Here are 100 books that Conditions of a Heart fans have personally recommended if you like
Conditions of a Heart.
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As a queer, disabled YA author, I focus on writing stories that reflect the complexities of identity, disability, and mental health. I believe every teen who is disabled and/or struggles with mental illness deserves to see themselves represented, but I’m also passionate about stories that allow able-bodied readers to gain insight into new perspectives. These book recommendations showcase diverse voices and highlight a disabled experience, and I hope books like these will foster a new generation that values inclusivity and representation. Happy reading!
I think the body horror and cosmic horror are wonderfully done, but the heartwarming moments between the queer, the disabled cast are the cherry on top!
This apocalyptic story cleverly challenges the treatment and expectations of disabled and neurodivergent folks during disasters. The protagonist has epilepsy and migraines, and I was immersed by the vivid depictions that emphasize how his disabilities affect him.
A YA unbury-your-gays horror in which an undead teen must find the boy he loves before he loses his mind and body.
Five years ago, a parasite poisoned the water of Ian’s West Virginia hometown, turning dozens of locals into dark-eyed, oil-dripping shells of their former selves. With chronic migraines and seizures limiting his physical abilities, Ian relies on his best friend and secret love Eric to mercy-kill any infected people they come across.
Until a new health report about the contamination triggers a mandatory government evacuation, and Ian cracks his head in the rush. Used to hospitals and health…
Secrets, lies, and second chances are served up beneath the stars in this moving novel by the bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends. Think White Lotus meets Virgin River set at a picturesque mountain inn.
Seven days in summer. Eight lives forever changed. The stage is…
As a queer, disabled YA author, I focus on writing stories that reflect the complexities of identity, disability, and mental health. I believe every teen who is disabled and/or struggles with mental illness deserves to see themselves represented, but I’m also passionate about stories that allow able-bodied readers to gain insight into new perspectives. These book recommendations showcase diverse voices and highlight a disabled experience, and I hope books like these will foster a new generation that values inclusivity and representation. Happy reading!
I was absolutely hooked by the theme of chaotic teenage girldom and hilariously relatable characters, but the thoughtful discussions centering on disability and identity were simply fabulous!
I greatly enjoyed the portrayal of universal feelings of youth—confusion, longing for adventure, and a quest for meaning. The protagonist, who is autistic and Palestinian, highlights representation the world desperately needs more of.
A contemporary teen romance novel, now available in paperback, featuring a Palestinian-Canadian girl trying to hide her autism diagnosis while navigating her first year of high school, for fans of Jenny Han and Samira Ahmed.
Fifteen-year-old Jessie, a quirky loner obsessed with the nineties, is diagnosed as autistic just weeks before starting high school. Determined to make a fresh start and keep her diagnosis a secret, Jessie creates a list of goals that range from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical first kiss and landing a spot in the school play. Within the halls of Holy Trinity High,…
I’ve loved all things spooky and scary ever since stealing my first Stephen King from my mom’s bookshelf (I was eleven—it was the first of many.) I now primarily write mysteries, thrillers, and horror for young adults. At the same time, I consider myself to be a massive nerd. I’m super into video games, comic books, all things horror, puzzles, cosplay, and the list goes on eternally. The combination of the two means that I’m especially passionate about thrilling fiction that also feels relatable to me as someone who is terrified by things like social interactions and internet creepypasta.
It's one of the greatest “be gay, solve crimes” books around! I love how the core murder mystery is not only exciting to uncover but hilarious as well (very Scooby Doo vibes).
While high-schooler Bianca chases down a bird-masked killer and has a relatable gender identity crisis to go along with it, I found myself geeking out over the punny humor, clever puzzles, bird-watching lore, anime references, and so much more.
Murder most fowl? In this sardonic and campy YA thriller, an anxious, introverted nonbinary teen birder somehow finds themself investigating a murder with their neighbor/fellow anime lover, all while falling for a cute girl from their birding group...and trying not to get killed next.
Sixteen-year-old Bianca Torre is an avid birder undergoing a gender identity crisis and grappling with an ever-growing list of fears. Some, like Fear #6: Initiating Conversation, keep them constrained, forcing them to watch birds from the telescope in their bedroom. And, occasionally, their neighbors. When their gaze wanders to one particular window across the street, Bianca…
She’s hiding from pain. He’s lost everything but his dog. When fresh air and second chances bring them together, can they rediscover true love?
If you enjoy kind-hearted heroes, small towns, and more humor than heat, you’ll adore this contemporary Alaskan romance! A Darling Handyman is the feel-good first book…
As a queer, disabled YA author, I focus on writing stories that reflect the complexities of identity, disability, and mental health. I believe every teen who is disabled and/or struggles with mental illness deserves to see themselves represented, but I’m also passionate about stories that allow able-bodied readers to gain insight into new perspectives. These book recommendations showcase diverse voices and highlight a disabled experience, and I hope books like these will foster a new generation that values inclusivity and representation. Happy reading!
