Category: Panromantic

Catch Lili Too

By Sophie Whit

Lili is a Mesopotamian siren, and life as an immortal being is hard enough as it is. She’s asexual (which is incredibly difficult to reconcile if your entire point as a mythical being is to seduce people to death). She’s also struggling with depression from being alive for so long.

Lili is an absolutely shoddy improv-detective trying to track down a serial killer so ruthless that it makes even her murderous soul uneasy. However, there’s something larger at work than just one serial killer. A small town is hiding an even deadlier, global-scale secret. Forget Area 51 conspiracies. This one beats them all. With magic.

So, what better way to spice up her eternal life than being hired as a vigilante detective to stop a serial killer? Anything, literally anything. She’d trade her left lung to get out of this. Or, perhaps, somebody else’s. 

Representation: demisexual, panromantic MC; trans and queer side characters.

Ownvoices: demisexual and panromantic representation.

Wonderful (French)

By Carmine Sanden

Carmine is but an ordinary teenager. He doesn’t have any powers, isn’t the heir to a magical kingdom, and isn’t usually paid attention to. He’s not even at ease in his own body, and his family is far from ideal.  And yet he is going to live a great adventure.

When Carmine is unwillingly taken along into shenanigans that have been going on for a millennia, when real life and dreams mix up and when his favorite character comes to life, he will need to face frightening dangers and journey through many fantasy worlds in the depths of his imagination. To free themselves from the hold of the cruel and dangerous Jabberwocky, Carmine and Starlight Blade will fight a battle that will change their lives, and maybe meet their end…unless Kanzer, a strange persona stuck between worlds, is able to help them.

Will they save Wonderland from destruction?

Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary

Representation:
Gender:
Trans boys: Carmine
Genderqueer/Non-binary: Starlight Blade
Cis boys: Kanzer

Sexual Orientation:
Pansexual: Carmine, Starlight Blade
Asexual: Kanzer

Romantic Orientation:
Panromantic: Carmine, Starlight Blade

Race/Ethnicity:
Not explicitly addressed

Location: Europe (France), Fantasy World based on a Western country

Disability:
Carmine has depression and PTSD. He’s likely autistic (though this isn’t addressed). Starlight Blade has PTSD.

Trigger Warnings:
Transphobia: Carmine’s familial environment doesn’t recognize his gender identity. Jabberwocky misgenders him on purpose, several times throughout.  Abuse: Emotional and physical. Violence: Swordfights, abuse beatings, blood. Some exaggerated violence.

Other notes:  This book is only available in French.

Ownvoices: Transgender representation, mental illness.

Novae

By KaiJu

Raziol is a Indian student studying astronomy is 16th century England when he meets the mysterious Sulvain. After a night under the stars their relationship slowly begins. However when a fellow astronomy student is murdered, Raziol will learn the secrets that Sulvain has been hiding.

Publisher’s Description:

Novae chronicles the adventures of Sulvain, a sweet tempered necromancer and Raziol, a passionate 17th century astronomer. While studying the stars together, a connection forms between them and their relationship blooms. However, when the body of a fellow astronomer is found on the steps of the Academy of Sciences, their lives are entangled in ways they could never foresee.

Genre: Historical Fantasy, Comic

Representation:
Gender:
Cis boys: Raziol, Sulvain

Sexuality:
Pansexual: Raziol
Demisexual: Sulvain

Romantic Orientation:
Panromantic: Raziol, Sulvain

Race/Ethnicity:
Indian: Raziol
White: Sulvain

Religion:
Hinduism: Raziol

Disability: Sulvain is mute.

Location: 1600’s England

Trigger Warnings: Racism, death.

Additional Notes: This is an ongoing webcomic, read it here: http://www.novaecomic.com/comic/novae-test/

Ending: Comic is ongoing.

Shifting Ground

By Alice Rachel

SHIFTING GROUND is a collection of 12 short stories set in dystopian New York State, a place where some children are born illegally and outcast, where being gay is illegal, where the lower class isn’t allowed to read, have children, or get married, and where upper-class women don’t get to choose the person they are to marry.

Publisher’s Description:

SHIFTING GROUND is a collection of 12 short stories set in dystopian New York State.

Join Chi, a child born illegally, running for his life, Akio, a gay boy ostracized by society, Craig, a lower-class boy crushed by his condition, Morgan, a girl forced into marriage to a boy she will never love, Jackson, a gender-fluid boy living in a state where being queer is against the law.

