Read Debutiful’s Best Debut Books of 2024 end-of-year list here.
Debutiful has covered more books than ever before in a six-month period. Coverage for 2024 started almost a year ago when PDFs for books started showing up in my inbox. Narrowing down a list to a handful of titles that I had the pleasure of reading is nearly impossible, but these books are the ones that made me laugh, cry, think, and cringe the most.
Here are the Best Debut Books of 2024 (So Far) in alphabetical order.
Broughtupsy
by Christina Cooke
From the publisher: At once cinematic yet intimate, Broughtupsy is an enthralling debut novel about a young Jamaican woman grappling with grief as she discovers her family, her home, is always just out of reach.
Stories about siblings will always be near and dear to my heart. Getting the complicated relationship of friends, enemies, confidants, polar opposites that all encompass what it means to be a sibling is so hard to do and Cooke got every aspect right of the sisters that grace these pages. When I first read Broughtupsy I was enamored by how she portrayed grief, but the more I think about it, the more I think about my relationship with my sister. I just can’t believe Cooke created such lively sisters on top of all of the magic she pulled off in this book.
From the publisher: A staggering, tender epic about gay men in rural China and the women who marry them.
How Tang plays with time to explore queerness and love is truly exceptional. Throughout this novel, you feel tenderness on every page. It’s about love, but it’s also about understanding. I went into Tang’s novel thinking it would take my emotions to one place, but what I discovered was a world of wonder. He took so much care with the relationships and allowed them to be filled with such empathy. Reading this book made me feel so warm.
City of Laughter
by Temim Fruchter
From the publisher: A rich and riveting debut spanning four generations of Eastern European Jewish women bound by blood, half-hidden secrets, and the fantastical visitation of a shapeshifting stranger over the course of 100 years
A lot of reviews for Fruchter’s debut called it ambitious, and by golly it is. It’s also perfectly done. So rare do multiple timelines that span generations all feel cooked to the right temperature. It’s easy for novels to drag when you as a reader want to get back to another character. There’s not a single page I felt like that wasted. Fruchter does everything possible with every single word.
Listen to the author read from their debut: Apple | Spotify
I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both
by Mariah Stovall
From the publisher: Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise meets Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity in a Black woman’s coming-of-age story, chronicling a life-changing friendship, the interplay between music fandom and identity, and the slipperiness of sanity
I was an emo kid in high school. On the fringes of the hardcore punk scene. This book brought me home. An ode to music, but, just as importantly, it’s an ode to friendship. Messy, loving, friendship. The best way I can describe this book to someone is you found an old burned CD of your favorite hits and called up your friend you haven’t spoken to in years and instantly everything clicks. It feels so earnest and I loved every moment I spent in this world.
From the publisher: In this beguiling collection of twelve imaginative stories set in Lagos, Nigeria, ‘Pemi Aguda dramatizes the tension between our yearning to be individuals and the ways we are haunted by what came before.
Aguda’s stories are breathtaking. This collection moves readers through Lagos with interesting hooks and even more interesting structure. Aguda has such a masterful grasp on bringing readers into these worlds and letting them fumble around with the characters before shining a light to reveal the a ha moment of it all. I loved exploring Lagos with her.
Hombrecito
by Santiago Jose Sanchez
From the publisher: A novel by a brilliant new voice, Hombrecito is a queer coming-of-age story about a young immigrant’s complex relationships with his mother and his motherland
This is a book about a character finding themself. It’s also a book that you can find yourself in regardless of who you are as a reader. They poetically explore immigration, sexuality, and family with prose that is so stunning. It’s a book that will take you on an emotional roller coaster while you underline sentences upon sentences to note how beautiful they are.
Housemates
by Emma Copley Eisenberg
From the publisher: Two young housemates embark on a road trip to discover themselves in this “beautiful novel about art, community and connection” (Rachel Khong) in a fractured America, by the award-winning author of The Third Rainbow Girl
Art, friendship, love, community. This is a love letter to all of those things and more. I fell in love with Eisenberg’s writing when her debut nonfiction book was released and this debut novel was something I was eagerly waiting for. The tenderness and rich language I expected was there… and more. Knowing how brilliant Eisenberg can tackle numerous subjects and connect them seamlessly in nonfiction, it was an amazing feeling to go page after page shouting “THIS IS BRILLIANT” and sincerely mean it.
From the publisher: In this debut collection, Puloma Ghosh spins tales of creatures and gore to explore grief, sexuality, and bodily autonomy. Embracing the bizarre and absurd, Mouth stretches reality to reach for truth.
