Each month, Debutiful recommends noteworthy debut books for readers to discover.
But the Girl by Jessica Zhan Mei Yu (Unnamed Press; March 5)
What happens when a girl is finally free? Free of the pressures of her family’s hopes and dreams. Free of the expectations of her community. This novel explores that with elegance and grace.
The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft (Bloomsbury; March 5)
The renowned translator and memoirist turns her attention to a novel about eight translators attempting to find a writer who went missing in a Polish forest. Croft has already had a luminous career, and if her Guggenheim Fellowship for this novel is any indication, this novel will be equally as delicious as her translation work.
Victim by Andrew Boryga (Doubleday; March 12)
A sharp and biting satire about the truths and lies we can hide behind in the digital age. The voice of the narration is wickedly perfect and propels this novel with ease. Boryga understands tone, pace, and voice better than most.
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel (Viking; March 12)
Bullwinkel lit the scene on fire with her debut story collection Belly Up and returns with a first novel that is a stone-cold stunner. Using the bustling boxing world as her backdrop, the author examines how our desires and drive can push us to great success but also send us spiraling. It is a sensational sports novel for both those who love sports as well as those who hate sports.
Green Frog by Gina Chung (Vintage; March 12)
Chung’s debut book was a Best Debut of 2023. Like her novel, her collection touches upon animals but also explores human bodies, womanhood, and survival. Fans of her novel should be ready for an amazing experience equal to Sea Change.
These Letters End in Tears by Musih Tedji Xaviere (Catapult; March 12)
This is a gut punch of a novel. Every now and then one story will consume every part of you and this will do it. Set in Cameroon where being queer is punishable by law, readers meet a Christian girl and a Muslim girl. One goes missing and their love never blossoms. Years later, passion is reignited in a beautiful and wrenching story.
Wrong Is Not My Name: Notes on (Black) Art by Erica N. Cardwell (Feminist Press; March 12)
Cardwell’s book is a meditative story that is part memoir, part criticism that is reminiscent of The Third Rainbow Girl. No, there is no true crime hook, but Cardwell balances introspective musings with larger, eye-opening explorations into our society. It’s mesmerizing.
A Small Apocalypse by Laura Chow Reeve (Northwestern University Press; March 15)
Laura Chow Reeve has been on Debutiful’s radar ever since she was a winner of the Pen/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers before Debutiful was even born. Her stories are astonishing and delightful.
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (Mariner; March 19)
Annie Bot is meant to be the perfect girlfriend. She’s also a robot. Greer’s debut is one hell of a banger. It boldly explores sex, autonomy, relationships, and technology like no other book has tried to do. It’s the kind of book you will hand your friends and just say, “trust me.”
Fervor by Toby Lloyd (Avid Read; March 19)
A close-knit family suspects they have a witch among them. Tinged with horror, this is a fresh take on the family drama with unexpected twists and turns.
Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad by Damilare Kuku (HarperVia; March 19)
Kuku is going to take America by storm in 2024 with this riotous and raunchy debut story collection followed up by a first novel titled Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow later in July. It’s a one-two punch that will knock you out.
Worry by Alexandra Tanner (Scribner; March 26)
The voice! The tone! The humor! Tanner woos with wonderful writing from the first to the last page. It follows two twenty-something siblings in a darkly funny existential crisis. Tanner deftly explores adult sibling friendship like I’ve never seen on the page. Worry could very well be the Great Millennial Novel.
Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura (Celadon; March 26)
Told through two narratives – one in the present day and another a letter between two characters – Villarreal-Moura puts gender, race, and class under the microscope. It is an examination of our society and the power people have within it due to their status.
All the World Beside by Garrard Conley (Riverhead; March 26)
Conley’s memoir has been seared in my brain ever since I read it. He has turned his attention to a novel set in Puritanical America told with a unique blend of a current cultural lens of desire focused on two men who fall in love.
The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang (Mira; March 26)
Billed as a romantasy, this book blends Chinese folklore, romance, magic, and history to create a masterful page-turner. Huang’s book has been recommended to me by an indie bookstore buyer weekly for months and I couldn’t put it down when I finally read it. A must read for people who like genre-bending epics.
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