20 Books with Bi Protagonists for #BiVisibilityDay! 💗💜💙

Happy Bi-Visibility Day, everyone! Whether you are bisexual or biromantic, allo or aspec, you are loved and you belong inside our cute little bi club.
Bi Visibility Day happens each your on September 23rd ever since 1999 and was created to raise bi awareness and challenge bisexual & biromantic erasure. 2020 will be the 22nd year that we have celebrated bisexual life on 23 September and I hope it will be celebrated for many years to come.
Before moving on to the rest of the post, I want to engage a little further on the topic of biphobia and bi-erasure. Three weeks ago I made a video on my Youtube channel about that topic, including 40+ things you shouldn’t say to bi folks, 40+ things you might have never seen as biphobic before. If you have a moment, please take a look at this video and give it a like. Thank you!

40+ things you SHOULD NOT SAY to a bisexual 💗💜💙 | Discussing biphobia and bi-erasure

Now moving on to why I wanted to write this post: Bi folks are often misunderstood, stereotyped and even fetishized. To help people understand it more, but also to share the bi experience, I want to recommend books with characters who identify as bi as they have the same right to exist in stories and be celebrated by booklovers as any other queer identity. Besides, seeing yourself in books is super important and some of you might just be looking for some good bi-books, but it’s also really good to read about identities not your own. So for #BiVisibilityDay, I want to share 20 books with biromantic and/or bisexual protagonists for you to add to your TBR. The following books are books I have read (and loved) myself, and books I really look forward to reading sometime. I have linked the Goodreads links to both the titles and the covers, so it’s easy to navigate. I really hope you find atleast one book that speaks to you, as that means I succeeded at my task of recommending you a good bi-book.

If you are enjoying this post and are thinking about buying one of these amazing titles, consider using my Bookdepository affiliate link! You will support me as for every sale made through my link, I will receive a small commission and it doesn’t cost the buyer anything extra. Bookdepository also offers free worldwide shipping, so it’s definitely worth it!

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Books that look like the bi-flag somehow

The Devouring Gray
(The Devouring Gray #1)
by Christine Lynn Herman

This book is great everyone is pretty much bi, until confirmed otherwise. And these disaster Bis don’t all end up in same sex couples, which we stan!
[my review]

The Fever King
(Feverwake #1)
by Victoria Lee

If you are looking for a bisexual mess, you are looking for Noam Álvaro. No doubt there.
[my review]

The Sound of Stars
by Alechia Dow

I really love this book as it explores bisexuality aswell as being demisexual and what it means to be both in a really tender way.
[my review]

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Cute bi folks in contemporary

Zomerburen
by Rianne Robben

A contemporary book from my own country that released TODAY with bisexual rep, a sapphic romance and dyslexia rep!

Let’s Talk About Love
by Claire Kann

In this book the MC discovers she is bi-romantic asexual! We love the asexual rep, as Bi Visibility Day is not just for bisexuals.

Look
by Zan Romanoff

The MC is dealing with a lot of internalised queer- and biphobia from standing in the spotlight until she meets a really cute girl who helps her with that.
[my review]

Queens of Geek
by Jen Wilde

This contemporary is all about geeky stuff and fandoms. Oh, and it’s queer! There is also #OwnVoices autism rep in this book, so even more reason to pick it up!

Radio Silence
by Alice Oseman

I have fallen in love with Alice Oseman’s books, so I have no doubt this book is incredible aswell. One MC, Frances, is bisexual and the other one, Aled, is demisexual. Yes, this post is about Bi-rep, but let’s love the aspec rep too.

Heartstopper: Vol 1
(Heartstopper #1)
by Alice Oseman

We gotta love cute guys who think they are straight figuring out they’re bi, because they fall in love with another cute guy.

I Wish You All The Best
by Mason Deaver

This book shows that everyone can be bisexual, even non-binary folks. BIG BONUS: the love interest is also Bi!

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Bisexuals radiating chaos in adult fantasy

A Darker Shade of Magic
(Shades of Magic #1)
by V.E. Schwab

Rhy is just the shameless flirt that just likes you as long as you are cute. You’ll love him.
[my review]

Cherry Nova
(The Chronicles of Nova Morgan #1)
by Kelly-Marie Pollock

This book is about a fierce bisexual vampire in Victorian London. She is hotheaded, but she is also very lovable.
[my review]

May Day
(Seekers #1)
by Josie Jaffrey

Ever heard of a disaster bi vampire detective? That’s Jack Valentine, and she is one of my favourite disaster Bis.
[my review]

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Disaster bis in YA SFF

The Gilded Wolves
(The Gilded Wolves #1)
by Roshani Chokshi

This book has been recommended to me so often by now and it also has an autistic MC, but apparently it has a bi MC aswell? I am running out of excuses to not read it,

The Rise of Kyoshi
(The Kyoshi Novels #1)
by F.C. Yee

My favourite Avatar ever is bi and her girlfriend is adorable. That’s what I am gonna say about this book.