If you’ve listened to the Debutiful podcast you’ve heard me gush about how short story collections need to be read far and wide. They shouldn’t be an afterthought to a novel. Ghosh’s collection is one of my top ten books since I started the website in 2019. I was blown away by these stories’ imagination, boldness, and execution. I can’t imagine my life before reading these stories. They feel like instant classics.
From the publisher: A coming-of-age comedy. A telenovela-worthy drama. A moving family saga. All in a phone call you won’t want to hang up on.
The voice! I loved how Mogollon crafted such a memorable narrator and let readers feel they were being told a story from a friend who has the ultimate gift of gab. I found myself frantically turning pages to spend more time with Luciana. She was my best friend for over 300 pages and I still find myself wanting to shoot her a text. It was so funny and sincere even in the darkest of moments. If you need to laugh at the highs and lows of life, this is something you should have on your nightstand right now.
A Small Apocalypse
by Laura Chow Reeve
From the publisher: A gorgeously wrought exploration of what it means to exist in the in-between.
These stories answer the question of what it means to not fit in and how to be okay with yourself. All of the stories bring in memorable characters and their communities to explore otherness. The sticky Florida settings come to life through gorgeous language and poignant dialogue.
The Storm We Made
by Vanessa Chan
From the publisher: In this spellbinding novel, an ordinary housewife becomes an unlikely spy–and her dark secrets will test even the most unbreakable ties.
There is a reason this book was the first big bestseller of 2024. It takes a popular time period for historical fiction and offers something new. Not only that, but it does it damn well. I learned so much while reading this, but also felt so moved. It reminded me of when I first read American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson for the first time. It felt familiar, but it opened a box I never knew could exist in this type of book. It sweeps through time and place effortlessly and feels like a truly cinematic book ripe with luscious imagery.
From the publisher: There’s a fine line between bending the truth and telling bold-faced lies, and Javier Perez is willing to cross it. Victim is a fearless satire about a hustler from the Bronx who sees through the veneer of diversity initiatives and decides to cash in on the odd currency of identity.
This is such a sharp and biting satire that feels so good it hurts. Diversity, media, victimhood. Nothing is safe in Boryga’s novel. He turns a hustler lying about everything and provides truth and clarity into how we view culture. It seems cynical but Boryga delivers a message with a lot of heart. My favorite part about discovering this novel was going back and reading Boryga’s journalism. A truly brilliant writer is among us.
We Were the Universe
by Kimberly King Parsons
From the publisher: A young mother, in denial after the death of her sister, navigates the dizzying landscapes of desire, guilt, and grief in this darkly comic, highly anticipated debut novel from Kimberly King Parsons, author of the story collection, Black Light (long-listed for the National Book Award).
I will follow Kimberly King Parsons into the abyss. Where she leads, I will follow. Her story collection from 2019 is an all-timer and now her debut novel about a horny mother and psychedelics solidifies her as one of the greatest writers working right now. I just can’t imagine anyone trying to write this novel except her. She is a voice and mind I need as often as possible. KKP, when is book three?
Women and Children First
by Alina Grabowski
From the publisher: A gripping literary puzzle that unwinds the private lives of ten women as they confront tragedy in a small Massachusetts town.
I love non-mystery mystery novels. Don’t think of this as a whodunnit. Sure, there’s a death, but that is on the peripheral of the chorus of voices that narrate the grief caused by a singular act that will not define them or their town. The master one narrator is a challenge within itself, but to have ten perfectly complex and unique voices was awe-inspiring.
Women! In! Peril!
by Jessie Ren Marshall
From the publisher: Full of wry humor, sharp social commentary, and an irrepressible sense of hope, a ferociously feminist debut short story collection from award-winning playwright Jessie Ren Marshall.
These stories do whatever they want. There are no rules in Marshall’s debut as she bounces from space stations to dance class. The collection is equally humorous and thought-provoking while it explores complex topics with ease. These stories are a breath of fresh air.
From the publisher: A “dryly witty” (New Yorker) and “fabulously revealing” (The New York Times Book Review) debut about two siblings-turned-roommates navigating an absurd world on the verge of calamity–a Seinfeldian novel of existentialism and sisterhood.
This list started with sisters and it will end with sisters. Tanner’s wry humor leans into the absurdity of being a Millennial where you’re just trying to figure yourself out while the world around you is in chaos. This novel made me laugh so much that it hurt because of the astute observations Tanner makes throughout. If you’re “not where you’re supposed to be” in life, this will make you feel right at home.
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