2025 was a year packed full of great sapphic books, and today, we’re here to celebrate 15 of the best. These are the Lesbrary reviewers’ favorite 2025 sapphic books we read this year—and yes, nine of them are my picks. Let’s call that Head Lesbrarian privileges. This is only scratching the surface of the sapphic books out this year, but it’s a good place to start!
Our picks include graphic novels, audiobooks, YA and adult novels, alternate history, romance, a sci-fi murder mystery, fantasy, gothic novels, a murder ballad retold, and not one but two lesbian astronaut books. We hope that no matter your taste, you’ll find a novel to love in this list. Some have central sapphic love stories and others don’t, but they all celebrate the best stories about queer women that came out this year.
Stay tuned for another list coming out later this month of our favorite sapphic reads of 2025 that didn’t come out this year!
Spent: A Comic Novel by Alison Bechdel
I did not expect to finish this book feeling inspired, but Spent turned out to be exactly what I needed. All of these character are flawed—and none more so than Alison, a neurotic and sometimes self-centred character—but they also show up for each other. Alison and her friends struggle with the myriad crises of the world, but they don’t succumb to apathy or despair. They organize letter-writing campaigns. They protest. They write books and make podcasts. They shop locally. They support each other. They try. I doubt Bechdel intends to write a sequel, but I could spend hundreds more pages with these characters. This book felt like an unexpected bit of guidance showing the importance of pushing back any way you can, as well as the rewards of community building—no matter how messy and imperfect. (Check out my full Lesbrary review for more.) —Danika
It’s a Love/Skate Relationship by Carli J. Corson
My favourite sapphic book of the year was not very hard to pick, despite having read a grand total of 35 of them! When I boil it down to purely how much fun I had reading the book, It’s a Love/Skate Relationship by Carli J. Corson wins! The romance was so cute and well done, and the characters really popped off the page. There was a good helping of animosity to start it off too, which I quite enjoyed. It did just about everything I want a YA romance to do, and I can’t recommend it enough. —Caelin
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House of Beth by Kerry Cullen
The premise of this modern gothic will likely sound familiar: a woman marries a widower and finds herself haunted by the spectre of his seemingly perfect first wife. But from there, the story goes in a very different direction. I really enjoyed this, for reasons that are mostly spoilers. Suffice to say I recommend it, as long as the descriptions of Cassie’s violent intrusive thoughts (including violence towards children), a debilitating symptom of her OCD, are not a dealbreaker. The unease builds up slowly, but despite the descriptions of violence, this is surprisingly heartfelt. I can guarantee you that you’ve never read a sapphic love story quite like this one—in fact, it will take a while to realize that is, indeed, what you’re reading. (Check out my full Lesbrary review for more, including a spoilers section.) —Danika
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Cursebound (Faebound #2) by Saara El-Arifi
The best sapphic book I read this year was Cursebound by Saara El-Arifi. Sequels often pale in comparison to the original, but that is certainly not the case here. This second book in the Faebound trilogy established El-Arifi as one of my favorite authors and I think I loved it even more than the first book, if that’s possible! It has incredible world building, a hugely diverse cast of morally grey characters, such a unique magic system, and some of the very best animal companions I have ever read. Basically, it is everything that I love in a fantasy novel, and more. I highly recommend this series for anyone who enjoys fantasy and especially for fans of toxic yuri, haha. I am eagerly awaiting the conclusion to the trilogy, forthcoming in 2026. —Kit
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The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
This folkloric fantasy/murder ballad is accompanied by woodblock illustrations, adding to the timeless feel. There is a romantic storyline here, between Esther and a nonbinary faerie, but the real love story is the bond between Esther and her sister Ysabel. I didn’t know about the category of “murder ballads” before picking this up, much less the specific 17th century Scots murder ballad “The Two Sisters” that this is based on, but you don’t need any background to enjoy this retelling. Despite this being a novella, it creates an absorbing world, where magic is grammar. The story itself is beautiful, melancholic, and a satisfying revenge narrative. It’s one I know I will want to return to many times, just like a favourite fairy tale. —Danika
