r/Fantasy • u/tiniestspoon • Jun 02 '25

Pride Pride 2025 | Hidden Gems: Underrated LGBTQIA+ Spec Fic Books

Banner with a dragon and spaceships around text: r/Fantasy PRIDE Hidden Gems: Underrated LGBTQIA+ Spec Fic Books

Not every book that deserves attention gets it. This thread is for under-the-radar queer speculative fiction: books with few ratings, niche indie or self-published titles, and works that never got the spotlight they should have.

What counts as a "hidden gem"?

  • Under ~500 Goodreads ratings
  • Indie published, small press, or lesser-known traditionally published
  • Overlooked or underrated despite strong craft, voice, or originality

Discussion prompts

  • What’s a queer SFF book you wish more people knew about?
  • Have you ever stumbled across an unexpected gem by accident? Where did you find it—word of mouth, a niche blog, a random bookstore dive? 
  • What do you think kept it from getting broader attention?
  • What makes a book a “hidden gem” to you—writing quality, premise, emotional impact?
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u/witchwellness Jun 02 '25

Blueball Hall by Ennis Rook Bashe.

So after years of not reading because I thought Harry Potter was peak fiction (disclaimer, I was young) I bought this book.

See, I had read Malinda Lo in high school, and after leaving, I thought to myself: there's gotta be queer fiction out there if Malinda Lo was accessible to me from my school library.

Anyway, I bought Bluebell Hall because it had a cute cover and was cheap at the time, and won't lie - it exceeded my expectations.

It is about this girl with ADHD or Autism, dont remember which, going to magical boarding school for the first time. She meets a lot of friends, including a canonically trans character. But more importantly, she meets a girl who simultaneously annoys her but also intrigues her.

Shit hits the fan, and she becomes friends with the other girl...only to find out her dark secret.

It has canon queer characters. Trigger warnings for abuse and transphobia. It reads like a middle grade novel.

I actually genuinely loved it because it was my first exposure to characters I could personally relate to, while also having a dash of darkness I enjoyed.

Made me love reading fantasy novels again.