12 Great Under the Gaydar YAs

The Scorpion Rules, by Erin Bow
There are so many reasons this is such a great pick: a great premise that sets up a fascinatingly diverse cast, a terribly charismatic and powerful AI that should definitely appeal to fans of Illuminae, and a bisexual heroine, who’s situated in something of a love triangle but is very clear on what and who she wants. (Spoiler: it’s a girl. Who also happens to be awesome. And their romance is adorable.) Snatch it up before the sequel, The Swan Riders, releases September 20!

37 Things I Love (in No Particular Order), by Kekla Magoon
If you happen to nab the hardcover version of this title, you’ll likely be much less surprised by the queer content, but if, like me, you first spotted this book as a paperback, good news! It’s totally got queer content. Ellis is hurting, with her father on life support and discussions of pulling the plug getting more and more real. The one thing that soothes her heart as she tries to prepare herself for the permanent loss of her father and deals with the distancing it’s causing with her mother is reconnecting with an old friend, who turns into more than a friend just when Ellis needs her most.

Trust Me, I’m Lying, by Mary Elizabeth Summer
It isn’t really until the sequel that it becomes clear the main character of this con artist thriller series is bi, but you do have to start it at the beginning, and trust me, it’s worth it. Julep Dupree is all about the small-time cons, until her grifter father disappears, and all bets are off as she hunts down the only family member she has. Be prepared for lots of action and surprises, to seriously fall for every secondary character in the bunch, and to need book two, Trust Me, I’m Trouble, immediately.

And I Darken, by Kiersten White
Have you ever been reading a book you were already really loving in public, and yelped out loud “I cannot believe how gay this is!” Uhhhhh yeah, me neither. (Sorry, lobby of Disney World Hilton.) But if I had, it’d be about White’s latest series opener, which plays with the idea of “What if Vlad the Impaler were a teenage girl?” and pairs that gender-flipped narration with that of the girl’s brother, Radu. When Lada and Radu are handed over to the Ottoman Sultan as VIP hostages, both find themselves falling for the Sultan’s son, Mehmed.

Labyrinth Lost, by Zoraida Córdova
I know love triangles get a lot of hate in YA world, but I’m sorry, there’s nothing better than love triangles with multi-gender options. When Alex refuses to embrace her bruja power on her Deathday, her entire family is taken from her in punishment until she recants. Finding them means wading through a demon’s wonderland, the titular labyrinth that will test all her strength and mettle, and definitely cannot be navigated alone. Enter Nova, the brujo who she’s paying to help guide her through, and Rishi, the best friend who refuses to abandon her.

Highly Illogical Behavior, by John Corey Whaley
Solomon’s agoraphobia prevents him from leaving the house, which doesn’t exactly make for a killer in-person social life. But suddenly, there’s Lisa, looking to reconnect with her former classmate, and like that, he has a friend. Well, two, since Lisa comes with her boyfriend, Clark, who just happens to have a whole lot in common with Solomon, and becomes a far more intriguing part of their visits. But future psychologist Lisa has an ulterior motive for visiting: she desperately needs a “project” to make her college essay stand out, and Sol is it. And that’s not exactly the kind of building block on which true friendships are made…

This Song is (Not) For You, by Laura Nowlin
Ramona and Sam are poster children for the “Before” of a BFFs-to-lovers romance: they’re each burning with feelings for the other, but of course don’t want to risk their friendship or unsettle their band. Then Tom enters the picture, and while he’s the perfect third for their band, the jury’s still out on where he falls in their romantic entanglement. See, Ramona is rapidly falling for Tom, too, and while he adores both Ramona and Sam, he’s still working on figuring out his asexuality and how it fits into having a relationship.

Afterworlds, by Scott Westerfeld
Darcy Patel is a debut teen author, freshly arrived in NYC and ready to take on the literary world…which starts with taking on the literary crowd. And thus Darcy meets and falls for Imogen, another writer, while both struggle to navigate their place in the industry. Alternating with the contemporary chapters about Darcy and Imogen is Darcy’s actual (paranormal) debut novel, which is considerably less gay, but both stories stand on their own.

Winning, by Lara Deloza
Alexandra wants nothing more than the homecoming crown, and what Alexandra wants, Alexandra gets. And woe to new girl Erin, who’s turning heads left and right and proving to be possible competition, because neither Alexandra nor her best friend and henchwoman, Sam, will stand for that. Right? Because if Sam even thinks of stepping out of line, it’s the end of their secret makeouts, and Sam doesn’t exactly have a lot of alternatives. But…what if she did? And what if the one girl capable of tearing Sam from Alexandra romantically was also the one girl who could end the latter’s reign of terror for good?

Ask Me How I Got Here, by Christine Hepperman
Every time I think I’m “just not a novel-in-verse person,” I end up reading another one I love, and this is definitely one of my favorites. Addie is Doing Life Right, as a runner and a student and with the perfect boyfriend in place. But when a careless night together results in said perfect boyfriend getting her pregnant, Addie’s choice to have an abortion recalibrates the way she thinks about her goals, her future, and her present. As this is all going down, her former running teammate, Juliana, returns to town as part of her own personal reassessment. One thing they can both agree on? Each other. Romantically.

This is Where it Ends, by Marieke Nijkamp
A book that’s been #1 on the New  York Times bestseller list isn’t exactly “under the radar,” but if you’ve been holding out on reading it because you’re bored of cishet characters and assume this book’s success means it’s led by them, think again. Of the four points of view in Nijkamp’s debut, which takes place in real time over 54 minutes during a school shooting, two belong to a lesbian couple with strong ties to the shooter. And, as heartbreaking and bloody as this book is, it still manages to deftly avoid the dreaded tragic queer trope.

Cherry, by Lindsey Rosin
This YA all-girl version of American Pie is one of my favorite surprises of the year, not just because it’s as delightful as expected but because it blissfully eschews the heteronormativity of the movie and features one member of the four-girl crew realizing the guy she loses her virginity to isn’t her happy ending—her very cute new female friend is. And so begins an adorable courtship and sexual exploration with approximately zero angst and alllll the flirting.