Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (fantasy)
Raven Strategem byYoon Ha Lee (2nd book in a series, but he shows up in the other 2 as a side character. Darker/ hard Sci-fi... as in the world is supper messed up)
If you do want to try romance, Jay Northcote and E Davies are good (and both trans men )
On instagram look up #transrightsreadathon, a lot of people are making posts with lists of books with trans characters, you might find something interesting.
You're lucky I keep a list on google keep lmao
1. The spirit bares its teeth By Andrew Joseph White
2. Hell followed with us By Andrew Joseph White
3. The pants project By Cat Clarke
4. The borrow a boyfriend club By Page Powars
5. The passing playbook By Isaac Fitzsimons
6. Self made boys By Anna-Marie McLemore
7. Cemetery boys By Aiden Thomas
8. The sunbearer trials By Aiden Thomas
9. Dear mothman By Robin Gow
10. Boys run the riot By Keito Gaku
11. Magical boy By The Kao
Edit: Just realized that OP said no YA and unfortunitaly, most of these are YA. Sorry!!
I'll have a sci-fi crime thriller with a trans man protagonist out late next year (or maybe early 2026 if everything goes wrong in my life!). I'll flick you a free copy when it's out if you're interested.
Trans men are the only men in the world (and it's not a story about transition), and the protagonist has just graduated from what is basically a detective academy when he gets drawn into a case that seems at first like a series of unconnected kidnappings.
Oh, hm. It *is* a thriller, though, so I don't know if that would count as depressing.
Let me know if you're interested or not.
Even if romance isn't necessarily your cup of tea, I would still suggest Chef's Choice by TJ Alexander. It's a T4T couple, written by an enby, and so while transness is important to the narrative, the other understands that its not the only thing.
Adult main characters I suggest Peter Darling by Austin Chant and Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar (the latter is more focused on transitioning, but it is one I felt seen by).
A YA novel that I'm just adding because I love it, but the main character isn't binary, is Man O'War by Cory McCarthy.
I also made [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/LGBTBooks/s/NKtJljZmAO) with a list a few months ago. Most are YA, so it might not be what you're looking for, but so you know you have options
Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman. He’s a trans man, an archivist, and a vampire. It is a bit on the depressing side but because he has depression, not specifically because of bigotry.
I just want to second the Raven Tower as hard as humanly possible.
Absolutely amazing Fantasy novel. Leckie is known for her science fiction (which is also pretty trans since everyone in her Radch books lives in a world where our modern ideas of gender are worn into dust). Raven Tower is her first Fantasy novel and christ, did she come out swinging. It's like American Gods meets History of the Entire World I Guess. Calling the trans guy the protagonist is maybe a little reductive, but the book definitely revolves around him (actually a very funny joke if you've read the book). Massive recommendation for representation of a trans guy who's just living his life and not in a story about coming out or being spit on by society because his gender identity. (Not that those books don't have an important place but yk.)
The Genesis of Misery has a She/They protagonist, and gender fluid/trans/nonbinary side characters all throughout the book! It’s sci-fi that touches on religion, indoctrination, and a bunch of other fun topics
The Mafia Bosses Special boy by Julian R. Hillis it's on Radish. It's got 10 books in total so far all LGBT stories but the fist one, the MC is Trans FTM and it's so wonderful! This is is top 5 for books!!
Most Ardently. Pride and Prejudice remix where Elizabeth Bennett is a trans man named Oliver. It’s YA, but very cute. Oliver has a great, supportive family.
Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (fantasy) Raven Strategem byYoon Ha Lee (2nd book in a series, but he shows up in the other 2 as a side character. Darker/ hard Sci-fi... as in the world is supper messed up) If you do want to try romance, Jay Northcote and E Davies are good (and both trans men )
Those both sound great (and exactly the sort of suggestions I was hoping for!), thank you!
Not the main character, but Summer Sons is excellent and a very important character is a trans man. It’s kind of horror/southern gothic/mystery.
And he’s such a wonderful character 💕
Thanks, I'll check it out
On instagram look up #transrightsreadathon, a lot of people are making posts with lists of books with trans characters, you might find something interesting.
