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75 Debut Novels to Discover in 2021
Readers have a lot to look forward to this year! Just feast your eyes upon all of these debut books to check out and emerging authors to discover. Browse through this list to find the perfect novel for any sort of reading mood, with genres including literary fiction, historical fiction, mystery, science fiction, and more.
It may be too soon to tell which of these books are about to become breakout hits and which authors will become household names, but we bet that you'll be hearing about this year's class of new authors for many years to come. Oh, for the purpose of this article, we are defining a debut author as a writer publishing their first novel for adults.
Scroll over the book covers to learn more about each novel, and be sure to add the books that pique your interest to your Want to Read shelf!
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Which debut novels are you excited to read? Let us know in the comments below!
Check out more recent articles:
36 of the Most Anticipated Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021
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Check out more recent articles:
36 of the Most Anticipated Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021
45 of the Most Anticipated Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels of 2021
Meet 33 of 2021's Hottest Romances
Comments Showing 1-50 of 50 (50 new)
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Rebecca Hardiman's Good Eggs will DELIGHT!!!! a must read and a page turner !
The Prophet sounds like the sort of book you'll want to return to on multiple occasions.
Shadow Copy Exit Darkness and Shadow Copy Enter Light by Michele and Ryan Leathers !!! This series is full of suspense and action. I couldn't put it down. Everything you want in a YA book. Its a good fun read but also has an element of ethical dilemma for the deeper thinker. If you were dying and could switch bodies, would you? Where do the donor bodies come from? Fresh story line, great distinct characters, no vanilla here. Read it!
Dial A for aunties I can't wait to get my hands on this book
Why s0 few male novelists. Diversity, anyone?
i love anything local like small towns, whether set in this country or foreign
This list needs to add The Last White Flag by Bob Cartmill to it! It’s a historical fiction about the founding and colonization of Australia. It’s so great! Too many historical fictions are associated with the World Wars, the Civil War, or English Monarchy. I love that this one is so different and it’s something I haven’t read before. Y’all should give it a read!!
The only one I'm interesting in reading is "Becoming Leidah". The rest all seem sad and tired.
Some great looking stuff here, would love to see "Paper Father" included. Early reviews have been encouraging.
I actually just read it, but when you ask what books we're excited to read, others are surely great, but this is the book I'm excited to read (again). 
While reading, I wondered: What am I ‘becoming’ as I read? Will I ever-after be more alive than I’ve ever been? In the end, some of that excitement was lost - replaced with something deeper.
How many dimensions of literary delight exist? I think I experienced all here: surprise after surprise - micro to macro - subtle yet electrifying.
Both innocence and experience are in full bloom. Not just a fantasy, it’s very grounded in reality. Magical realism with an emphasis on both magical and real.
It did not fulfill my wishes. It brought me somewhere more nuanced, more mature - an integration that made magic more real. It invited self-reflection, and brought some of my life into greater perspective.
I saw Becoming Leidah on a list of historical fiction. Fair enough. It certainly presents a deeply-researched time and place, and adds layers beyond factual or even speculative histories, so although it is not about famous people or events, it is historical and it is fiction. I’d also call it a mythical folktale, and family drama. And (perhaps like all family dramas, beneath the surface) it's a mystery. It's not only a mystery to discover what happened / what's really happening in this story - it's a mystery into humanity's greatest mysteries.
The book jumps between time periods and narrators, and although I have read books where that bothered me, here I loved weaving the story together. Still, I can imagine some readers finding it a challenge. Unreliable narrators and intentionally undeclared travel between worlds can make it seem like the story is inconsistent, when it’s actually just more layered than you might assume.
Reading the jacket description, I wondered if it would present a stereotype of religion or men. Turned out I was the one doing the stereotyping. (I came to identify with both husband and wife.)
The ending is highly poetic, and ambiguous - which might not work for people who want a clear ending / definitive closure. It’s not a cliffhanger - it is complete in itself - and yet, I would love to read a follow-up book - I want to explore where these characters go after growing to this point. Perhaps that exploration is up to me.
I used to wonder to what extent / in what ways it would be true to say "With imagination, anyone can be rich." Well, I've never been richer.