I was deeply moved by this poetic in-verse novel that compassionately addresses harsh realities like coping with mounting stress and being a Black teen in America.
I felt a strong connection to the characters, who were well-developed and authentic, particularly the protagonist grappling with agoraphobia. The conversations about mental health were a nuanced and vulnerable exploration of expectations imposed on Black people dealing with mental health challenges.
I'm safe here. That's how Sadie feels in her girlfriend's arms on a perfect Summer day. But then her girlfriend suddenly breaks up with Sadie. Moments later, she witnesses a scene of police brutality, which upends what now feels like a mirage of security.
I'm not safe anywhere. That's how Sadie feels every day after. So she retreats to her house. Her therapist gives her suffocating isolation a name-agoraphobia. Meanwhile, Sadie's best friend Evan updates her on the protests taking place outside. Sadie wants to be a part of it. But she can't. Or can she?
Growing up as a fat kid, I hardly ever saw myself reflected in the media I consumed. If I did, it was by someone relegated to the side character status as the funny fat friend or the cautionary tale. Now, it’s my great joy to spread the word about books that put fat people in the spotlight—living our best lives, falling in love, and just having our much-deserved Main Character Moments.
I love this book because, in true Crystal Maldonado fashion, it’s funny and heartfelt and full of immaculate vibes AND tackles big topics like fatphobia and living with chronic illness in frank, relatable ways.
Whit leaps off the page and felt instantly recognizable to me as a fat person who has been there. And then there’s the absolutely swoony romance—I was hooked right away!
Could you plan the Fall Formal with your (hot) nemesis? Whit Rivera is about to find out.
Frenemies Whit and Zay have been at odds for years (ever since he broke up with her in, like, the most embarrassing way imaginable), so when they’re forced to organize the fall formal together, it's a literal disaster. Sparks fly as Whitney—type-A, passionate, a perfectionist, and a certified sweater-weather fanatic—butts heads with Zay, a dry, relaxed skater boy who takes everything in stride. But not all of those sparks are bad. . . .
Has their feud been a big misunderstanding all along?…
Maybe it was too much reality TV growing up, especially being raised on figures like Tiffany "New York" Pollard or A Different World's Whitley Gilbert, but bad girl protagonists are insta-buys for me. I love them, and I have a particular fondness for when they're black girls. We're already seen as so angry, but bad girl books show you not only why a girl could get to be so angry but also that you ain't seen nothing yet. I need more people to see how much joy there is in rage, and I chose to explain it with YA horror because it's a genre so driven by catharsis and mood that it's a perfect fit.
This book was Beautiful Gowns but make it horror—and I loved every second of it. While more of a thriller than horror, the kills in this one stick with me like its comparative film, Ready or Not did.
Our main character is the resident bad girl of her private school, and once she's lost everything she worked for, she's not afraid to be the villain for the bag. I love reading about ambitious girls who leave scratch marks behind them, and Adina practically plows through the book, telling everyone, "This is not America's Next Top Best Friend." Not afraid to lie, cheat, or steal your man, I’m still glad she got everything she wanted - especially because she took it for herself.
“A brutally honest and haunting cautionary tale…exposing the lie that is meritocracy and the unrelenting toll that being a final girl takes. A bloody tale spun masterfully…a dark delight.” —Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, New York Times bestselling author of Ace of Spades
A Black teen desperate to regain her Ivy League acceptance enters an elite competition only to discover the stakes aren’t just high, they’re deadly, in this “spine-chilling thriller” (Publishers Weekly).
You must work twice as hard to get half as much.
Adina Walker has known this the entire time she’s been on scholarship at the prestigious Edgewater Academy—a school for…
I love horror, as a writer and a reader, especially books where something or someone is changed. It could be a change to some unknown entity, or to a loved one that the main character knows inside and out. The question remains: what do we do when someone or something comes back to us, but they’re not the same? How do we navigate the unease that comes from an uncomfortable blend of the familiar and unfamiliar? The books in this list left me asking these and many other questions. I hope you enjoy them.
In this book, one of the main characters comes back wrong—early on, too. I really felt for poor Finch, who was saved by something mysterious in the lake after a car crash with her parents. She’s grieving their loss, dealing with her strange new reality, and adjusting to life at boarding school.
Finch’s tie to the mysterious being that saved her made this book hard to put down and added an intriguing element to the story after Finch and her friends let out a monster under their school. I loved the explorations of self-identity and what we value that this book raised.
