My parents are very strict when it comes to what I can and can’t read so I’m really struggling to find something that I will be able to read and also enjoy. Their rules are no lgbtq+ characters, themes, etc, no excessive violence, and no excessive sexual scenes. My favourite genres fantasy and fiction, but I’ve also been enjoying some literary fiction recently. Recently I’ve enjoyed Song of Achilles, Sunrise on the Reaping, and The Only One Left. I will add that all those books have stuff my parents wouldn’t approve of, and I or my friends have bought them for me. Their main rule they really have a problem with is anything lgbtq+
by Microwaved_Potpie
23 Comments
How did you get song of Achilles past them??? Or did you keep it at school?
You might like the Emily Wilde series by Heather Kassner? There’s like a side lesbian couple that can probably sneak by your parents and there’s very minimal sex in the third book, but it’s fade to black
The Earthsea books, Ursula K LeGuin (all six)
The Disposessed, Ursula K LeGuin
Lathe of Heaven, Ursula K LeGuin
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin
The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
Discworld, Terry Pratchett. Start with Wyrd Sisters, Guards! Guards! or Going Postal
Try Watership Down, The Outsiders, and West With the Night.
These are older books but I doubt your parents would disapprove.
How old are you?
Welp, that cuts out most of Shakespeare…
woof. im sorry op, i have no suggestions but you are going to have SO much fun exploring fun books when you get out of their house
Going a little older for the fantasy: Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword are great fantasy novels, not excessively violent/sexy and since they’re older, no explicitly queer characters. Patricia McKillip is also great for this: try The Book of Atrix Wolfe or the Riddlemaster trilogy. If you liked Song of Achilles and are getting into lit fic, Theodor Kallifatides The Fall of Troy is a beautiful novel about a teacher in Nazi occupied Greece retelling the Iliad to her students.
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Project Hail Mary
The Dead Romantics (slight romantic element, but no actual sex, fiction with paranormal element)
Remarkably Bright Creatures
If you liked the Hunger Fames series maybe try the Scythe series.
There’s quite a bit of classic YA fantasy you might enjoy. Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising Sequence Is an example.
Brandon Sanderson’s work would meet the standard, as would Brandon Mull’s.
Adventurers Wanted by ML Foreman is also good.
More about you would help: gender, age, other tastes.
For example, most science fiction doesn’t have any explicit sex, particularly older stuff. Same for military historical fiction.
This might fit your needs: Patrick O’Brian’s Master & Commander series is very old school. Imagine Jane Austen had written a Regency era mismatched navy buddies swashbuckler and you start to get close. 20 books of dry humor, eccentric characters, birdwatching, heavy drinking, furious battles, primitive surgery, drawing room banter, violin & cello duets, espionage, and scenic global travel from Halifax to Batavia. Plus so many artery destroying meals that a couple of superfans created a cookbook accompaniment to the series.
Song of Achilles, eh? Good for you!
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik.
The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan.
A College of Magics and A Scholar of Magics by Caroline Stevermer.
The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein.
If you can get away with Achilles, you can probably get away with these, which have either incidental LGBTQ characters or it’s off stage:
Murderbot. There are some LGBQT+ characters but their relationships aren’t central to the plot. There is a lot of violence but absolutely no sex. Murderbot is not interested in sex. Murderbot wants to watch its soap operas. The first book is All Systems Red by Martha Wells.
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. Also al the rest of the World of the Five Gods books.
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.
Wise Child and Juniper by Monica Frulong are some of my favorites.
I also love the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede
All Books by James Herriot – sweet real life stories about a vet in 1930s Scotland/England
Enders game series
Agatha Christie books
Brandon Sanderson books are written by a practicing mormon so no sex no lgbtq+ but there are fight scenes and it is has massive world building.
Smuggle in forbidden themes in “the classics.” Read The Illiad, Jack London, or All Quiet on the Western Front if you’re looking for violence. Read Judy Blume (even if you’re a little older, they’re still worth it) for sane and informative and actually realistic sex scenes. For queerness, The Illiad, plus: Carmilla and Count of Monte Cristo are both Sapphic, James Baldwin is a classic Harlem Renaissance author who was very gay and not shy about it, and Oscar Wilde…Oscar Wilde.
I grew up in a small evangelical town and agree with everyone else, hang in there, there is a whole world of books (and everything else!) waiting for you.
That said… I grew up in the 80s and back then there were vanishingly few LGBTQ characters in fantasy and scifi, not that much excessive violence, and compared to today not that much in terms of sex either. Maybe looking at some older books might let you read some great books while meeting your parents requirements?
I mean, Ray Bradbury is going to pass the test (The Martian Chronicles is great) as is Harry Harrison’s Deathworld books (so much fun!) and also Ursula LeGuin— The Lathe of Heaven actually meets your parents’ requirements but is quietly revolutionary in a way that might please you. Rocannon’s World, The Word for World is Forest, Earthsea… LeGuin wrote great stuff
In fantasy, the Shannara trilogy was a big deal back in the 80s, although the first book owes so, so much to Tolkien.
Roger Zelazny was a writer I adored at your age, the five Chronicles of Amber are great fantasy books that meet your parents requirements, no swearing either. His scifi is really good too.
Patricia McKillip is one of my favorite fantasy authors and even though she is a late 90s/21st century writer she meets your parents standards. (Now I’m frowning, can she really not have any LGBTQ characters? I can’t think of any.)
In modern terms, Adrian Tchaikovsky is publishing right now and he actually meets those standards a lot of the time. His Children of Time series has no sex and I wouldn’t say excessive violence at all, Shroud is fantastic and again meets their standards (two main character to spend the whole book on able to see each other).
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher
If you liked Song of Achilles, you might enjoy Circe by the same author. If you enjoy retellings of Greek mythology, I would recommend Spin by Rebecca Caprara (main character is LGBTQ, but it’s relatively down low).
You can always ask a librarian (public or at school) for recommendations! I hope your parents don’t squash your love for reading, and soon enough you’ll have the freedom to read whatever you want.
Have you read the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander? It’s aimed at younger readers, perhaps, than the books you mentioned recently enjoying, but it’s such a rich fantasy world, it might be worth giving a try regardless. (I still reread them from time to time!)
You should definitely be reading all the stuff they tell you not to
I’m assuming that you are a teen. T Kingfisher might be somebody you enjoy. I would recommend her books based on fairy tales like A Sorceress Comes to Call, Nettle and Bone (or if you want something darker, The Seventh Bride). This way you can have more mature themes but in a context your parents might not object to.
Kate Stradling is another option. I really enjoyed her latest, called Yes, Your Serpentine Excellency, and “cute” is a difficult category for me to enjoy wholeheartedly. For less cute, I recommend The Legendary Inge. That could have more violence than desired though.
There are actually lots of options I can come up with that follow these rules, so you’ll need to give more constraints if you want more specific recs. Unless you are asking how to sneak some LGBTQ content past them while attempting to respect their other constraints? The Tea Princess Chronicles by Casey Blair could work for that.
ETA: if I was going to recommend something I believe you will enjoy based on your comment, LGBTQ content and all, I would recommend the Gatekeeper series by Layla Lawlor.
Do your parents look up the description of every book before you read it? Thankfully there are many books containing those “banned” subjects that have very neutral covers
– The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
– We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Raven Boys is LGBTQ but it’s not mentioned in the description and doesnt actually show up until the 3rd book if you wanna try to be sneaky 👀
There is religious smut books in libraries. Found one as a teen. So look in that direction too