Reviews, articles and excerpts of exceptional debut books and debut novels

Debuts

Recommended books found: 1,188

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Alien Earths

The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos

by Lisa Kaltenegger

Hardcover: Apr 2024 | Paperback: Dec 2025

Critics' Consensus:

Riveting and timely, a look at the research that is transforming our understanding of the cosmos in the quest to discover whether we are alone.

Saints of the Household

by Ari Tison

Hardcover: Mar 2023 | Paperback: Nov 2025

Critics' Consensus:

Saints of the Household is a haunting contemporary YA about an act of violence in a small-town - beautifully told by a debut Indigenous Costa Rican-American writer - that will take your breath away.

Before the Mango Ripens

by Afabwaje Kurian

Hardcover: Sep 2024 | Paperback: Oct 2025

Critics' Consensus:

Set against the backdrop of 1970s Nigeria teetering between post-colonial dependency and self-rule, Before the Mango Ripens examines the enduring themes of faith, disillusionment, and the search for belonging. Both epic and intimate, Afabwaje Kurian'...

Bright Objects

by Ruby Todd

Hardcover: Jul 2024 | Paperback: Oct 2025

Critics' Consensus:

A young widow grapples with the arrival of a once-in-a-lifetime comet and its tumultuous consequences, in a debut novel that blends mystery, astronomy, and romance, perfect for fans of Emma Cline's The Girls and Ottessa Moshfegh's Death in Her Hands....

Sky Full of Elephants

A Novel

by Cebo Campbell

Hardcover: Sep 2024 | Paperback: Sep 2025

Critics' Consensus:

In a world without white people, what does it mean to be black?

Women's Hotel

A Novel

by Daniel M. Lavery

Hardcover: Oct 2024 | Paperback: Sep 2025

Critics' Consensus:

From the New York Times bestselling author and advice columnist, a poignant and funny debut novel about the residents of a women's hotel in 1960s New York City.

Yr Dead

by Sam Sax

Hardcover: Aug 2024 | Paperback: Sep 2025

Critics' Consensus:

In between the space of time when Ezra lights themself on fire and when Ezra dies the world of this book flashes before their eyes. Everyone Ezra's ever loved, every place they've felt queer and at home, or queer and out of place, reveals itself in ...

The Dark We Know

by Wen-yi Lee

Hardcover: Aug 2024 | Paperback: Jul 2025

Critics' Consensus:

From Gillian Flynn Books, a lyrical young adult horror by debut author Wen-yi Lee that's perfect for fans of She Is a Haunting, Stephen King's IT, and The Haunting of Hill House.

Masquerade

by O.O. Sangoyomi

Hardcover: Jul 2024 | Paperback: Jul 2025

Critics' Consensus:

Set in a wonderfully reimagined 15th century West Africa, Masquerade is a dazzling, lyrical tale exploring the true cost of one woman's fight for freedom and self-discovery, and the lengths she'll go to secure her future.

The Coin

A Novel

by Yasmin Zaher

Hardcover: Jul 2024 | Paperback: Jul 2025

Critics' Consensus:

A bold and unabashed novel about a young Palestinian woman's unraveling as she teaches at a New York City middle school, gets caught up in a scheme reselling Birkin bags, and strives to gain control over her body and mind

There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven

Stories

by Ruben Reyes

Hardcover: Aug 2024 | Paperback: Jul 2025

Critics' Consensus:

An electrifying debut story collection about Central American identity that spans past, present, and future worlds to reveal what happens when your life is no longer your own.

Toward Eternity

A Novel

by Anton Hur

Hardcover: Jul 2024 | Paperback: Jul 2025

Critics' Consensus:

Negotiating the terrain of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun and Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility, a brilliant, haunting speculative novel from a #1 New York Times bestselling translator that sets out to answer the question: What does it ...

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The Hunter's Daughter
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