Books like 'The Battle Drum'
Readers who enjoyed The Battle Drum by Saara El-Arifi also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy young adult lesbian romance science fiction high fantasy military black-mc magic queer
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A Journey of the Heart by Catherine M. Wilson
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsIn Book II of the trilogy, Tamras’s apprenticeship as a warrior isn’t turning out quite the way she expected. Her unconventional choices lead to her crossing swords, almost literally, with Vintel, the war leader of Merin’s house. She finds herself embroiled in a power struggle she is doomed to lose, but the loss sends her on a journey that will change her destiny and decide the fate of her people... -
![Always Human by Ari North]()
Always Human by Ari North
First serialized on the popular app and website WebToon, Always Human ran from 2015-2017 and amassed over 76,000 unique subscribers during its run. Now reformatted for a print edition in sponsorship with GLAAD, Always Human is a beautifully drawn graphic novel about a developing relationship between two young women in a near-future, soft sci-fi setting... -
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![If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude]()
If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude
We Are Okay meets They Both Die at the End in this YA debut about queer first love and mental health at the end of the world-and the importance of saving yourself, no matter what tomorrow may hold.Avery Byrne has secrets. She's queer; she's in love with her best friend, Cass; and she's suffering from undiagnosed clinical depression...Categorized as:
queer f-f young adult contemporary science fiction dystopian friends to lovers suicide -
![The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz]()
The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz
Clara Gutierrez is an AI repair technician and a wanderer. Her childhood with her migrant worker family has left her uncomfortable with lingering for too long, so she moves from place to place across retro-futuristic America. Sal is a fully autonomous robot. Older than the law declaring her kind illegal due to ethical concerns, she is at best out of place in society and at worst vilified... -
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![I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 3 by Inori]()
I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 3 by Inori
In this critically acclaimed romantic comedy, a reincarnated gamer pursues her villainous lady love at a fantasy girl's academy! (And don't miss the manga adaptation, also from Seven Seas.) Ordinary office worker Oohashi Rei wakes up in the body of the protagonist of her favorite otome game, Revolution... -
![The Order by T.J. O'Shea]()
The Order by T.J. O'Shea
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsA smile, a dance, some flirtatious banter—and witty heiress Luciana Piccolo was swept off her feet. Literally.When a mysterious, gorgeous woman whisks her onto the dance floor at her father’s masquerade ball, Lucy is thrilled to break the shackles of her privileged but purposeless life... -
![Girls at the Edge of the World by Laura Brooke Robson]()
Girls at the Edge of the World by Laura Brooke Robson
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsSet in a world on the edge of an apocryphal flood, this heart-stoppingly romantic fantasy debut is perfect for fans of Rachel Hartman and Rae Carson.In a world bound for an epic flood, only a chosen few are guaranteed safe passage into the new world once the waters recede. The Kostrovian royal court will be saved, of course, along with their guards... -
![The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum]()
The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsRyann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isn’t an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the wrong side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends. One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryann’s offer of friendship...Categorized as:
queer young adult futuristic science fiction fantasy contemporary f-f from hate to love -
![The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis]()
The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis
First Sister has no name and no voice. As a priestess of the Sisterhood, she travels the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars—the same ones who own the rights to her body and soul. When her former captain abandons her, First Sister’s hopes for freedom are dashed when she is forced to stay on her ship with no friends, no power, and a new captain—Saito Ren—whom she knows nothing about... -
![The Meadows by Stephanie Oakes]()
The Meadows by Stephanie Oakes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"A story of pain, injustice, love, resistance, and hope, this glorious book will lodge inside you and make you feel everything... -
![We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia]()
We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsIn this nail-biting sequel to Tehlor Kay Mejia’s critically acclaimed fantasy novel We Set the Dark on Fire, La Voz operative Carmen is forced to choose between the girl she loves and the success of the rebellion she’s devoted her life to. Perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and Anna-Marie McLemore.Being a part of the resistance group La Voz is an act of devotion and desperation... -
![Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta]()
Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose--and falling for each other--in Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series.We went past praying to deities and started to build them instead..Categorized as:
queer science fiction f-f young adult fantasy dystopian from hate to love futuristic -
![The Whole of Humanity Has Gone Yuri Except for Me by Hiroki Haruse]()
The Whole of Humanity Has Gone Yuri Except for Me by Hiroki Haruse
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMarika was perfectly happy with her perfectly “normal” life. That is, until the day she saw a couple of girls openly kissing each other on her way to school. Indeed, that morning, Marika Junno learned that she somehow ended up in world where only women existed... -
![The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston]()
The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston
The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston.Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield... -
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![Radio Apocalypse by Kayleigh Gallagher]()
Radio Apocalypse by Kayleigh Gallagher
