But How Are You, Really (2024) Ella Dawson "But How Are You, Really reminds us with humor and grace that growing up isn't something that happens all at once, but sloppily, gradually, beautifully. Dawson has a tender eye for detail, renders Charlotte and her world relatable, heartbreaking shades. A wonderful book that will have you aching for every one of your past selves."
Loneliness & Company (2024) Charlee Dyroff "Dyroff's novel brilliantly uses a futuristic, slightly off-kilter world to highlight the absurdity and pain of our current reality. However, Dyroff's sharp, electric prose and wry humor keep Loneliness & Company from ever feeling weighed down by its circumstances. With her debut, Dyroff has pulled off a truly impressive feat-writing a story about loneliness that isn't so much a cautionary tale, but a tender, heartfelt reminder to value your time on Earth and the people that make your days more than just a sunrise and a sunset. A new and talented writer to watch."
Radiant Heat (2024) Sarah-Jane Collins "Collins writes with incredible pace and precision, knowing exactly when to bring tension to a roiling boil and when to lower it to a suspenseful simmer. Radiant Heat will hook you with its lively prose and thrilling premise, but it's Collins' unflinching portrayal of a woman in grief and rage that'll make it difficult to forget this complex debut."
Rabbit Hole (2024) Kate Brody "From the first line, Brody's novel had its hands around my throat. While Rabbit Hole has the pace and intrigue of a thriller, and brutal and evocative prose, what makes it stand out is its narrator, Brody's refusal to soften her edges or portray her as anything less than a young woman savaged by grief. I followed breathlessly along, both wishing I could stop Teddy's Internet-fueled descent into madness and eagerly awaiting the next dark, delicious corner she'd lead me."
Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind (2023) Molly McGhee "To her debut, McGhee brings a flawless ear for language and a tender hand for character. The world is burning, it's hard to tell dreams from nightmares, but McGhee's novel never crumbles beneath the bleakness of its circumstances. Lively, vacillating between humor and heartbreak at breakneck speeds, Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is the rare novel that truly feels like it could've only been written by a single brilliant mind."
Thoughtless (2023) Lucie Britsch "No one understands the misery and hilarity of being alive better than Lucie Britsch. What makes THOUGHTLESS so special isn't its zany concept, but how Britsch never fears portraying people in their least flattering light, how despite the heavy themes, there is still so much life and energy. Writing like this takes talent and the most tender of hearts."
All-Night Pharmacy (2023) Ruth Madievsky "All-Night Pharmacy is a blackhole, a force so lively, unfiltered, and pure that you won't mind being sucked in headfirst. On a line level, Madievsky is untouchable. Somehow, she has crafted a rough-edged pill of a debut that cuts deep while also being deeply pleasurable to swallow."
Maeve Fly (2023) CJ Leede "Full of glamour and gore, this genre-rejecting debut is unlike any I've ever read."
Dykette (2023) Jenny Fran Davis "Dykette stared directly into my soul, pinned me against a wall, and made me look inward, consider the sharp and ugly parts of myself. A novel that can accomplish that complexity while also being wickedly funny, achingly sensitive, readable as hell--simply put, Jenny Fran Davis is a talent."
Sea Change (2023) Gina Chung "From the first page, Sea Change stole my big weirdo heart. Ro is a narrator whose voice is so lively and distinct that it doesn't matter if you relate to her or her octopus obsession - she is electric and you would be willing to follow her anywhere. With her debut, Chung has proven she is a true original, the rare kind of writer who can be simultaneously witty and deeply sensitive, confident and devastatingly vulnerable."
American Mermaid (2023) Julia Langbein "An absolute weirdo masterpiece. With her debut, Julia Langbein pulls off an impressive tonal tightrope walk that would send a lesser writer stumbling to the ground. American Mermaid manages to be so many things at once - a zany and savage satire about Hollywood, a tale of magical realism, and an aching story about what comes after you achieve your dream, how the depths of your ambition can swallow you whole. This novel is both a pleasure to read and signals the arrival of an exciting new writer to watch."
