#ada hoffman

I just read this book through Netgalley and I really enjoyed it. It's def a book to Tumblr-recommend in the style of "it has queer neurodivergent characters, and is anti-ai!" but it's also just a fun romp.

I personally really enjoyed how it was sci-fi, but queer rights had been turned back. Characters read books on our time and tried to learn queer culture from that, which was funny, endearing, and bitter sweet.

Happy Pride Month! This year, I’m celebrating by recommending books with LGBTQ+ main characters. The first three weeks each highlight a different intersectional subcategory, and the fourth week will be for general recommendations.

This week, I’ll showcase books featuring neurodivergent queer main characters. Like my other recommendations this month, these are all books I’ve read and enjoyed that feature happy endings. Feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments and reblogs!

Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer If I can have your attention to scream about only one book this month, this one is it. I will never shut up about CatNet. Ever. I am absolutely obsessed with this series and this book is one of my all-time favorites ever. It’s a near-future Teen thriller featuring a cast of neurodivergent queer characters and an AI that likes cat pictures. It’s got a slow-burn romantic subplot but the main focus is on the developing friendship. It’s a story about fandom and the internet and loneliness and finding community. It’s got a truly terrifying villain (no superpowers required) and some surprisingly sympathetic antagonist characters. It’s also got a scene where the kids hack their small-town school’s lesson materials to make it provide accurate LGBTQ-inclusive sex ed, which is delightful. The story doesn’t focus on any character’s journey of being neurodivergent or queer—the representation is just there, and it feels authentic. It’s honestly one of the first times I felt like I saw myself in a story and… to say it rewired my brain chemistry would be an understatement. Also, the sequel, Chaos on CatNet, is just as good. I only wish this was a trilogy. If you only read one book I recommend, please read this one.

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske If I had a list of “only four books I get to keep with me if the world ends”, this one is right after CatNet. But it was close. This was also insanely good and resonated really strongly with me. I mean, maybe I just like friendship-based love stories coupled with mystery and danger featuring plenty of excellent banter. Maybe I just like seeing characters who are Aspi-or-Autistic-coded who struggle with socialization and really care about people and also like to talk about their special interests. (We’re not fracking stereotypes!) Freya Marske also does a really good job with the fantasy worldbuilding, and I am in awe of how her descriptions blend imagery and figurative language to concisely convey personality. This is the first in a trilogy, and I’m delighted to say that each book gets successively better—but the first one is still my favorite. And Edwin Courcey is most of the reason (but I love Maud Blyth as well).

The Outside by Ada Hoffman I read this one for a book club a while ago. It was good. I think it’s pretty cool how the pantheon of gods works in the science fiction setting. This was the first book I read that had an explicitly Autistic female character, and I like that there’s more than one. It’s the first in a series, but I haven’t read the rest.

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune I read this as a teenager and loved it. I related to the ADHD fanboy protagonist so much. I reread this as an adult and… I guess reading tons of fanfiction with neurodivergent queer characters made me more particular? That said, this is a fun story, and its predictability doesn’t detract at all from the enjoyment. And I’m happy to read more queer superhero stories, so it’s a good thing this is the first in a trilogy.

Daniel Deconstructed by James Ramos I enjoyed reading this book, even though it didn’t resonate with me as strongly as some others. That’s purely subjective—the main character’s Autistic experience is different from my neurodivergent experience, just as his fandom experience is different from my own (LARP vs attending conventions). We also get nonbinary and asexual representation in the supporting cast, which I appreciate. It’s a good high school romance that subverts a lot of tropes.

I should note that the Aiden Thomas novels mentioned in week one also belong on this list (you cannot convince me those characters are neurotypical and I love them for it).

What are your favorite books (or other media) that feature neurodivergent queer main characters? I’m always looking for more stories!

~>> reality is a lie <<~