Two girls, inexplicably linked. An ancient creature rising in the dark. And a town on the verge of being devoured. My Dearest Darkest is a sharp, feminist horror debut, about girls claiming their power, and the price we sometimes pay for wanting. Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student to the ultra-competitive Ulalume Academy... but she's also not what she seems. Months before school started, Finch and her parents got into an accident that should have left her dead at the bottom of the river. But something monstrous, and ancient, and terrifying, wouldn't let her drown. Finch doesn't know why…
I think that most writers throughout time have had a relationship with coffee shops. For myself, the shabbier and more run down, the better. One of the first lessons of creative writing is to pay attention to your surroundings. Notice what people are doing and jot down observations or snippets of things that you have overheard, and coffee shops are the perfect place for that. I have been an expat for years and have found that coffee shops are a place where everyone is equal. A transient place where we come together and stay a while, even if we are just taking time out from sightseeing or revealing deep, dark secrets to our friends.
I loved everything about this book, the cats, the magical realism and the everyday struggles of people, especially the first character who is a writer at a crossroads in her career and struggling, it was very relatable!
This book is about hope and how strange unforeseen forces play a part in our everyday lives, whether we pay attention to them or not. I especially loved the connections made at the end when all the characters are aligned, like the stars and fates that are above us.
HUMANS ARE STARS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, MIZUKI. EVERY ONE OF THEM. The NEXT big read for lovers of BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD set in a cat-run, astrology-themed Kyoto coffee shop
TRANSLATED INTO 20 LANGUAGES #1 STRAITS TIMES BESTSELLER IN SINGAPORE
Heartwarming and magical, THE FULL MOON COFFEE SHOP will remind you that it's never too late to discover your purpose...
Under a glittering full moon, a Kyoto coffee shop with no fixed location or fixed hours appears only where and when it's needed. It is run by talking cats serving the finest teas and coffees, delicious desserts and…
Telescopes, microscopes, computer modeling–these exist because some things are easier to study when you change their shape. That’s how we learned about planets, germs, and the economy. Enlarging, shrinking, and filling in details lets us examine and understand. I think literature can do the same thing with ideas. Asking ‘what if?’ lets us probe things we can’t with our gadgets. Concepts. Hypotheticals. A story that pulls a big idea like taffy? That is a treat. I’ve got five in this dish.
What if our willpower was a commodity? Ok, it kind of already is, right? I spent thousands of hours in a cubicle, having my soul sipped on. But making will semi-tangible and directly transferable got me thinking about the ‘power of self’ in a whole different way, which is only one of the many delights of this novel. There is also a mystery, political struggle, wonderful world-building, and a tense examination of goal orientation.
This is technically a fantasy novel, but labels are like nutritional guidelines. Who’s to say what a serving size is? Who’s to say fantasy can’t be speculative, probing, and–when it comes to human interaction–as real as hardcore sci-fi? Not me. I want a second or third helping of Islington.
At the elite Catenan Academy, where students are prepared as the future leaders of the Hierarchy empire, the curriculum reveals a layered set of mysteries which turn murderous in this new fantasy by bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.
Vis, the adopted son of Magnus Quintus Ulcisor, a prominent senator within the Hierarchy, is trained to enter the famed Catenan Academy to help Ulciscor learn what the hidden agenda is of the remote island academy. Secretly, he also wants Vis to discover what happed to his brother who died at the academy. He's sure the current Principalis of…
I’m passionate about these books and authors because I’m also a disabled author whose debut young adult novel is coming out this year. We formed the 2024 Debuts group in mid-2022, so we’ve been there for each other through many ups and downs along our individual and collective journeys to publication. Our disabilities add another layer of complexity to that, and we’ve found comfort and solidarity in each other. Many of them are friends, and I couldn’t be prouder to share their incredible books with you. As we approach Disability Pride Month, I hope you consider adding a book written by a disabled author to your TBR!
Years ago, before we had books out in the world or even deals to publish them, I once saw Gretchen Schreiber describe her book as The Breakfast Club set in a hospital. I was immediately beyond sold, and since then, I’ve enjoyed watching every step of that book coming into existence.
This novel explores something about chronic illness and disability that I think about often–the way we almost divide ourselves into two people. For Ellie, that’s who she is in the hospital versus who she is outside of it. For me, that’s one person who’s allowed to be sick and one who isn’t.
The Breakfast Club meets Five Feet Apart in this big-hearted novel from debut author Gretchen Schreiber.
Ellie Haycock has always separated her life into sections: Ellie at home and Ellie at the hospital. At home, Ellie is a proud member of her high school’s speech and debate team alongside her best friend and her boyfriend. At the hospital, Ellie has a team of doctors and a mom who won’t stop posting about the details of her illness online. It’s not hard for Ellie to choose which of the two she prefers.
But this latest hospital stay is different. Ellie becomes…
