8 New LGBTQ Books Out This Week, July 9th 2024

When Nadya sits down with her wife Ayukta to discuss whether they should have a child, she’s expecting a big, complicated conversation. What she’s not expecting is Ayukta to share that the women in her family share an inheritance: a magical tapestry that allows them to experience each other’s pasts and change the world in powerful — and dangerous — ways. Having a child would mean passing along this burden, but not having one would mean withholding an incredible gift. Together, they experience generations of women’s lives in Ayukta’s family to decide whether to add another generation to this chain.

At 30 years old, Theron learns that his childhood friend and first love, Jake, has died in a car crash. Theron and Jake had been in two car crashes together as teenagers, but he wasn’t there for this final one. Theron reflects on when they first met, smoking weed and listening to Metallica together, and the heartbreak of them drifting apart as young adults. This is getting a lot of positive critical attention. Kirkus calls is a “dirtbag Call Me by Your Name,” and reviews all agree: this will make you cry.

In 1862, Sylvie Swift starts a new life for herself in Nashville, translating the work of a mysterious playwright and working as a spy for the Union Army’s Secret Service. Her work introduces her to a feminist society called the Cult of Chaos, which aims to “eradicate the violence of men.” Sylvie is enthralled by a member of the sisterhood named Hannah, and she finds herself drawn deeper into the society’s mission. The publisher describes this story as “inspired by Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and the true story of Nashville’s attempt to exile its prostitutes during the American Civil War, Daughters of Chaos weaves together ‘found’ texts, fabulism, and queer themes to question familiar notions of history and family, warfare and power.”

Are you looking for a sapphic version of One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid? Do I have the book for you! Hayden found the love of her life in Lizzie. They got married and moved to another country together, but then Lizzie was kidnapped and presumed dead. Kira helped put her life back together, but just when they got engaged, Lizzie walks back into Hayden’s life. Hayden asks for five dates each to stall in having to choose between them, but she’s also hoping to convince them that there’s no need to choose at all…

Anton Hur is an acclaimed translator of books like Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung and Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong, and this is their author debut! In this speculative novel, a researcher creates a sentient AI he names Panit, meaning Beloved, in honor of his husband. In this world, a cure for cancer replaces cancerous cells with robot cells, which also makes patients essentially immortal. As “nano humans,” sentient AIs, and androids become inextricable parts of life, Toward Eternity contemplates what it means to be human.

Chuck Tingle is back with his second horror novel! Misha is a gay screenwriter who has broken into the industry with a long-running series that was recently nominated for an Oscar. But executives have a plan for the next season finale: kill off the lesbian main characters “for the algorithm.” Misha refuses, but then characters from his horror movies begin stalking him — or, at least, people dressed up as them. He and his friends will have to survive being drawn into Misha’s own deadly plots, because Misha refuses to be scared into burying his gays. (Here’s a quick history of the Bury Your Gays trope, if you’re curious!)

Laylah and Noor are Muslim best friends growing up in a “not-too-distant America” where abortion is illegal. They both have plans to fight this after graduation, studying to become an OBGYN and a journalist, but they aren’t waiting until then to get started. They’re creating a guide to getting an abortion in Texas using an underground network of clinics, but Laylah is keeping a secret that makes this project much more high-stakes for her. (Noor is pansexual.)

The highly anticipated sequel to Carmilla: The First Vampire is here! This graphic novel series inspired by Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and Chinese folklore relocates this iconic lesbian vampire character to 1990s NYC Chinatown. This is a murder mystery starring a vampire hunter who gets herself in far over her head when she runs into a powerful gang of Asian American vampires.