Sawkill Girls
by Claire Legrand

Ofcourse this queer YA horror has a bi MC, because if it hadn’t I would have started a riot (I’m joking). The other characters are also super queer and one of the MC’s is asexual!

Six of Crows
(Six of Crows Trilogy #1)
by Leigh Bardugo

Among the six main characters, two of them are bi! I really love how even though their sexuality overlaps, their relationships and love-interests are super different.
[my review]

Ace of Shades
(The Shadow Game #1)
by Amanda Foody

All I need to say about Levi Glaiyser is that he is cute, he is chaos and he is bisexual. This is one of my favourite book series and he is one of my favourite characters in it.
[my review]

Reign of the Fallen
(Reign of the Fallen #1)
by Sarah Glenn Marsh

The main character of this series is a super powerful and fierce necromancer. She stands her ground and uses her Death-wielding magic to protect her found family. Also, did I mention her girlfriend is adorable?
[my review]

The Disasters
by M.K. England

In no universe ever (hah, space joke) could a book called The Disasters not be fronted by a true disaster bisexual. And yes, he is just as disastrous in trying to save humanity as in his love life.

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My video about bi-phobia and bi-erasure

If you have a moment, please watch, comment, like and share, so more people can learn more about biphobia. Thank you!

My TBR for The Ace Race readathon – All about celebrating asexual main characters!

It has been a relative short while since I have come to terms with my being aspec, so I have not sought out a lot of books featuring asexuals a lot either. Maybe I was just running away from it to ignore my place in the closet? Who would know! But when I started reading books with aspec characters, a world of representation opened up for me. You can imagine I was over the moon when Nene announced a readathon solely focused on asexual characters!

In this post I will talk about the details of the readathon, the books I will be reading and other books with aspec representation! Just use the menu right below to navigate through the post. I also added Goodreads hyperlinks to all book covers, to make it a little easier for everyone to check out books and add them to their TBR.

[All artwork in this post, including the ”The Ace Race” in the featured picture, excluding the bookcovers, belongs to The Ace Race readathon.]

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In this post
What is The Ace Race?
➢ Rules and prompts
My TBR for October
➢ Main TBR
➢ Bonus TBR
More books with aspec characters
➢ Personal reocmmendations
➢ Titles I want to check out

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What is The Ace Race?

The Ace Race is a monthlong readathon happening in October and it’s all about reading books with asexual main characters and it’s hosted by Nene @ Illustrative Pages, Celest @ The World of Reading, Rue @ Rue’s Reading Corner and Lilian @ Books and Bracelets.

While all books for this readathon need to feature an asexual main character, there are nine (9) prompts in three (3) categories you aim towards. Further explanations of the rules and prompts are linked below.

For this readathon, Nene made a Discord server and it’s one of my favourite places to hangout throughout the day. There are so many fellow aspec people in there, but also a lot of aspec-allies and everyone is so nice and friendly. Come hangout with us, it amazing!

Twitter | Discord | Aspec book spreadsheet

Rules and prompts

Rules: Read books with acespec protagonists. You can choose one book for several prompts as long as the prompts are in different categories. Example: A sci fi by a Black author with a bi MC: one book read, three prompts done.
Prompts:
Rep: Aromantic, Demi/grey sexual, Bi/pan romantic / bi/pan sexual
Genre: Sci-fi, Middle Grade, YA Contemporary
Voices: Trans/non-binary author Black author Disabled Author

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My TBR for October

The goal for this readathon is to read books with asexual protagonists for all nine prompts, but besides that, I just want to read books with asepc rep in general.
I separated my TBR in two parts: Main and Bonus. The main part consists of the books I am reading for the prompts and the bonus part is just books I can read for the rest of October

Main TBR

I managed to find four books to cover all nine prompts which all had asexual main characters just from the books I already owned, had in pre-order anyway and available on Scribd!

Let’s Talk About Love
by Claire Kann
Prompts: Bi/pan romantic rep, YA contemporary, Black author

Rick
by Alex Gino
Prompts: Aromantic rep, Middle Grade, Trans/Non-Binary author

The Art of Saving the World
by Corinne Duyvis
Prompts: Sci-fi, disabled author

The Pale Dreamer (The Bone Season #0.5)
by Samantha Shannon
Prompts: Demi/grey-sexual

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Bonus TBR

These books are my ”Bonus TBR” for this readathon as they don’t really fit with the prompts or don’t officially for the readathon, but they still feature aspec characters and that’s the theme I want to go for in October! These are just books I am going to choose from after I am done with my main TBR, as there are other books I also want to read in October that aren’t aspec related.
[The top three books are books I own and the bottom three books are audiobooks on Scribd.]

