Queereaders discussion

hey all!
so i live in a non-accepting household but i still want to be able to live my best queer life through books when i can. i tried to search for a book list online for closeted queers but couldn't seem to find one so thought i'd try asking here. i'm looking for some queer books that don't seem queer from the cover or description. i would really appreciate some recommendations! thank you in advance!

One thing I would recommend if you have your own library card or something like that is to make on Overdrive or Libby account and then also download the kindle app on whatever device you want to read on, some book you can only read through the app/in the browser

You can also read/listen to books on a tablet or device through your library! Most libraries have a ebook/eaudio program, at my library it's called Libby which is an app you download and use your library card for.
For more "secretive books" I will say there are a lot of queer books in the teen/ya genre with covers that don't "look the part," especially some of the older ones. I would suggest taking a look at some lists you are interested in and picking out some books have imagery you would be comfortable reading in your house. Or eversions, because no one can see it!

There are some great books that have queer main characters but aren’t necessarily focused on those characters storylines as the main one. These violent delights and Malibu rising both have queer characters and just looking at the book or reading the description won’t give that away.

Have you tried The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller? Based on mythological story, nicely written, not giving any hints about possible queer contents inside. But for someone who does not know that ancient Greeks maintained homosexual relationships it might come as a big surprise that the story is showing a devoted homosexual relationship of the main characters :)

I used to switch the dust jackets so my parents wouldn’t know what I was reading! Haha

Clap When You Land
Another queer YA novel, the cover and the synopsis are stealth. Tbh I can't say much about this one because I don't really remember it because it bored me, but maybe it won't bore you.

Drama
A short graphic novel that doesn't really explore the depths of queerness but does discuss it and how sexuality can be confusing. The cover and the synopsis won't tip your parents off.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
This book and it's sequel are some of my very favorite novels OF ALL TIME. The protagonist is bisexual, and while it does play a part in the story it's not the main focal point. Neither the cover nor the synopsis are revealing.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson
I personally really disliked this book and thought it was cheesy and boring but it's a cute YA queer novel and neither the cover nor synopsis will expose you. Worth a read.

Symptoms of Being Human
A really awesome book about a gender-fluid kid. The cover is stealth but the synopsis isn't.

Padawan
Might seem odd, and queerness is definitely not the focal point of the story, but one of the main characters is non-binary and [Kenobi himself expresses some fluid ideas on sexuality.]

Ahsoka
Queerness isn't really brought up until the very end, but the wlws love Ahsoka, so I figured it was worth a mention.

Ivy wrote: "Clap When You Land
Another queer YA novel, the cover and the synopsis are stealth. Tbh I can't say much about this one because I don't really remember it because it bored me, but ma..."

all of these books sound great, adding to my to-read list asap!!thank you :)))

Natasha wrote: "I used to switch the dust jackets so my parents wouldn’t know what I was reading! Haha"
omg genius and so simple, thank you thank you

Brooke Isabella wrote: "There are some great books that have queer main characters but aren’t necessarily focused on those characters storylines as the main one. These violent delights and Malibu rising both have queer ch..."
never realized that either of those were queer, will definitely have to read them and find more books like that!!

the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater is a pretty undercover queer series - there is a main character who is gay, but the story itself doesn't revolve around his sexuality (plus he's a badass on top of being queer)! it's a YA low fantasy 4 book series, plus has a companion series that specifically centers around said gay character. hope this helps and you check it out!

Ace of spades is a really good book with no mention of queerness on the cover or in the synopsis and both the main characters and many of the side characters are queer.
The priory of the orange tree is completely discrete and it has 4 (I think?) queer characters.
Wings of fire, trials of Apollo and the Magnus chase series all have queer characters but the main focus isn’t queerness, they’re all completely discrete as far as I remember.
You should see me in a crown seems completely straight except for the stonewall honour book sticker that’s on the front of it.
All these books are ya fiction books also there’s some lists about discrete books on TikTok so maybe try there.
https://www.tiktok.com/@gayotic_bookw...
Here’s one TikTok about discrete books, there’s probably more.