8 Diverse Books I Loved, And 8 That Are On My TBR!

Published on by Rachel

Before I became a part of the bookish community, most of my reads were by straight white authors with likewise leads. Since then, I have become so much more aware due to lots of lovely people who promote diversity on their blogs/ booktube etc.

As an Asian myself, I understand how important it is for different cultures to be shown in books, and it is a different feeling altogether to feel represented. In the last couple of months, more than half of the books I’ve read recently are by Asian authors or have Asian characters so I am proud of how far I’ve come.

Diversity in books can mean a lot of things, but this list shall be focusing on books written by POC authors and/or having POC leads. In the first part of this post, I’ll be showcasing some of my favourite diverse reads with their highlights and in the second part, I’ll be listing diverse books which I’ve not read but are on my TBR!

I hope you have your Goodreads (or wherever you make your tbr list) open and ready, because we are starting now!

(the formatting is off in the Reader, kindly click here to read further!)

Cemetery Boys
💘 spirits (and a certain sweet but possessive, bad boy spirit)
💘 mexican culture
💘 themes of identity and acceptance
💘 fantasy with contemporary feel

The Girl Who Drank The Moon
💘 witchy
💘 whimsical, dreamy writing
💘 magic running wild
💘 multiple third person POVs

Where The Mountain Meets The Moon
💘 talking goldfishes and lion statues
💘 chinese folklore
💘 dragons!
💘 beautiful atmosphere and conclusion

We Hunt The Flame
💘 arabia – inspired fantasy
💘 atmospheric setting and brilliant world-building
💘 subtle found family with lots of banter
💘 morally grey characters

A Clash Of Steel
💘 set in imperial china
💘 pirates! and lost treasure!
💘 strong woman characters
💘 treasure island retelling

How We Fall Apart
💘 majority of the cast is Asian
💘 thrilling murder mystery
💘 set in an elite prep school
💘 secrets and rivalry and revenge

The Reader
💘 secret society
💘 a world where books are banned
💘 deep and meaningful writing
💘 pirate stories!

We Are Not Free
💘 set during WWII
💘 love, life and laughs amidst war
💘 14 POVs
💘 heart wrenching and impactful


Here are 8 diverse books I am yet to read, but will hopefully be picking up soon!

Amari and the Night Brothers (Supernatural Investigations, #1)
These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights, #1)
Jade Fire Gold
A Magic Steeped in Poison (The Book of Tea, #1)
The Gilded Ones (Deathless, #1)
Daughter of the Moon Goddess (The Celestial Kingdom Duology, #1)
Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle #1)
The Bones of Ruin

Have you read any of these? Do you have any more diverse recommendations for me? Let me know in the comments!

~ Rachel

36 thoughts on “8 Diverse Books I Loved, And 8 That Are On My TBR!”

  2. Me too!! To be honest, I didn’t even know something like diversity and representation existed in books until I actively started taking a huge interest in the book community and right now I am just so glad that I did. And I totally agree. Almost half of the books have asian rep or some sort of diversity if not asian. And it just makes me so happy. Cemetery boys is a lovely read!! And I have no words for the girl who drank the moon. It’s otherworldly. I really really hope you enjoy these violent delights. And although I wasn’t a huge fan of the bones of ruin, I hope you enjoy it. Great post!! ✨💜

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    1. Same here! It’s not a topic that is widely discussed here in India, as a result most teens here are unaware of important reps, not only POC but also disability reps etc.
      I think I picked up Cemetery Boys after hearing about it on your blog, so thank you for that haha! Yes I did feel like TGWDTM was pretty slow in the beginning, but it was truly lyrical and beautiful.
      Oh yes I have read mixed reviews of Bones of ruin, I am pretty anxious about picking it up but hopefully I’ll find out soon enough!
      Thank you for reading Ashmita 💙

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  4. I LOVED The Girl Who Drank the Moon, as well as Legendborn. I thought they were really creative well-written stories. Thanks for your list of suggestions. I think Cemetary Boys might be on my list for a fall reading challenge now!

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    1. I have read lots of mixed reviews of Legendborn, so it’s encouraging to hear you liked it haha.
      Yay please do read Cemetery Boys this fall, it is soo good and gives me all the autumn-y vibes too!
      Thank you so much 💕

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    1. I was late to the hype train for We are not free too, so no worries haha (but. You HAVE to read it)
      Yes yes I have heard nothing but amazing things about tvd, I am really excited to read it!!

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  11. Truly diversity is so important and as a fellow Asian, I really resonated with what you said about being represented! These Violent Delights and Jade Fire Gold were two books where I felt seen with my Chinese/Southeast Asian heritage, I hope you’ll enjoy them both despite the massive hype for TVD in particular! Thanks for the recommendations, Rachel! I’m excited to try The Reader out! 💕

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    1. It’s heartening to see so many of us Asians feeling good about the growing diverse reps in books!
      Ahh though I’m not Chinese, ever since I’ve read Where The Mountain Meets the Moon and A Clash Of Steel, I have become a fan of Chinese legends and folklore, and both TVD and Jade Fire Gold seem very promising in this aspect haha!
      Thank you so much for reading Cherelle, hope you enjoy The Reader! 💙

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