2025 Round Up: Favourite Debut Fiction

Resolve to read new authors. In 2025, these authors debuted with their first novels.

Updated January 9, 2026
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33 Place Brugmann
Austen, Alice
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Alice Austen uses her considerable gifts to remind us that the past and the present are more connected than we wish to believe, and that vigilance, loyalty and art hold the key to survival. This is a beautiful and deeply engaging novel." -- Ann Patchett, #1...
Birth of a dynasty : a novel
Bado, Chinaza
Paper Book
Combining the political intrigue of She Who Became the Sun with the gorgeous world-building of Children of Blood and Bone, Birth of a Dynasty is the start of a thrilling epic fantasy trilogy centered around three families' fight for power in Ahkebulin, a land where magic...
He's To Die For
Dunn, Erin.
Paper Book
At 29, Detective Rav Trivedi is the youngest member of the NYPD's homicide squad, and his future looks bright. He may be a bit of an outsider in the department - with his Ivy League education, British charm and penchant for designer suits - but his meteoric rise and record-breaking solve rate prove...
The three lives of Cate Kay
Fagan, Kate (Sports writer)
Paper Book
REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK | NATIONAL BESTSELLER Named a Best Book of 2025 by Time, NPR, Goodreads, and others. "[A] propulsive puzzle of a novel." --The New York Times Book Review "This story swept me away with its big...
Palm Meridian : a novel
Flahive, Grace
Paper Book
"A riotous novel about a farewell party that celebrates all of life's emotions--big and small--while marking the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction." --Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants A rollicking, big-hearted story of...
Silver elite
Francis, Dani
Ebook
Great Black Hope
Franklin, Rob.
Paper Book
'A beautifully expansive novel about race and class... Franklin's emotional and intellectual range is vast... An exceptional debut' - Katie Kitamura, author of Intimacies 'So smart, so moving, so earned; as soon as I finished, I started reading it again' - Kaveh...
The list of suspicious things
Godfrey, Jennie
Paper Book
***THE NUMBER 3 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*** HAPPY PLACE BOOK CLUB FOR APRIL A BEST DEBUT OF 2024 BY BBC, RED, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'Such a fresh and interesting voice. You'll cry and you won't be able to stop reading' ...
The White Hot
Hudes, Quiara Alegria
Paper Book
The story of a runaway mother's ten days of freedom--and the pain, desire, longing, and wonder we find on the messy road to enlightenment--from Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes. "The White Hot has the effect of pressing your hand to a barbed live wire. April's is one...
The names : a novel
Knapp, Florence
Paper Book
THE YEAR'S BREAKOUT NOVEL AND WORD-OF-MOUTH HIT--A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND READ WITH JENNA PICK "Dazzling. . . Knapp tirelessly and beautifully replicates not just loss and grief but endless rebirth and delight." --The Washington Post "Elegant. . ....
These Memories Do Not Belong to Us : A Constellation Novel
Ma, Yiming
Paper Book
"Ma's brilliantly inventive These Memories Do Not Belong to Us weaves worlds around a central question: What happens when technology enables a totalitarian government to break into the last private frontiers of the internal mind? Chilling, poignant, and uncomfortably timely, Ma's braided memory...
The Maiden and Her Monster
Martinez, Maddie.
Paper Book
The forest eats the girls who wander out after dark . . .An atmospheric dark fantasy rooted in fairytales, folklore, and sapphic romance. The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez is perfect for fans of Katherine Arden, Ava Reid, and Naomi Novik.As the healer's daughter, Malka has seen how the...
Aunt Tigress
Qin, Emily Yu-Hsuan
Paper Book
From debut author Emily Yu-Xuan Qin comes a snarky urban fantasy novel inspired by Chinese and First Nation mythology and bursting with wit, compelling characters, and LGBTQIA+ representation Readers of Seanan McGuire, Ilona Andrews, and Ben Aaronovitch will devour this gory story...
To the Moon and back : a novel
Ramage, Eliana
Paper Book
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK: "A breathtaking debut about family, identity, and love across generations." --REESE WITHERSPOON "Eliana Ramage will break your heart and take you to the stars. From painfully accurate depictions of adolescence to effortless jumps through time...
Finding grace
Rothschild, Loretta
Paper Book
'Shocking, stylish, elegant, and twisting. A truly stunning debut' Chris Whitaker, NYT bestselling author of All the Colours of the Dark 'One of the best books I've read this year' Jodi Picoult SHE THOUGHT IT WAS FATE. I KNEW IT WASN'T.<...
Kill the Beast
Swift, Serra.
Paper Book
Maggie; or, a man and a woman walk into a bar
Yee, Katie
Paper Book
A New York Times Notable Book. One of Time's 100 Must-Read Book of 2025. Summer's Best Beach Reads by The New York Times * Books You Should Read This July by New York magazine * Books We're Most Excited About by Today * Best Beach...
Julie chan is dead
Zhang, Liann.
Ebook

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