Rated: 3.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt’s been nearly seven thousand days since the world ended. Seven thousand days of devastation, seven thousand days of shifting wastelands and dangerous creatures, seven thousand days of a vicious fight for survival. Humanity has long gone silent, except for two voices...Categorized as:
queer science fiction dystopian young adult f-f post-apocalyptic fantasy length-medium -
![We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia]()
We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run a husband’s household or raise his children, but both are promised a life of comfort and luxury, far from the frequent political uprisings of the lower class...Categorized as:
queer young adult contemporary fantasy dystopian f-f from hate to love science fiction -
![Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor]()
Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor
Rated: 3.71 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe Lunar Chronicles meets Rook in this queer #OwnVoices science-fantasy novel, perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer and Sharon Cameron.A secret beats inside Anna Thatcher's chest: an illegal clockwork heart. Anna works cog by cog -- donning the moniker Technician -- to supply black market medical technology to the sick and injured, against the Commissioner's tyrannical laws... -
![Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari]()
Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari
In this fresh new take on the world of superheroes, explore what it's like to be the non-super half of a dynamic duo. Spoiler it's not easy being super-adjacent.Claire has always wanted to work with superheroes, from collecting Warrior Nation cards as a kid to drafting "What to Say to a Hero" speeches in her diary... -
![Meet Cute by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Dhonielle Clayton]()
Meet Cute by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Dhonielle Clayton
Rated: 3.58 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsWhether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. MEET CUTE is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of "how they first met" from some of today’s most popular YA authors... -
![I Am Not Starfire by Mariko Tamaki, Yoshi Yoshitani]()
I Am Not Starfire by Mariko Tamaki, Yoshi Yoshitani
Rated: 3.48 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author Mariko Tamaki (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass) and artist Yoshi Yoshitani (Zatanna and the House of Secrets) comes a story about Mandy, the daughter of super-famous superhero Starfire, and her desperate attempts to get out from under her shadow.Seventeen-year-old Mandy Koriand’r is not her mother... -
![The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow]()
The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
Rated: 3.41 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe world is at peace, said the Utterances. And really, if the odd princess has a hard day, is that too much to ask? Greta is a duchess and crown princess—and a hostage to peace. This is how the game is played: if you want to rule, you must give one of your children as a hostage. Go to war and your hostage dies. Greta will be free if she can survive until her eighteenth birthday...Categorized as:
queer fantasy dystopian young adult science fiction futuristic royalty love triangle -
![That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston]()
That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston
Set in a near-future world where the British Empire was preserved, not by the cost of blood and theft but by effort of repatriation and promises kept, That Inevitable Victorian Thing is a novel of love, duty, and the small moments that can change people and the world... -
![Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir]()
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Emperor needs necromancers.The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense.Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth, first in The Locked Tomb Trilogy, unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants... -
![Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir]()
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to Gideon the Ninth, turns a galaxy inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor's haunted space station.She answered the Emperor's call.She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.In victory, her world has turned to ash... -
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![Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir]()
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Her city is under siege.The zombies are coming back.And all Nona wants is a birthday party.In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona's not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger's body, and she's afraid she might have to give it back... -
![Compass Rose by Anna Burke]()
Compass Rose by Anna Burke
In the year 2513, the only thing higher than the seas is what’s at stake for those who sail them.Rose was born facing due north, with an inherent perception of cardinal points flowing through her veins... -
![The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri]()
The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri
The prophecy of the nameless god—the words that declared Malini the rightful empress of Parijatdvipa—has proven a blessing and curse. She is determined to claim the throne that fate offered her. But even with the strength of the rage in her heart and the army of loyal men by her side, deposing her brother is going to be a brutal and bloody fight... -
![Every Exquisite Thing by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson]()
Every Exquisite Thing by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsAnna Lightwood, eldest child of Gabriel and Cecily, is mad, bad and dangerously dapper. Every rake has an origin story, though: now under Brother Zachariah’s eye we see Anna’s doomed love story unfold... -
![Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh]()
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsA thrillingly told queer space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and who you must become when every choice is stripped from you, Some Desperate Glory is Astounding Award Winner Emily Tesh’s highly anticipated debut novel. While we live, the enemy shall fear us. Since she was born, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth... -
![The Grace Year by Kim Liggett]()
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood...
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