Gay people can never flirt normally
Books with obsessive and/or codependent queer relationships (relationship doesn't have to be canon but the vibes™ should be there)
created by curiousmoth
last updated October, 2026
Comments
Open to recommendations!!
Vicious making it to this list is sending me 😭
Victor and Eli aren't fooling anyone
Actually them being on this list is a match made in heaven lmao
I wish they would stop denying their obsession and just kiss already. It's okay, you don't need to do these things, just because you are to shy to accept that.
like!! they're both so smart and yet so dense
I feel very called out by the overlap percentage
Don't be shy, tell me what it is🤭
54% and I recognize basically every book on this list
hahaha we really love our weird little queer stories don't we
As I refer to it to my wife, the "toxic sports cult" series that is All for the Game. The Foxhole Court is book one.
Added!
I love whenever I see this series being mentioned in the wild. Mostly because every single person who reads it will describe it completely differently 😂
I fear we must include God of Fury, Kiss the Villain and Hunt the Villain by Rina Kent. Some unhinged shit going on there
🫡 Should I read them? I hesitate bc I've never vibed with Rina Kent books but I've heard good things about Hunt the Villain
They were hit and miss for me but I think worth a try!!
I've only read God of Fury and Kiss the Villain. They're both 60%+ smut and can be juvenile in the writing but I read it all anyway. Also I plan to read Hunt the Villain so there's something about the books pulling me in. Definitely obsessive boys.
Ah alright. Not very much into smut rn but might read them someday
Lists I think about at least once a week 🙂↕️
This list is gonna be the bane of my existence.
You have CS Pacat's Dark Rise (which I still need to read) but what about The Captive Prince series?
No fucking way I forgot to add that??? Thanks sm for reminding me abt it how could I forget those freaks
they're the best freaks, for sure! it's been a minute since i read them and i still think about them
The Wicker King by K. Ancrum definitely!
Added! It's been on my tbr since forever I need to get to it soon
You shouldddd it's definitely giving this vibe 🥰
Oh god I just finished “The Plans I Have For You” and it deserves to be here.
The way I’d instabadge this as a quest lol
that sounds very interesting👀👀added! (both to this list and my personal tbr🤭)
hell yeah!!🙂↕️🙂↕️
This is officially my favourite list on Pagebound. Three of my My Taste books being on this list is crazy. 😭 Or maybe 3.5 since Icarus, The Corruption of Hollis Brown, and The Wicker King are written by the same author? Honestly, Icarus has his 🤨❓ moments too. 😭
Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know (魔尊也想知道) by Cyan Wings definitely fits the list! Both of them are obsessive in their own way, a true case of freak4freak. 🙂↕️ Yin Hanjiang my beloved obsessed codependent freak ❤️
I also love My Beautiful Man by Yuu Nagira that has the MC explicitly telling the ML that the ML is his god. This was when they were both still in high school which is even crazier. 😭 The ML is also similarly obsessive imo but the MC's freak kinda overshadows his.
aaaa that's such high praise!! i added both of the books you mentioned.
(also- you changed your username!! i didn't recognize you until i saw that quote in your bio lol)
I think you would enjoy Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know! Genuinely such a fun ride. It addresses and touches on a lot of the stereotypes in harem wuxia webnovel in a really nice way too.
(Yeah I changed it a few days ago XD Was previously using my name but it felt kinda awkward so I’m trying new username!!)
Open to recommendations, you say? 👀
Canon— it happens on page
An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson. It’s a dark academia Carmilla retelling, what more needs to be said?
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller feels as though it puts the word co-dependent to shame imo. They really cannot live or die without each other.
Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas has the biggest missed opportunity with Damon and Will you will ever read about. Everything is right there, and yet. While we’re at it, Nightfall also suffers from the same thing with Emery and Alex. This author just wanted to piss me off.
Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson because… yeah. You’ll know if you read it.
(Non-)Canon— it happens off page, I say as they drag me away screaming
If you squint while reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein and Henry Clerval fit this description in a ‘they were intimate friends, but don’t read too much into it because this was written when they could still be stoned for it’ kind of way. Alternatively, Frankenstein needs his emotional support Clerval.
Babel by R. F. Kuang because Robin and Ramy were real to me. If one more person tells they were platonic soulmates and found family, I am going to crash out.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown. There’s no heterosexual explanation for the dynamic Darrow and Cassius have. ‘You’ve earned an enemy for life’, just say you want an excuse to keep making up reasons to put your hands on him for the rest of your life and move on.
omg so many recs this is so great!!!
i added An Education in Malice, The Song of Achilles, Bloom and Red Rising. About Babel, when I read it i didn't really get the vibe that Robin and Ramy were obsessed with each other or codependent yk?? no doubt they were gay as hell for each other but it's not the type of dynamic i'm looking for. same thing with Frankenstein i feel
That’s completely fair! It’s definitely a lot more reading between the lines for those two with me, but I thought they were worth a mention while I was thinking these all over. Happy to help with the others though and I will absolutely be stalking the rest of this list for future reads 👀
© 2025 Pagebound