Sawkill Girls
by Claire Legrand
Rep: asexual MC

Belle Révolte
by Linsey Miller
Rep: bi-romantic ace MC

Sword in the Stars (Once & Future #2)
by Amy Rose Capetta & Cory McCarthy
Rep: Asexual SC

Tarnished are the Stars
by Rosiee Thor
Rep: Aro-ace MC

Eliza and Her Monsters
by Francesca Zappia
Rep: Asexual MC

Beneath the Citadel
by Destiny Soria
Rep: Asexual MC

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More books with aspec characters

To end this post on a good note for you, the reader, here are some more books with aspec representation! First some personal recommendations and why I love the rep, then other books I am interested in reading that have aspec characters and representation.

Personal recommendations

The Sound of Stars
by Alechia Dow
Rep: Demi-bisexual MC

Loveless
by Alice Oseman
Rep: Aro-ace MC

Now Entering Addamsville
by Francesca Zappia
Rep: Asexual MC

The following three title are books I have read myself and would highly recommend! As these are just three titles, I will elaborate a little on them and the representation.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow [my review]
This is a science fiction book which is mainly focused on the main characters saving the world. The romance comes on place two. I personally think it does a really good job of showing how demisexuality works in relationships between two characters.

Loveless by Alice Oseman
This YA contemporary shows how the 18-year-old Georgia is figuring out she’s aromantic and asexual. When I read this, I tabbed so many pages, because I related to them so much. This book is celebrated as excellent aro-ace representation and has helped many readers, whether already questioning or not when starting the book, figure out their aspec identity.

Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia [my review]
The reason I love the asexual representation in this book is because it’s just there. It isn’t a plotpoint and the maincharacter’s asexuality isn’t a character trait. It’s briefly mentioned when a sapphic character is checking out a girl and that’s just all I need. Sometimes identities just need to exist without too much detail and context.

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Titles I want to check out

The following books that are all on my TBR! The representations mentioned are those I pulled from people’s reviews, so it’s possible some are incorrect or are side characters instead of main characters. Regardless, these books have all been recommended to me both within and without the context of aspec rep.

The Black Veins
(Dead Magic #1)
by Aisha Monet
Rep: Demiromantic / demisexual SC

Beyond the Black Door
by A.M. Strickland
Rep: Asexual MC

Immoral Code
by Lillian Clark
Rep: Asexual MC

Summer Bird Blue
by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Rep: Aro-ace questioning MC

Hazel’s Theory of Evolution
by Lisa Jen Bigelow
Rep: Aromantic asexual MC

Radio Silence
by Alice Oseman
Rep: Demisexual MC

The First Sister
(The First Sister Trilogy #1)
by Linden A. Lewis
Rep: panromantic asexual

The Paper and Hearts Society
(The Paper and Hearts Society #1)
by Lucy Powrie
Rep: Demisexual SC (she’s a MC in book 2)

Goddess of the Hunt (poetry)
by Shelby Eileen
Rep: Aromantic asexual MC

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These are very obviously way more books than I can possibly read in October, which is okay as I want to leave some aspec books for later aswell!

Readathons celebrating underrepresented identities are so important, often as they don’t usually get sought out specifically by the majority of the people unless given a reason too, like other representation or a readathon like this. This readathon has already brought together so many people and we are still weeks away from the start of this readathon! I have connected by my fellow aspec folks and even a lot of allos have joined us and are excited. It’s the little things that count, and I will make sure they count twice.

I hope you might pop in on the readathon or the discord, even if its just to hang out or read only one book. You are welcome with us 💜

5 Black Non-Binary authors you should check out!

Hello readers!

I am very passionate about boosting queer voices, especially during Pride, but with current events, I want to make a point of boosting black queer voices. We shouldn’t just support black people now, but we should pave a way for black voices to stay relevant forever. So as a book blogger, I am going to do what I do best: Talk about books and their authors, and use my audience to get these on people’s radar.

This post is part of a series of recommendation posts I want to write and I want to start by highlighting some beautiful and talented black non-binary authors. I identify outside of the gender binary, so writing a post about authors who identify the same was really fun to do. This list is a combination of authors I have read books from, have been highly recommended to me and authors with books I’d love to read someday.