Genre: YA Dystopian Romance

Representation:
Gender:
Cis girls: Every female character
Cis boys: Every male character except for Jackson Miller
Gender Fluid: Jackson Miller

Sexuality:
Gay: Akio Sakamoto / Terrence Young / Gerald Rossi / Lance Clay
Lesbian: Karen Jones / Morgan Malas / Sofia Campbell
Bisexual: Chase Martinez / Narumi Kita
Asexual: Katsuo Kita
Pansexual: Jackson Miller / Elisa Gonzalez
Heterosexual: Chi Richards / Thia Clay / Stephen Richards / Willow Jenison / James Malone / Tina Davis / Cecilia Clay / Tyreese Lefort / Taylor Jones / Kayla Haynes / Mariana Alvarez

Romantic orientation:
Homoromantic: Akio Sakamoto / Terrence Young / Gerald Rossi / Lance Clay / Karen Jones / Morgan Malas / Sofia Campbell
Biromantic: Chase Martinez / Narumi Kita
Panromantic: Jackson Miller / Elisa Gonzalez
Heteroromantic: Katsuo Kita / Chi Richards / Thia Clay / Stephen Richards / Willow Jenison / James Malone / Tina Davis / Cecilia Clay / Tyreese Lefort / Taylor Jones / Kayla Haynes / Mariana Alvarez

 

Race/Ethnicity:
White: Chi Richards / Stephen Richards / Willow Jenison / James Malone / Cecilia Clay / Craig Owens / Terrence Young / Lance Clay / Gerald Rossi / Sofia Campbell / Jackson Miller
Black: Taylor Jones / Kayla Haynes / Karen Jones / Jake Smith / Tyreese Lefort
Latinx: Chase Martinez / Mariana Alvarez / Elisa Gonzalez
East Asian: Katsuo Kita / Narumi Kita / Akio Sakamoto
Middle Eastern/North African: Hind Daher / Karim Safi
Not mentioned: Thia Clay is biracial (this is a spoiler of the series since the readers won’t realize it until the last book)

Religion: (The characters’ religions are never mentioned in this book)

Disability: Terrence Young / Gerald Rossi / Craig Owens (illiteracy)

Trigger Warnings: Physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, cutting, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, alcoholism, depression

Additional Notes: The author pledges to donate 100% of sales revenue from “Shifting Ground” to The Ally Coalition (an LGBT association helping LGBT+ youth in need).

Ownvoices:  This title is ownvoices for:  Immigrants experiencing xenophobia, depression and cutting

Ending: This is a collection of short stories, most of which end with cliffhangers. Most of them are not HEA since this is a dystopian series where the HEA should come in the last book

Rock and Riot

By

This is the 1950’s like you have never seen it before, slick hair, hot rides and everyone is queer!

Publishers Description:

With all the fashion and quirks of the 50’s comes the vintage queer love story that you’ve never heard before. Rock and Riot follows the tales of teenage delinquents learning about gender and sexual orientations while still maintaining their fabulous hair.

Genre: Romance, Historical Fiction

Representation:
Gender:
Cis girls: Connie, Carla, Triss, Debby
Cis boys: Frankie, Clyde, Gene, Edd, Sasha
Trans girls: Rolly
Demiboy: Sonny
Bigender: Skip
Agender: Ace
Gender Fluid: Dett

Sexuality:
Gay: Frankie
Lesbian: Connie
Bisexual: Debby, Triss, Clyde
Asexual: Carla, Edd, Ace, Dett,
Pansexual: Sonny, Skip
Demisexual: Rolly, Skip, Sasha
Gray-Asexual: Gene

Romantic Orientation:
Homoromantic: Gene
Aromantic: Edd, Dett
Panromantic: Carla, Rolly, Sasha
Demiromantic: Ace
Not mentioned in the book: Connie, Debby, Triss, Frankie, Clyde, Sonny, Skip

Race/Ethnicity:
White: Carla, Rolly, Frankie, Gene, Ace, Sonny, Sasha
Black: Connie, Dett
Not mentioned: Triss, Clyde, Debby, Edd, and Skip

Religion:
Christianity: Carla

Trigger Warnings: homophobia/homomisa, transphobia/transmisia, internalized homophobia/homomisia  

Additional Notes: This is a webcomic and is free online http://rockandriotcomic.com/post/115020071048

This entry was written by Sarah Olson. Follow Sarah on Instagram @pixie_librarian

Ownvoices: Author and artist is queer.

