Own Voices Chronic Illness/Disability Rep

Fiction books by disabled authors

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last updated August, 2026

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I didn't know what OwnVoices meant so had to google that up and good to know :) This rec wouldn't fit under the category of fiction, but gonna put it out there incase anyone's interested. A Face for Picasso by Ariel Henley is the author's memoir about her experience with Crouzon's syndrome. The book is quite good so do check it out!

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I intend to also make a nonfiction list by disabled authors, so thank you for including this here!!

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Have you seen Fight + Flight by Jules Machias? It's a great middle grade with a girl navigating being diagnosed with hEDS and a potential romance with a girl with GAD and conservative parents

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I have! I forgot to add that one, but I'm adding it now, thanks for the reminder! I haven't read that one yet, but it's on my TBR

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kinda random but i realized you have maybe the biggest overlap % ive seen since joining here (31). You got taste /hj

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Sick Kids in Love is OwnVoices. ☺️

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Did I NOT include this one 👀 I meant to 😖

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omg you don't know how happy i am to have a disability/CI centered list in the running for a quest. we DESERVE IT!!!! thank u!!

do u/others have any disabled poc recs for me? i haven't gone looking for any bc i didn't think i would have/resonate with any but this list gives me hope and wanna try to find more!!! :)

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Edited

May I suggest Feed by Mira Grant? That's Seanan McGuire's pen name, and she's solidly in the disability community. The dis rep in that book is really great.

I recently read Survival Kit by A.H. Haga, too, which is incredible rep of a very severely ill woman trying to survive a zombie apocalypse (the author shares the dx of the character, my main dx - Myalgic Encephalomyelitis). There's 3 books in the series following people with different disabilities.

And if you're including neurodivergencies, you might like A Kind of Spark by Ellie McNicoll, an autistic author (kids fiction - it also has an incredible BBC adaptation with an autistic actor, if anyone is interested!)

This is a great list and I'm super happy to see it included on the potential quest spreadsheet!

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