Back in February, I wrote two similar posts about Contemporary YA books and Fantasy books by black authors available on Scribd. People loved it then and are still loving it now as I can see in my blog stats. I am glad I can use my platform for this and I hope to be able to keep providing this content for everyone. Black Lives Matter, every day and forever. It’s our job to help create this new normal, one step at the time.

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Kacen Callender (they/them)

Author of HURRICANE CHILD (2018), THIS IS KIND OF AN EPIC LOVE STORY (2018), QUEEN OF THE CONQUERED (2019), KING OF THE DRAGONFLIES (2020) and FELIX EVER AFTER (2020)

Born and raised in St. Thomas of the US Virgin Islands, Kacen Callender is the award-winning author of the middle-grade novels Hurricane Child and King and the Dragonflies, the young-adult novels This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story and Felix Ever After, and the adult novel Queen of the Conquered. 

​Kacen was previously an Associate Editor of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, where they acquired and edited novels including Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles, the New York Times bestseller Internment by Samira Ahmed, and the Stonewall Honor award-winning novel Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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Charlotte Nicole Davis (she/they)

Author of THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS (2019)

Charlotte Nicole Davis is a graduate of The New School’s Writing for Children MFA program. Charlotte loves comic book movies and books with maps in the front. She currently lives in Brooklyn with a cat with a crooked tail. She is the author of The Good Luck Girls, a young adult fantasy novel released in Fall 2019 with Tor Teen.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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Akwaeke Emezi (they/them)

Author of FRESHWATER (2018), PET (2019), and THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI (August 4, 2020)

Akwaeke Emezi is a 32-year-old writer and visual artist based in liminal spaces. Born in Umuahia and raised in Aba, Nigeria, Emezi is currently working on their sixth novel.

Emezi’s debut YA novel PET was a finalist in several awards, received several honored, debuted with five starred reviews, and was also named a 2019 Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Apple, and Amazon, among others.
Their debut autobiographical novel FRESHWATER has been translated in ten languages, is in early development as a TV series at FX. FRESHWATER has won the 2019 Otherwise Award (formerly the Tiptree) and the Nommo Award, and it was a finalist and longlisted for even more awards. It was named a 2018 Best Book of the Year by the New Yorker, NPR, the Chicago Public Library, and Buzzfeed. It debuted as an Indies Introduce Title, receiving rave reviews from The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, the Guardian, and the LA Times, among others.

Their video art series THE UNBLINDING premiered at Gavin Brown’s enterprise in Harlem and was awarded a Global Arts Fund grant. Their short story ‘Who Is Like God’ won the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. (Read the full bio here.)

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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Danez Smith (they/them)

Author of [INSERT] BOY (2014), DON’T CALL US DEAD (2017),  BLACK QUEER HOE (2018) and HOMIE (2020) and more.

Danez Smith is a Black, Queer, Poz writer & performer from St. Paul, MN. Danez is the winner of the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award, and a finalist for the National Book Award, and “[insert] boy” (YesYes Books, 2014), winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry. They are the recipient of fellowships from the Poetry Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Montalvo Arts Center, Cave Canem, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Danez’s work has been featured widely including on Buzzfeed, The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Best American Poetry, Poetry Magazine, and on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Danez has been featured as part of Forbes’ annual 30 Under 30 list and is the winner of a Pushcart Prize. They are a member of the Dark Noise Collective and is the co-host of VS with Franny Choi, a podcast sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and Postloudness.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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Rivers Solomon (they/them)

Author of AN UNKINDNESS OF GHOSTS (2017), BLOOD IS ANOTHER WORD FOR HUNGER (2019), THE DEEP (2019) and SORROWLAND (Winter 2021)

Rivers Solomon is a dyke, an anarchist, a she-beast, an exile, a wound, a shiv, a wreck, and a refugee of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. They write about life in the margins, where they are much at home. They grew up between California, Indiana, Texas, and New York but currently reside in the United Kingdom.

In addition to appearing on the Stonewall Honor List and winning a Firecracker Award, Solomon’s debut novel AN UNKINDNESS OF GHOSTS (Akashic Books) was a finalist for a Lambda, a Hurston/Wright, a Tiptree, and a Locus Award, and was included in numerous best-of-the-year lists, including in NPR, Publishers Weekly, and The Guardian (UK).  Their short work appears in or is forthcoming in Black Warrior Review, the New York Times, Guernica, Best American Short Stories, Tor.com, and elsewhere, and their second book, THE DEEP, is forthcoming November 2019 from Saga (Simon & Schuster).

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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Thank you for reading this post! I hope you will find some nice books to add to your TBR by discovering these authors.

Until next time!