While disability is still a stigmatised topic for many, with disabled authors often left in the margins of the publishing industry—and history—, there is still a multitude of wonderful stories featuring disabled characters from all walks (and wheels, canes, crutches, etc.) of life to dive into this Disability Pride Month. We've compiled our biggest list yet in the hopes of diversifying your (and our own) reading lists, with books featuring everything from invisible illnesses and neurodivergence to motor impairments!
Here at Swords & Sapphics, we don't long to see more representation — we find it, because it already exists. So, commemorate the anniversary on which the American Disability Act was passed in 1990 and celebrate these amazing authors, old and new, indie and traditional, by growing your TBR pile with eons of new books featuring an array of disability rep.
LGBTQ+ Books with Disability Rep
Kidlit & YA
Vivi Conway and the Sword of Legend by Lizzie Huxley-Jones
Middle-grade adventure fantasy
Autistic MC
Non-binary character
Character with a limb difference
One For All by Lillie Lainoff
MC has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTs)
Sapphic side characters
Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See
Asexual rep
MC has cerebral palsy
Side characters in wheelchairs
You, Me, and Our Heartstrings by Melissa See
MC has cerebral palsy
LI has an anxiety disorder
Queer side characters
Homebound by Hayley Anderton
Lesbian MC and sapphic side characters
MC has agoraphobia and anxiety
Unraveled by Claire Olivia Golden
YA sapphic Sleeping Beauty retelling
OCD
Rise to the Top: A New Beginning by DJ Dune
Coming of age romance
African-American lesbian MC with autism
Trans woman side character
Lesbian and Jewish LI
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
YA SFF
Bi MCs
Polyamory
MC uses walking aids
Tears in the Water by Margherita Scialla
NA T4T romance
Sapphic side couple
A-spec characters
Anxiety and neurodivergent burnout, including a non-verbal moment
The Stone of Destiny by Caroline Logan
YA fantasy
LGBT+ and disability rep
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
Puerto Rican lesbian
MC has severe asthma
The Luis Ortega Survival Club by Sonora Reyes
YA
Queer and Latinx characters
Non-verbal autistic MC
Until We Fall by Nicole Zelniker
Coming-of-age dystopia
MC is a Black trans girl
Lynne & Hope by Joey Paul
MC uses a wheelchair
The Weaver by Emmi Itäranta
YA dystopian
Sapphic romance
Mute character
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor
YA mystery
Non-binary MC with autism
Chronic migraines
Monstersona by Chloe Spencer
YA sci-fi horror
Characters with PTSD
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
YA fantasy
Bi/pan characters
Characters of colour
Ligament disability where character uses a cane
The Secret Summer Promise by Keah Brown
Sapphic YA romance
MC with cerebral palsy
If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude
YA sapphic romance
Depression rep
The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe
YA thriller
MC is a trauma survivor
The Wicked Unseen by Gigi Griffis
YA horror
Sapphic characters
Panic attacks and trauma survivor rep
True Biz by Sara Nović
YA contemporary
Set in a school for the Deaf
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
YA fantasy
Black trans girl MC with selective mutism
Character is a wheelchair user
Polyamorous and non-binary side characters
Knight of Ash: The Venomous Tempest by Sebastiaan Constantino van Doorn
YA fantasy
Autistic and queer characters, including bi rep
Adult
Make You Mine This Christmas by Lizzie Huxley Jones
WLW romcom,
MC has undiagnosed autism with dyspraxia
LI has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)
Ink Stains & Ill-Fated Lies by Kellie Doherty
Sapphic fantasy romance
MC has permanent ankle impairment due to injury
LI has substance addiction
The Summer We’ve Had by Katherine Blakeman
WLW romance with bi and ace rep
MC has dissociative identity disorder
Everything is Wonderful Now by Shane Blackheart
MC is a disabled trans man
Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese (among other of her books)
Bi MC
Autistic MC
LI has anxiety disorder
Cursed in Love by Bryony Rosehurst
Sapphic adventure romance
MC has anxiety
The Talisman War series by Jamie N. Schock
A character with clinical depression and MS
A character with PTSD
A character with permanent injuries
A character who loses a limb
Truly Wanted and Truly Enough by J.J. Hale
Sapphic romance
MCs with ADHD
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