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When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-Yi Lee
When They Burned the Butterfly is a dark, brutal history fantasy thriller about a magical girl-gang in 1970s Singapore, and the violence they witness (and perpetuate), even as marginalized citizens of the country struggle to find their place in an increasingly industrialized world. This was such a visceral, powerful fantasy tale about Singaporean nation-building, capitalistic greed and and urbanization, through the eyes of the city’s most vulnerable groups: migrants, working class folks, sex workers etc. There is not much romance, but I loved how poignantly the butch-femme lesbian leads were depicted with all their twisted, angry, complicated and yet unmistakably tender loyalties to each other–and to their found family. (Check out my full Lesbrary review for more.) —Sritama Sen
Sympathy for Wild Girls: Stories by Demree McGhee
This is a collection of stories about queer Black women that is going to live in my head for a long time. If you love Carmen Maria Machado, especially Her Body and Other Parties, you need to pick up Sympathy for Wild Girls. They’re both feminist, fabulist/magical realist stories that get under your skin. Several deal with very intense, weird, undefined childhood friendships between girls, or complicated relationships between women that are left without clarity—if there’s any universal queer woman experience, this is probably it. These are the kind of stories that you can really dig into and interpret: I would love to have studied them in a class, because it feels like there’s so much packed into just a few pages. (Check out my full Lesbrary review for more.) —Danika
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Ten Incarnations of Rebellion by Vaishnavi Patel
One of the most thought-provoking books I read this year, Ten Incarnations of Rebellion is an alternate history of India about the realities of fighting for freedom. While this is not the real history of India, in the author’s note, Patel explains that it is all inspired by real-life events. You can really see that complexity in the text: while there may be heroes and villains, most characters are complicated. Good people do terrible things. Terrible people act as allies in key moments. It also shows the real sacrifice, struggles, and rifts in revolutionary movements. There are many arguments within the resistance about which actions are appropriate, especially when it comes to violence. Part of the reason I was originally drawn to Ten Incarnations of Rebellion was because of its queer content, and while that’s true, don’t expect a heartwarming queer romance. Patel is unflinching about the sacrifices and casualties of rebellion, and no one emerges unscathed. I did, however, enjoy the moments of queer solidarity and friendship included. (Check out my full Lesbrary review for more.) —Danika
To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage
I included two lesbian astronaut books in my favourites this year, and here’s my first! To the Moon and Back follows Steph, a young Cherokee lesbian ruthless in her pursuit of becoming an astronaut. This is such a heart-wrenching, affective read. It’s about ambition and how much you’re willing to sacrifice for it. It’s about family of all kinds, and how those relationships transform over decades, coming apart and back together. It’s about Indigeneity and finding how to relate to your heritage and where you fit into the story of generations of your family. Despite Steph’s determination to be independent, to break free, to transcend the bonds of Earth, this is ultimately a story about finding a place to belong and how your story fits into that. Every character in To the Moon and Back is complex and flawed. While I found much of this quietly heartbreaking, it’s also hopeful. (Oh, and Steph’s college girlfriend Della really steals the show, despite only having a few point of view chapters.) Check out my full Lesbrary review for more. —Danika
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Of course, the biggest queer book of the year was Atmosphere. This is another book about a lesbian astronaut, but it’s a very different story than To the Moon and Back. While that is a narrative about ambition, Atmosphere is a love story. Before reading it, I had seen plenty of reaction videos of people sobbing over this book—and sure enough, I joined their ranks. It’s not just the emotionally wrenching ending. It was also the beautiful, heart-breaking relationship between Joan and her niece. Reid also does a great job illustrating the struggle of this couple having to stay closeted to protect their careers: at a wedding, they observe the casual, thoughtless way that straight couples can show off their relationship, even when they are nowhere near the level of commitment that Joan and Vanessa share, who ache to be able to move through the world together so freely. I particularly recommend the audiobook for this one. But yet, prepare for tears. —Danika