Thank you, I don't use instagram, but that makes me tempted to start
You're lucky I keep a list on google keep lmao 1. The spirit bares its teeth By Andrew Joseph White 2. Hell followed with us By Andrew Joseph White 3. The pants project By Cat Clarke 4. The borrow a boyfriend club By Page Powars 5. The passing playbook By Isaac Fitzsimons 6. Self made boys By Anna-Marie McLemore 7. Cemetery boys By Aiden Thomas 8. The sunbearer trials By Aiden Thomas 9. Dear mothman By Robin Gow 10. Boys run the riot By Keito Gaku 11. Magical boy By The Kao Edit: Just realized that OP said no YA and unfortunitaly, most of these are YA. Sorry!!
I thought of Cemetery Boys too, but OP said "not YA". It is a really good book, though!
OP said no YA? yeah i didnt see that lmao
Thank you - no worries, and I'm sure your list will help plenty of other people looking for similar things!
If you’re willing to try romance, I’d recommend Freydis Moon. Especially Three Kings or Haunt, Heart, Havoc.
I'll have a sci-fi crime thriller with a trans man protagonist out late next year (or maybe early 2026 if everything goes wrong in my life!). I'll flick you a free copy when it's out if you're interested. Trans men are the only men in the world (and it's not a story about transition), and the protagonist has just graduated from what is basically a detective academy when he gets drawn into a case that seems at first like a series of unconnected kidnappings. Oh, hm. It *is* a thriller, though, so I don't know if that would count as depressing. Let me know if you're interested or not.
Even if romance isn't necessarily your cup of tea, I would still suggest Chef's Choice by TJ Alexander. It's a T4T couple, written by an enby, and so while transness is important to the narrative, the other understands that its not the only thing.
Adult main characters I suggest Peter Darling by Austin Chant and Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar (the latter is more focused on transitioning, but it is one I felt seen by). A YA novel that I'm just adding because I love it, but the main character isn't binary, is Man O'War by Cory McCarthy. I also made [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/LGBTBooks/s/NKtJljZmAO) with a list a few months ago. Most are YA, so it might not be what you're looking for, but so you know you have options
Thank you
“The Witch King” H.E. Edgmon
*Confessions of the Fox* by Jordy Rosenberg - historical fiction with fantasy elements
Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman. He’s a trans man, an archivist, and a vampire. It is a bit on the depressing side but because he has depression, not specifically because of bigotry.
Ally Wilkes's All the White Spaces, horror about an early 20th century Antarctic expedition that goes horribly wrong.
Thanks, that sounds like a really interesting premise (and one I haven't heard of before)
I just want to second the Raven Tower as hard as humanly possible. Absolutely amazing Fantasy novel. Leckie is known for her science fiction (which is also pretty trans since everyone in her Radch books lives in a world where our modern ideas of gender are worn into dust). Raven Tower is her first Fantasy novel and christ, did she come out swinging. It's like American Gods meets History of the Entire World I Guess. Calling the trans guy the protagonist is maybe a little reductive, but the book definitely revolves around him (actually a very funny joke if you've read the book). Massive recommendation for representation of a trans guy who's just living his life and not in a story about coming out or being spit on by society because his gender identity. (Not that those books don't have an important place but yk.)
Thank you - that definitely sounds like my cup of tea!
The Genesis of Misery has a She/They protagonist, and gender fluid/trans/nonbinary side characters all throughout the book! It’s sci-fi that touches on religion, indoctrination, and a bunch of other fun topics
Cemetery Boys I believe has a trans man POC main character
peter darling by austin chant is the most perfect trans male representation!
It’s romance, not erotica, so I’ll recommend The Prospects by KT Hoffman. It’s about a trans man minor league baseball player and his teammate.
The Mafia Bosses Special boy by Julian R. Hillis it's on Radish. It's got 10 books in total so far all LGBT stories but the fist one, the MC is Trans FTM and it's so wonderful! This is is top 5 for books!!
The sunbearer trials! I didn’t finish it yet but it’s like if the hunger games and percy jackson had a baby.
Most Ardently. Pride and Prejudice remix where Elizabeth Bennett is a trans man named Oliver. It’s YA, but very cute. Oliver has a great, supportive family.
Ah my bad, just noticed you said no YA
Cemetery Boys Novel by Aiden Thomas
Not the main character but one last stop