Queer-normative fantasy world
POV character with a prosthetic leg
Mental illness and other disabilities
Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
M/F romance
Demisexual rep
MC with diabetes
Sapphic side characters
Return to Blackwater House by Vikki Patis
Psychological suspense thriller
Lesbian character
Coeliac disease
The Darkest Night by Vikki Patis
Historical fiction
Undiagnosed Perthes' disease
Magic of the Lost series by C.L. Clark
Sapphic fantasy
Black lesbian MC
Bi MC
Queer side characters
Disability due to injury
The Tower by Kirke Vincent
Sapphic fantasy
FFF Polyamory
Trans character
MC is visually impaired
Love interest is autistic (not stated in book)
Witch Soul by Morgan Dante
Gothic romance
Character is hard of hearing
My Lord & They Call Him Lucius by LB Shimaira
Gothic fantasy horror
PTSD
The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson
Historical fantasy
Bi Jewish MC
Sapphic
PTSD and motor impairments, including amputees and wheelchair users
The Winter Knight by Jes Battis
Urban fantasy/mystery
Queer autistic MC
Trans and disabled supporting characters
Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney
Adult contemporary fiction
MC has endometriosis
Bi MC
Sapphic relationship
The Reanimator's Heart by Kara Jorgensen
Fantasy M/M romance
Autistic MC
Blinded by Love by Claire Highton-Stevenson
Sapphic romance
Blind MC
The Modern Mythos Anomaly by Juniper Lake Fitzgerald
M/M fantasy romance
Disabled MC
The Impavidus Cycle series by M.A. Vice
LGBT fantasy
Disabled characters including MC
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
Adult SFF
Queer, autistic, Black MC
Of Books and Paper Dragons by Vaela Denarr and Micah Iannandrea (among others of their books)
Cosy fantasy
Queerplatonic relationships
Non-gendered society
Anxiety and disability
Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian
Historical M/M romance
MC with PTSD
A Restless Truth by Freya Marske
Sapphic historical fantasy romance
undiagnosed/unspecified ADHD
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall
Queer historical romance
PTSD
The Sign for Home by Blair Fell
Queer romance
BlindDeaf MCs
Chouette by Claire Oshetsky
Fantasy and horror
Disability and neurodivergence
The Misadventures of Myndil Plodostirr by Michelle Franklin
Mythical adventure
Queer characters
Neurodivergent MC
Twisted Roots by A.G. Parker
Dark contemporary fantasy
The Thirteenth Key by Cara Nox
Queer fantasy
Anxiety, depression, and missing limb
Trick by Cara Nox
Autism, ASD, and non-verbal rep
Home by Maxime Jaz (among other books)
M/M romance
Physical disability
PTSD
Motts Cold Case Mystery series by Dahlia Donovan
Autistic and asexual MC
The Unwanted Prophet by Carolina Cruz
Adult fantasy
Bi MC
ADHD and autism rep, and an amputee secondary character
Focus on platonic love
The Flourishing by Merlina Garance
Lesbian romance
Crime investigation
LI has anxiety and PTSD
Desolation by Maeve Corey
Autistic MC with PTSD
Where Our Closure Begins by Alex M. Najera
Contemporary fiction
Sapphic romance
PTSD, panic attacks, and eating disorder recovery
The Warrior Within by Brooke Campbell
Sapphic paranormal romance
Disabled MC
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
SFF
Blind character with scars
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
SFF dystopia
Bi and gay rep
So Long, Bobby by Lillah Lawson
Historical fiction
Character with a disability after surviving a car accident
More Books with Disability Rep
Kidlit & YA
Limitless Roads Café by Samantha Picaro
Autistic MC
Disabled side characters
The Order of the Twelve Tribes series by Daley Downing
ASD MCs from Book 2
One Final Vinyl by Savy Leiser
YA coming of age
Character with Alzheimer's
A Kind Voice in Hell by Ames Mullery
Adult fantasy
Trans man MC
Chronic illness
Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz
YA romance
Jewish characters
MC with rheumatoid arthritis
LI with chronic illness
Something More by Jackie Khalilieh
YA romance
Palestinian-Canadian MC with an autism diagnosis
Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling by Elise Bryant
YA romance
Black MCs
MC has chronic migraines
LI is dyslexic
Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino
YA romance
Deaf MCs
Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest
Coming-of-age romance
MC in wheelchair
Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman
YA fantasy
Autistic MC
This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede
YA fantasy romance
MC with ADHD
The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew
YA paranormal fantasy