 

 

The Missing

By Jerico Lenk

It is 1890, and London has secrets. For sixteen-year-old Will Winchester, born Willow Winchester and raised as a young man, the safety of his own secrets rests one atop the other. Hiding his gender queerness is important. But so is hiding the ghostly voices of the Missing, which Will hears when no one else can … until the Spiritualist Black Cross Order of Occult Occurrences wants him in their service to keep peace between London’s living and dead.

The freedom to be himself may come with a price. Working alongside a patchwork team of misfits and unlikely allies, Will finds he isn’t the only one keeping secrets. Someone does not want him to uncover the truth about the ghosts who aren’t just missing from the world of the living, but missing from history itself. Can he find the Missing before he ends up becoming one of them? 

Genre: Paranormal, Historical Fiction

Representation:
Gender:
Gender-queer/nonbinary: Will Winchester
Cis males: Cain Kingsley, Rowan Clement
Cis females: Miss Jessica

Sexual Orientation:
Bisexual/Pansexual: Will Winchester
Others so far undisclosed

Romantic Orientation:
Not addressed.

Race/Ethnicity:
White: Will Winchester

Trigger Warnings:
Moderate Victorian-era drug use, blood, dolls, references to abuse/child abuse/suicide, outing

Other notes: Identities confirmed by author

Ownvoices:

Freeing Stella (Being True #2)

By Zoe Lynne

This companion to Finding Ashlynn follows Stella, Jenna’s best friend, as she has to find the courage to come to her religious parents and tell them that she’s transgender.

Publisher’s Description:

Stella Marshall feels invisible to everyone but her sister Jessica and best friend Jenna. Thanks to their Friday night LGBTQ youth group meetings, she can be true to herself and cast aside the boy she was born as, Steven. The rest of the time, she locks herself away, because if her super conservative, Christian parents ever found out….

When her little sister admits to liking a girl as more than a friend, it becomes ten times harder for Stella to keep up the charade. She wants to stand by Jess and take some of the heat away, and that means coming out of the closet—even if it costs Stella her family and the girl of her dreams, Lillian Nelson. Unfortunately, it’s too frightening to give up the security of hiding behind Steven. But Stella knows she has to be brave, for herself and her sister.

 

Genre: Contemporary

Representation:
Gender:
Cis girls: Lily, Jenna
Trans girls: Stella

Sexuality:
Lesbian: Lily, Stella, Jenna
Bisexual: Jessica
Pansexual: Jessica

Romantic Orientation:
Homoromantic: Lily, Stella, Jenna
Biromantic: Jessica
Panromantic: Jessica

 

Race/Ethnicity:
White: Stella, Jessica, Lily
Multiracial: Jenna

Religion:
Christianity: Stella, Lily

Trigger Warnings:
Transphobia/transmisia
Homophobia/homomisia

 

No More Heroes

By Michelle Kan

Publisher’s Description:
The peaceful nights are kept under the clandestine and watchful eye of young, gifted vigilantes the world over. But a sudden rash of vigilante deaths heralds the arrival of a new and unfamiliar enemy – one whose motive is as unclear as their identity. Someone or something seems determined to disturb the peace, and they’re going straight for the watchmen to do it.

In a city where those who are gifted make up their own rules, who will step forward when the threat of a swift end is real and there stands so little to gain?

No More Heroes is an urban fantasy action/adventure novel about young, would-be heroes who get more than they bargained for when they delve deeper into a world they never knew they were a part of.

Featuring a diverse cast of players, discord, a mystery to be solved, plenty of literary action and high-stakes battles, No More Heroes is a story about self-belief and camaraderie, persistence in the face of trials, and what it means to be the best version of yourself.

Genre: Fantasy

Representation:
Gender:
Cis girls: Clare, Mallory, Fisticuffs, Faraday
Cis boys: Linus, Rehua, Artifice
Genderqueer/Nonbinary:
Gender Fluid: Resonance

Sexuality:
Lesbian: Mallory
Bisexual: Linus
Asexual: Clare, Resonance, Artifice
Demisexual: Faraday
Gray-Asexual: Rehua

Romantic Orientation:
Homoromantic: Mallory, Fisticuffs, Artifice
Biromantic: Linus, Faraday
Aromantic: Clare
Panromantic: Rehua
Demiromantic: Fisticuffs, Artifice
Gray Romantic: Resonance, Rehua

Race/Ethnicity:
Greek: Clare
Dutch: Mallory
Cantonese Chinese: Resonance
Indian: Artifice
Samoan: Linus
Māori: Rehua
Cambodian-Vietnamese: Faraday

Disability:
Mental illness: Clare has ADHD. Resonance has Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Cognitive disability: Linus is dyslexic.

