Queereaders discussion

Hello,

I have been reading A LOT of Chinese web novels and Japanese light novels for the past few years and I have had my fill of it. I want to transition back into American novels, but here is the thing. The themes I really loved in all the CWNs and JLNs I read are stories about reincarnation and transmigration with a heavier emphasis on the latter.

The reincarnation stories I read are basically people (mostly villains) who led a very tragic or miserable end and they end up reincarnating back to their younger selves and start life anew (in a better direction).

Transmigration is when the soul of the main character dies (usually) in their original home world (usually Earth) and reincarnated in a whole new world, parallel universe, ancient past, interstellar era, or in the storybook of the last book the character read. They can either be born anew as a baby or their souls are transplanted into the recently deceased body of the person who 'coincidentally' shared the same name as them (usually).

What I want to ask is if there are any American novels that have these kind of themes that you could recommend to me, especially transmigration novels? If the main characters are gay, that's a big plus.

You made me realize transmigration isn't a trope I see as often in western media. I feel like there was more in the early 2000s but for stories geared towards younger audiences like Coraline or Narnia. I found a list on here of some books that at least have the reincarnation part. Maybe you'll find a few interesting. I haven't read them so I can't give a specific recommendation 😅

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

If anyone has other western books, I'd also love to hear them. Apparently in the west they're called "portal fantasy" if that helps you find other lists. Transmigration is very popular in manhwa too but not done very well so I've been itching for a nicer story. I'm tired of characters being plopped in a new world and suddenly not caring about their home in the slightest lol.