Deaf MC
Echoe by Ila Golden
YA mystery
Disabled MC
Sara Satellite by J.S. Frankel
MC has haemophilia
Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis
YA paranormal horror
Black MC
Depression rep
The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews
Contemporary YA
Autistic MCs
Ginger's Journey to the Land of Jazz by Laurie Nave
Picture book
Autistic character who stims
The Wysman by Dorothy A. Winsor
YA fantasy
MC with club foot and requires crutches
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
YA fantasy
Beauty & the Beast retelling
Cerebral palsy
Dyrwolf by Kat Kinney
YA paranormal romance
MC suffers with chronic migraines
Adult
Cursed Souls series by Samantha Moran
Dementia and schizophrenia misdiagnosis
The Ruin by Samantha Moran
Anxiety, depression, cancer, and substance addiction
When I Grow Up I Want to be a Chair by Ryan Rae Harbuck
Memoir of a paralyzed wheelchair user
The Blue Fox by Sjón
Historical fiction
Character with Down's syndrome
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Historical fiction
Blind character
Night's Reign by Daan Katz
Adult fantasy
MC uses a wheelchair
Exploration of mental health
Murder Between the Worlds by Morgan Daimler
Adult fantasy
Permanent disability from injury
The Unchained Spirit by Barbara Lieberman
Non-fiction
Chronic illness
Love in the Middle by Barbara Lieberman
Adult later-in-life romance
Cancer survivor
MC with MS
Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
Adult romance
Both characters have limb differences
Float Plan by Trish Dollar
Adult romance
LI has a prosthetic leg
Finding Gene Kelly by Torie Jean
Adult romance
MC has endometriosis
A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings
Adult romance
MC has anxiety disorder
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Fantasy romance
MC with EDS
The Woodsman's Rose by Gifford MacShane
FMC suffers from migraines and pain from a brain tumour
The Rebel series and Forgotten Flounder by J.C. Hannigan
MCs with multiple exostoses
The Necessity of Rain by Sarah Chorn
Fantasy
Limited hip mobility
The Smallest Man by Frances Quinn
Historical fiction
MC with dwarfism
Fragmented Fates by Nancy Forster
Fantasy
Blind character
The Speed of Light by Elissa Grossell Dickey
Contemporary fiction
MC with MS
Sweetwater by Whitney Sivill
Romance
Paraplegic MC
LI with PTSD
In Between Spaces edited by Rebecca Burke
Anthology of disabled authors and poets
Maggie Turner Suspense series by Helen Pryke
MC with autoimmune disease
All Access series by Evie Mitchell
Adult romance
Multiple disabled MCs including Crohn's disease sufferer and wheelchair user
The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
SFF mystery
Chronic pain rep
Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan
Contemporary romance
Facial difference and visual impairment
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series by Kim Michele Richardson
Historical fiction
Blood disorder/chronic condition
The Maid by Nita Prose
Mystery/thriller
Unspecified neurodivergence
At Summer's End by Courtney Ellis
Historical romance
Facial difference
The Body Factory by Héloïse Chochois
Graphic novel
Prosthetics
The Demon Duke by Margaret Locke
Regency romance
Tourette's syndrome
Artificial Divide edited by Randy Lacey and Robert Kingett
An anthology of short stories focusing on blindness
Making Disability Modern by Bess Williamson and Elizabeth Guffey
Nonfiction exhibition of how designed objects and spaces contribute to the meanings of ability and disability
A Good Night's Sleep by Stefanie Simpson
Erotic romance
LI has chronic insomnia
Faces of Autism by Lisa Aguirre
Messages from autism advocates around the USA
Searching for Delphine by Dillon Shane
Bipolar rep
Coming soon
The Book Boyfriend by Jeanna Louise Skinner
Paranormal romance
Plus size MC with schizophrenia
Jane of Battery Park by Jaye Viner
Hollywood romantic suspense
Disabled MCs
Forever Yours series by Stacy Reid
Blind MC in Book 1
MC with a severe limp and chronic pain in Book 2
The Stars That Govern Us by J.R. Alcyone
Historical fiction
MC with ODC and bipolar disorder
Secondary MC uses a cane and is chronically ill after war injury
Parts of Speech: A Disabled Dictionary by Audrey T. Carroll
A nonfiction chapbook focused on chronic pain and illness, fibromyalgia, and disability
Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan
Dark fantasy
Disability and mental illness
Celestial Bodies: The Sun Serpent's Daughter by R.A. Moreau
Fantasy romance
Black heroine
Deaf LI
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