Location: New Zealand

 

Ownvoices: Ownvoices for genderfluidity and anxiety.

The Seven

By Courtney Praski

After the nuclear apocalypse of 2100, now referred to as the Great Fire, Oloris—the last habitable land in the world has become mankind’s last chance at survival.  This topographical phenomenon is home to seven vastly different climates—a freezing tundra in the north, a dark murky swamp in the west, a vast mountain range in the south, a subtropical sand filled beach in the east, and at its center lays a sweltering desert, gentle rolling plains, and a bioluminescent tree filled forest.  Once home to only a few hundred survivors of the Great Fire, Oloris is now entering its eight-hundredth year and is home to over a million citizens.

Separated into seven nations, and ruled by seven very different factions, the land is monitored by a group of magically enhanced individuals called the Seven. Through the time-honored tradition of passing their mantle to a younger counterpart from their home nation every thirty years, the Seven have ensured Oloris’s peace for nearly half a millennia—until now.  A power-hungry queen in the north will stop at nothing until all of Oloris is hers to rule.  She is gathering her forces, making allies and planning the Seven’s demise.  Her thirst for power couldn’t have come at a worse time.  The current Seven have reached the end of their service and must choose their successors.  Now, the sanctity of Oloris will be entrusted to a group of individuals who most perceive as children—not warriors.

A blind orphan, a rich highborn, a slave, a gentle hunter, an enlightened blacksmith, a warrior, and a queen long thought dead—are thrust into a world of magic, power, and deception.  Enemies are lurking in the shadows, allies are rallying their forces, and nations are struggling to choose sides in the coming war.  Carefully navigating Oloris’s politically charged climate, these young protectors must learn not only their place in the world but how to save their world as they know it.

Genre: Dystopian/Fantasy

Representation:
Gender:
Cis woman: Raina, Edlyn, Kora, Fay, Luna, Nina
Cis male: Griffin, Onyx, Conrad, Sorin, Luca, Theo, Tomin

Sexual Orientation:
Lesbian: Riana, Nina
Bisexual: Kora
Gay: Griffin, Onyx
Heterosexual: Tomin, Theo, Sorin, Luca, Edlyn, Nero, Fay, Conrad, Luna

Romantic Orientation:
Homoromantic: Raina, Nina, Griffin, Onyx
Panromantic : Kora
Heteroromantic: Tomin, Theo, Sorin, Luca, Edlyn, Nero, Fay, Conrad, Luna

Race/Ethnicity:
Black: Onyx, Nina, Sorin
Multiracial: Raina
Latinx: Kora
White: Edlyn, Luca, Tomin, Theo, Fay, Nero, Conrad, Luna, Griffin

Disability:
Blind: Tomin

Trigger Warnings:
Very subtle hints of torture, child abuse, and non-consensual sex.

Before I Let Go

By Marieke Nijkamp

After seven months, Corey returns to visit the small town of Lost Creek, Alaska, where she grew up with her best friend, Kyra. However, just before Corey’s flight home, she learns that Kyra has died, presumably by suicide. But not everything is what it seems in the town of Lost Creek and Corey won’t stop until she finds what happened to her best friend in the seven months since she’s been awake.

Check out this book and more on our best of list for books with asexual characters.

Publisher’s Description:
Best friends Corey and Kyra were inseparable in their snow-covered town of Lost Creek, Alaska. When Corey moves away, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winter, and wait for her return.

Just days before Corey is to return home to visit, Kyra dies. Corey is devastated―and confused. The entire Lost community speaks in hushed tones about the town’s lost daughter, saying her death was meant to be. And they push Corey away like she’s a stranger.

Corey knows something is wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. Lost is keeping secrets―chilling secrets. But piecing together the truth about what happened to her best friend may prove as difficult as lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter…

Genre: Mystery, Contemporary

Representation:
Gender:
Cis girls: Kyra, Corey
Cis boys: Sam, Roshan

Sexuality:
Gay: Sam, Roshan
Asexual: Corey
Pansexual: Kyra

Romantic Orientation:
Homoromantic: Sam, Roshan
Aromantic: Corey
Panromantic: Kyra

Race/Ethnicity:
White: Corey, Kyra, Sam
Multiracial: Roshan

Disability:
Kyra has bipolar disorder.

Trigger Warnings:
Suicide
Parental neglect
Emotional abuse
Attempted murder

Additional Notes:
Ownvoices: Ownvoices for asexual representation