Your Driver is Waiting (2023) Priya Guns "From page one, this novel had its hands around my neck. A voice that is somehow simultaneously fearless and intensely vulnerable. The only thing slicker than her narrator's driving is Guns's ability to deliver sharp social commentary that will make you unsure of whether you want to laugh or cry. Your Driver Is Waiting is an unhinged joyride - whether you buckle up or not, you're sure to be gripping the edge of your seat."
The Seaplane on Final Approach (2022) Rebecca Rukeyser "Rebecca Rukeyser has crafted a novel that is a kind of anti-coming of age ballad, a celebration of taking the wrong paths in life, the beauty of what mistakes can teach us about ourselves. The Seaplane On Final Approach will bring you to a remote Alaskan island and leave you unsettled, unsure of how to return to the mainland. A debut that will be praised for its darkness and humor, but should be read for its deep sensitivity."
Nuclear Family (2022) Joseph Han "Han will draw you in with his dry, slacker humor, his playful references to weed and Guy Fieri, but he will keep you reading with his heartfelt determination to tell a family saga that holds nothing back. Nuclear Family is about borders, both imposed and self-created, the family history and trauma we try to outrun, what happens when we inevitably fail to. A debut filled with ghosts that manages to still be so very alive."
Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair (2022) June Gervais "Bizarre and charming, June Gervais' debut is beautifully crafted, a coming-of-age story that celebrates the messiness of finding yourself, the pleasure of marching offbeat, the beauty of unknown paths. Gina Mulley is a winning narrator who I both wanted to hug and be tattooed by."
Exalted (2022) Anna Dorn "Exalted is electric, life flowing through every sentence. Moody and modern, Dorn has masterfully crafted characters and voices that make this novel both laugh out loud readable and emotionally complex-- it'll make you feel like shit, but you'll enjoy every moment of it."
The Bartender's Cure (2022) Wesley Straton "A novel that asks you to hold your drink up high and salute all your messy, past selves. The cocktail recipes are good, but the heart in these pages is even greater. A debut from a writer with a poet's eye, who renders Brooklyn neighborhoods and the people that mill through them with extraordinary tenderness."
Teenager (2022) Bud Smith "Teenager won't make you want to be young again, but you may be shocked at what it awakens in you, the feelings and memories of long-buried past selves. Bud Smith asks us to not only remember those past selves, but to handle them gently. A rare novel that manages to be both sharp-edged and deeply romantic, classic yet wholly fresh."
A Novel Obsession (2022) Caitlin Barasch "Somehow simultaneously a high octane page-turner and a heartbreaking character study of a young woman so afraid of being alone, unloved, and uninteresting, that she can't help but leave behind claw marks on everything she grabs hold of. Barasch's genre-bending debut is inventive and electric, signaling the arrival of a bold new voice in fiction."
New Animal (2022) Ella Baxter "New Animal is filled with death and darkness, yet Baxter's prose feels so very alive. A novel that's core is ultimately one of hope, a complex, heartfelt ballad to the strange, sloppy ways we find ourselves growing into the people we were meant to become."
The Four Humors (2021) Mina Seçkin "Soulful and tender, honest, but never cruel. The Four Humors is a debut that doesn't feel like a debut. With the wisdom of a writer beyond her years, Mina Seçkin has crafted a novel that delicately and lyrically explores the body and everything it holds--the blood, phlegm, bile, choler, all the bodily fluids and memories and generational trauma, the joy that we keep moving and breathing despite it--everything that make us the flawed, beautiful humans that we are."
A Touch of Jen (2021) Beth Morgan "Morgan's got swagger. A Touch of Jen will draw you in with its electric rhythm and razor-sharp wit, but it will make you stay with its wild, beating heart. I came for the blood-thirsty monsters, I left moved by Morgan's deep understanding of the day-to-day absurdity and pain of 21st century existence. A banger of a debut and the arrival of a bold new voice in fiction."
