June is internationally known as ‘Pride Month’, a time to come together and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. One of the easiest ways to support queer people is by consuming their media. Experiencing TV shows, movies, or books with queer characters is an amazing way to show solidarity.
Google searches for ‘LGBTQ+ novels’ have skyrocketed to a worldwide high, increasing by 5000% in the last week alone. YASS Magazine and Aura Print has got you covered. They analysed TikTok hashtag views, Amazon and Goodreads ratings to discover the top 10 LGBTQ+ romance novels for you to fall in love with this pride month.
| Top 10 LGBTQ+ Romance Novels | ||||
| Rank | Novel | Author | TikTok Hashtag Views | Combined Amazon and Goodreads Rating |
| 1 | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo | Taylor Jenkins Reid | 425,300,000 | 4.52/5 |
| 2 | The Song of Achilles | Madeline Miller | 369,500,000 | 4.48/5 |
| 3 | The Color Purple | Alice Walker | 126,000,000 | 4.38/5 |
| 4 | They Both Die at the End | Adam Silvera | 95,700,000 | 4.15/5 |
| 5 | The Priory of the Orange Tree | Samantha Shannon | 28,800,000 | 4.31/5 |
| 6 | Red, White & Royal Blue | Casey McQuiston | 11,300,000 | 4.30/5 |
| 7 | The House in the Cerulean Sea | T.J. Klune | 8,100,000 | 4.41/5 |
| 8 | I’ll Give You the Sun | Jandy Nelson | 3,500,000 | 4.33/5 |
| 9 | Heartstopper: Volume One | Alice Oseman | 2,700,000 | 4.60/5 |
| 10 | Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe | Benjamin Alire Sáenz | 10,900 | 4.41/5 |
Below are descriptions of the top 5 on the list.
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
With over 425 million hashtag views on TikTok, the second highest rated LGBTQ+ novel at a combined rating of 4.52/5 goes to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. This historical romance novel has had people raving about it for years. If it has somehow been missed on your TBR, now is the time to pick it up.
Focusing on a celebrity interview that takes a deep dive into Evelyn’s real life and the people she loved – it is the perfect novel for LGBTQ+ people and allies alike. Filled with drama, twists and turns, it will certainly have you on your toes this pride month.
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Second on the list should come as no surprise, The Song of Achilles became a TikTok sensation with close to 370 million hashtag views. With it scoring a combined rating of 4.48/5 it’s easy to understand why people are still talking about this novel more than 10 years after its first release.
It is an adaptation of Homer’s Iliad, told from Patroclus’ point of view. It explores him falling in love with Achilles, and the tragedy that follows in true ancient Greek style. Praised for its writing, the enchanting world and their love story is still remembered a decade later, putting The Song of Achilles firmly on our list.
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
With well over 125 million TikTok hashtag views The Color Purple is a hard hitting epistolary novel, following a woman falling in love with herself again, and finding love in surprising places along the way. A combined score of 4.38/5 stars makes this the perfect adult novel to read this pride month.
Filled to the brim with love, loss and tragedy it is definitely one to read with a box of tissues. The adult nature of this novel adds a different tone to the typical LGBTQ+ romance novel making it a unique and necessary addition to any pride reading list.
- They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
TikTok’s fourth most viewed hashtag belongs to They Both Die at the End with over 95 million. This YA LGBTQ+ romance novel follows two teen boys whose lives change over 24 hours. An incredible piece that reminds everyone of the mortality of life, love and death.
With the complex topics and award winning writing it’s easy to understand why it gained a combined score of 4.15/5 stars. The two main characters being queer and people of colour provide perfect representation that pride month is all about.
- The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Fifth on this list is The Priory of the Orange Tree, sitting at almost 29 million TikTok views. An action packed fantasy with dragons, assassins and complicated royals. The sub plot of the two female main characters falling in love through the conflict is swoon worthy and is one of the main reasons this feminist retelling of George and the Dragon scored a total of 4.13/5 stars.
With fantasy being such a popular genre this novel appeals to a wide audience, promoting love and acceptance for all. A pride month reading list wouldn’t be complete without it!
Methodology :
- A seed list of LGBTQ+ novels were collected from books tagged as LGBT fiction on Goodreads.
- This was then condensed into a list of 10 novels that all had over 100,000 ratings.
- The average rating for each novel was collected from Goodreads and Amazon. These figures were then added together to create x/5 stars.
- The title of each novel was then searched on TikTok to discover how many times the hashtag had been searched.
- This data was then sorted from most to least TikTok views to ensure the novels were still relevant on social media.
YASS Magazine 