June was a huge month for new queer books, as you might expect, and July has slowed down a little. Still, there are more great queer books out this month than any mere mortal could get through by August! We’ve got literary fiction about queer life in Nigera, a satirical novel about two trans women on opposing men’s volleyball teams, sci-fi about a sapphic treasure hunter in space, a trans guy horror graphic novel, and even a Chappell Roan picture book biography!
Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth (July 8)
This sapphic literary novel made a big splash when it was published in the UK, and now it’s finally making its North American debut. In 1990s Ireland, teenage Lucy is slowly realizing her desires don’t match the life she is expected to live. She is falling in love with her best friend, Susannah, but she is determined to hide it. Just before graduation, she finally confesses to Susannah, and they start a beautiful, heart-wrenching, secret relationship. When Susannah wants to stop hiding, though, Lucy is forced to make an impossible choice.
Hot Girls with Balls by Benedict Nguyễn (July 1)
Six and Green are two Asian American trans women who are dating. Together, they are competing in the men’s pro indoor volleyball league—but on rival teams. They travel around the world to compete, broadcasting their relationship to parasocial fans, but when their teams face off against each other in the championship, they also face a P.R. crisis that could blow up their reputations. This is an “outrageous and deeply serious satire,” and I can’t wait to read it!
Necessary Fiction by Eloghosa Osunde (July 22)
The author of Vagabonds! is back with an exploration of queer life in Nigeria today. It follows a rotating cast of dozens of queer people in Lagos as they navigate romantic, familial, friend, and sexual relationships. They find love even while dealing with bigotry. Kaveh Akbar, author of Martyr!, says: “I can’t believe how alive Eloghosa Osunde’s Necessary Fiction is, how supersaturated and smart… Hustle, heart, privacy, sex, yearning so strong it buckles you—it’s all here. The ink practically hovers off the page.”
Taste the Love by Karelia and Fay Stetz-Waters
This new romance from writing partners and spouses Karelia and Fay Stetz-Waters features two rival chefs who enter a tension-filled marriage of convenience to utilize a loophole that will allow them to save a green space from corporate development. They might have been culinary school rivals with benefits back then, but now everything is strictly for show. Until it isn’t, of course. —Jessica Pryde
Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon (July 22)
In the description of this book, it is being compared to Murderbot, Firefly, Thelma & Louise, Ex Machina, and This is How You Lose the Time War. Those are some big shoes, and I’m already sold! But if you need to know more, it’s a sapphic sci-fi adventure about a space treasure hunter named Wylla who finds a piece of tech that changes her life. It’s an AI mask, HAWK, and the consciousness of the woman who wore it is somehow still alive inside it. The truth behind how this could have happened sends Wylla and HAWK across the stars in search of answers. —Liberty Hardy
The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai (July 29)
It may be a few weeks away, but put this queer romantasy down on your TBR now. Set in a near future, a woman named Kiana, who can read blood memories, becomes unwell after uncovering an usual memory that contradicts what her people have learned about history. It’s up to the sword-wielding Vale to help keep Kiana safe as she becomes more ill and goes searching for dangerous answers she may regret learning. —Liberty Hardy
A Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by CB Lee (July 1)
From the author of the Sidekick Squad series, Clash of Steel, and more comes a fantasy YA book about two teen girls from different universes who fall in love in a magical coffee shop. Brenda is from our universe and has a “19-step plan to save the world through science.” Kat is the Chosen One in her universe and is trying to run away from her destiny. As their universes collide, they’ll have to find a way to save them both—and go on a second date. This looks so fun!
Raging Clouds by Yudori (July 15)
Amélie is trapped in a loveless and violent marriage. Sahara is the enslaved woman that Amélie’s husband brings back from one of his many journeys. Together, the two women will learn to fight back and seek happiness on their own terms. —Eileen Gonzalez
Simplicity by Mattie Lubchansky (July 29)
I loved Mattie Lubchansky’s previous graphic novel, Boys Weekend, a satirical trans horror story, so I can’t wait to pick up her newest one. Simplicity follows a trans man living in the walled city of New York in 2081. He’s hired to do an anthropological survey of the cult of Simplicity in the Catskills. He’s charmed by this community, but he begins to have visions of monstrous and beautiful creatures—and then members of Simplicity start to go missing.
Chappell Roan: A Little Golden Book Biography written by Cat Reynolds and illustrated by Maria Lia Malandrino (July 22)
I’ve been firmly on the Chappell Roan fan bandwagon since “Pink Pony Club,” so I am very tempted by this adorable Little Golden Book biography. There’s even a two-page rainbow spread featuring her performing with drag queens. It makes me happy that kids have queer celebrities like Chappell Roan to look up to—though I would guess most of these are destined for adult fans’ bookshelves.
Looking for more new queer books? Check out 12 of the Best New LGBTQIA+ Books Out in June 2025, and All Access members can read on for 18 more new queer books out this week!
18 New Queer Books Out This Week: July 1, 2025
As a bonus for All Access members, here are 18 more new queer books out this week, including M/M cowboy and F1 romances, a bisexual zombie comedy, asexual romance, and more.
Exclusive content for All Access members continues below.
Seven Days in Tokyo by José Daniel Alvior (M/M Fiction)
Hot Girls with Balls by Benedict Nguyễn (Sapphic Trans Women Satirical Fiction)
Crash Test by Amy James (M/M Sports Romance)
His Small-Town Challenge by Kelli Storm (Asexual F/M Romance)
Stirring Spurs by M.A. Wardell (M/M Western Romance)
Tenderly, I Am Devoured by Lyndall Clipstone (Bisexual M/F/F Gothic Romantasy)
Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead and narrated by Curtis Michael Holland (Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction Anthology) (Audiobook Release)
Toward Eternity by Anton Hur (Queer Speculative Fiction) (Paperback Release)
Human Rites (Her Majesty’s Royal Coven #3) by Juno Dawson (Sapphic and Trans Fantasy)
Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Deluxe Hardcover Novel) Vol. 5 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (M/M Historical Fantasy) (Hardcover Release)
Call Your Boyfriend by Olivia A. Cole and Ashley Woodfolk (F/F YA Contemporary)
After We Burned by Marieke Nijkamp (Queer YA Thriller)
This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings (F/F YA Fantasy) (Paperback Release)
Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by CB Lee (F/F YA Fantasy)
Dead Real by Poppy T. Perry (Bisexual F/F YA Zombie Comedy)
Daybreak Volume One by Moosopp (Queer Graphic Novel)
I Wanna Be Your Girl by Umi Takase (Trans Woman Manga)
Am I Having Fun Now?: Anxiety, Applause and Life’s Big Questions, Answered by Suzi Ruffell (Gay Woman Memoir)
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