreaking novel, we see Ben being kicked out of his house as he identifies as non-binary and moves in with his older sister and her husband, who they’d never met. Ben starts living with anxiety after their parents kicked them out of the place they used to know as home; with the help of their older sister and therapist, Ben tries to survive the last half of their senior year.
This story allows you to understand the pain of rejection and how sometimes we can find love and acceptance in the places and with people we never expected, Ben finally finds the love and comfort to be who they are with his sister, and then they meet Nathan who not only takes them under their wing but their friendship then evolves to something none of them expected.
Why we love it: It shows us the impact of rejection from our family, we read through the anxiety and struggles of our main character, and it becomes our own and shows us the different aspects of gender and how to come to an acceptance of it. How wide sexuality is and how wider the aspects of gender are, not all is black and white; there is always a grayscale in between.
Quotes from the book that captures its essence:
“Labels can help people find common ground, can help them connect, with themselves and other people”.”
“Don’t ignore the problems,” he says. “Learn from them. But also, don’t knock what you get right. Every success deserves a celebration.”
“I wish you all the best, Benjamin De Backer.” They aren’t the same words, but I know exactly what he means. “I love you too.”
Throughout this article, we have seen novels of identity, self-love, understanding and loving our body, and coming to terms with gender and its deconstruction of it. Trans people are often ignored, marginalized, and forgotten, but they are an important part of the community as everyone else, and their stories deserve to be lifted and shared.
Reading through these stories and experiences helps us understand that we are whole, that we belong to the same rainbow spectrum, that one can’t exist without the other, and that our struggles are the same most of the time.
Whether you are queer or not, these stories are for you and everyone out there to help us spread love and understanding to everyone!
