If you’re active on Booktok, or wlw TikTok, you might have seen more sapphic recommendation videos than normal. This is because of a reactionary trend that started because apparently someone on Booktok asked for LGBT+ book recs, and then said “ew” when some of those recs were sapphic and focused on a relationship between women… which is insane. It’s 2024.
Many Booktok influencers are working hard to create videos of their favorite sapphic books and sapphic books on their To-Be-Read list to celebrate sapphic books because of this. I posted one as well, despite my primary social media being instagram.
Besides causing an ultimately beneficial trend, this comment brings up so many different discussions, such as why straight women might like reading mlm romance but find sapphic romance to be “ew;” but in my opinion it all boils down to the suppression of sapphic writers.
Until fairly recently, sapphic works were extremely underrepresented in traditional publishing. The majority of lesbian works published prior to 1994 were published solely by lesbian and feminist publishers, as described by Carol Seajay in a 1994 article in The Women’s Review of Books, volume 12. For another example, there are 126 writers listed on the “lesbian novelists” wikipedia page, and 242 on the “gay novelists” page.
Sapphic representation can be hard to find in general. There are very few TV shows or movies with sapphic characters. In the United States in 2023, only 31% of LGBT+ characters on TV were lesbian. 25% were bisexual, but this also includes bisexual men and non-binary people that might not identify with the sapphic label. And many of these characters will not be returning to the screen due to cancellations or removal of their characters (GLAAD).
Since there are so few sapphic characters on screen, it makes sense to turn to books for representation. However, from 2003 and 2013, more than 45% of all young adult (YA) LGBT+ books focused on a male character. In 2015, it was more than 55% (Diversity in YA). There has undoubtedly been change since 2015, but sapphic books are still often less popular than novels with gay or bisexual male characters.
Fortunately, more and more sapphic books are published every year, so here are some of my favorites:
This short novel is a dual-POV, sci fi romance with two characters who are high-ranking agents on either side of the time war. It has won so many awards, and I personally rated it 5 stars. It’s a little confusing and strange but in a way that works. I’ve made quite a few of my friends read this book, and they loved it!
This is a mystery and contemporary fiction story with a sapphic nun main character working in a Catholic school in New Orleans. The writing is so fantastic and the story is very intriguing. I rated it 5 stars.
Probably one of my favorite historical romances, and I read a lot of those, this book features a lavender marriage between two best friends, falling in love via letter writing!, and grumpy x even grumpier lol. It also has first wave feminist rep and features a female doctor and her journey in the 1880s, which is super cool. I gave it 5 stars.
This is a YA fantasy story set in a world that gave me Victorian England vibes. It features a high-stakes heist, fae, and slow-burn friends-and-roommates-to-lovers. I gave it 4.5 stars.
This is a super cute YA graphic novel. It’s also won several awards and is the perfect quick fun read featuring mermaids! The art is so beautiful.
Looking for more? I also regularly post recommendations on my sapphic bookstagram. I recently did a sapphic horror post, if you’re not quite ready to move on from spooky season (I know I’m not). I’ll probably post a winter sapphics post soon!