The Salvage by Anbara Salam
Sapphic gothic novels seem to be having a moment, and I am here for it. This is my new favourite genre, and The Salvage is my favourite in this genre. I thought that the best part of this book was how information was slowly revealed, so I recommend going into this without knowing much about it. If you’re in the mood for a claustrophobic gothic novel set on a small, frozen-over island, pick this one up and skip over my description. It follows a marine archeologist on a remote Scottish island during the 1962 Great Freeze. As Marta tries to recover the items recently stolen from a shipwreck, she becomes convinced she’s being haunted. As she gets closer to Elsie, the bartender, the islands’ others inhabitants begin acting erratically—is it the cold getting to them, or is there a supernatural explanation? This is so atmospheric, and the pacing of little reveals is perfect. It isn’t that there are shocking twists, but we’re always getting new pieces of information that change things. The description of the weather was so convincing that I found myself grabbing a blanket while reading this. I highly recommend this for fans of gothic novels. (Check out my full review for more.) —Danika
The Original by Nell Stevens
As the title would imply, this historical novel is about originals and forgeries. When Grace’s parents were institutionalized, her aunt and uncle reluctantly took her in, where she’s been living in the shadows ever since, especially once her cousin Charles was lost at sea. When Charles reappears years later to claim his inheritance, no one can agree if he’s the real Charles or a con artist. I was so engrossed by this historical novel with a gothic twist. While this isn’t a fast-paced plot, there’s a growing sense of dread, and it kept me guessing the entire time what the truth was about Charles. The motif of copies versus originals (Grace is an art forger) works very well, and I love the writing style. I also found the depiction of queerness in 1899 England very interesting. I was enraptured by this story, and unravelling of the mystery is perfectly paced. This was also a much more queer book than I was expecting. If you are a fan of queer historical fiction, I highly recommend this. (Check out my full Lesbrary review for more.) —Danika
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
I’m unsurprised but pleased to say my most anticipated release of 2025 is also my favorite sapphic read of the year. In The Isle in the Silver Sea, Tasha Suri’s clear yet lyrical writing delivers an aching star-crossed romance between a knight and a witch who have been reincarnating for centuries, as well as a high-stakes story about the threats they face in a dying land and social commentary as relevant today as it was many lifetimes ago. If you’re a fan of romantic fantasy and anti-colonial stories, I highly recommend this one. —Emory Rose
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Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite
In a year where I was desperately searching for escapism, Olivia Waite’s novella Murder by Memory hit the dual spots of being set in an entirely new space society and being cozy. Waite establishes her mystery and science fiction chops in one swoop, with a murder on a space ship during a space storm that leave’s the ship’s computer unable to help our main character, Dorothy Gentleman, out with her investigation. I found the world-building to be both original and interesting, and I always love the idea of a space ship as the locked room focal point of a murder mystery. Dorothy Gentleman is a compelling character, and I am already excited about reading about more of her adventures. If you’re looking for a fun and cozy mystery to settle in with at the end of the year, I entirely recommend this one, and you’ll be just in time for the second one to come out in March. (Check out my full Lesbrary review for more.) —Maggie
The Secret Astronomers by Jessica Walker
My favorite sapphic read is also my final review of the year: The Secret Astronomers by Jessica Walker. It’s a gorgeous book that makes full use of its epistolary style and manages to convey two distinct and complex characters through post-it notes and guerilla art. So much happens throughout the story and so many themes are tackled with empathy and nuance. Did I mention the disabled main character? The ripples of the opioid epidemic? Building intergenerational understanding? This is an absolute standout that should appeal even to folks who don’t usually read YA. (Check out my full Lesbrary review for more.) —Til