-------------
Becoming Leidah
Robert wrote: "Why s0 few male novelists. Diversity, anyone?"I confess to wondering that myself...
Emily wrote: "This list needs to add The Last White Flag by Bob Cartmill to it! It’s a historical fiction about the founding and colonization of Australia. It’s so great! Too many historical fictions are associa..."In the same vein... Can I offer you a different historical fiction work? Like you said, it's definitely set in a completely time period than usual (17th century Austria) and - I think anyway - it's a completely different story than usual.
Holy dang, you guys finally fixed the navigation! Thank you!
I recently read Schooled in Silence. Very timely topic considering the Me, Too movement and so many current news stories of abuse and trauma. Really makes you realize how vulnerable women and girls have been (and still are) throughout our patriarchal history.
Robert wrote: "Why s0 few male novelists. Diversity, anyone?"Sounds like The End of Men is the debut novel for you from this list!
Robert wrote: "Why s0 few male novelists. Diversity, anyone?"
If it makes you feel any better all my favorite novelists are male and none of them are on this list.
If it makes you feel any better all my favorite novelists are male and none of them are on this list.
Donna wrote: "Robert wrote: "Why s0 few male novelists. Diversity, anyone?"
Sounds like The End of Men is the debut novel for you from this list!"
Lol
Sounds like The End of Men is the debut novel for you from this list!"
Lol
If we need to add more male authors to the list, I would highly recommend This Changed Everything: The truth is dangerous by David Palin. It's a dark, psychological thriller which had me hooked from the start.
The Cheshire wrote: "If we need to add more male authors to the list, I would highly recommend This Changed Everything: The truth is dangerous by David Palin. It's a dark, psychological thriller which h..."This list is about debut novels, not those written by established authors.
I was lucky to get an advanced copy of "Acts of Desperation" by Megan Nolan and loved it! It was dark and made me angry, but it was beautifully written, very honest and insightful.
OMG, The Witch's Heart just became one of my most excited releases of the year. Thanks Goodreads!
i found two that sound good... Nice!Madam - Phoebe Wynne
The Scapegoat - Sara Davis
they're all a bit... the same. Same themes, same types of characters, similar blurb...
Robert wrote: "Why s0 few male novelists. Diversity, anyone?"Roughly 75% of Goodreads readers are women (according to a study by Quartz). So, it's possible that reading about people who are more like you would appeal to a lot of users. Not to mention it's a good break from the past decades, where male novelist's books were the only ones to be praised and read. Got any recommendations, though? Maybe you'll find better results on a site with less of a female user-base.
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot is outstanding. I cannot praise this novel enough.
Wow, there's a good few books about pregnancy lol
A quick peruse of all this great lit, and a few stuck out that I'll definitely read this year. Gold Diggers, Darryl, Whenever A Happy Thing Falls and How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones... all sound great.I'm also gonna plug my own debut novel out this year, Rainy Day Ramen and the Cosmic Pachinko, out April 2021. A Murakami-esque magical realism, in which Fred, a broke, hopelessly lost in life, and unemployed ESL teacher, describes his metaphysical odyssey from Okinawa to Tokyo and search for meaning beyond the physical path trodden.
If anybody enjoys fantasy YA. I recently released my first book Torpor. It’s free on kindle unlimited. Find out more here https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1838...
'Let's Get Back to the Party' by Zak Salih has my attention! I'm a little younger than this generation described in the book, but it's the exact issue I've been having with the gay community. It looks fascinating and it's already out, so I got lucky!!! ;-)
Betsy wrote: "Each and every one sounds dreadful."I just started busting up laughing at this one. There are a lot of books on this list that seem like the literary community is just reaching to sell books.
Robert wrote: "Why s0 few male novelists. Diversity, anyone?"It's our society. As much as we all like to think the literary community is all-inclusive and non-partisan, I keep seeing so many anti-Trump books advertised when there are a lot of pro books out there. Now, I know this isn't the same thing AT ALL, but it definitely relates. I'm not even a Trump-supporter, but I just notice these things. The PC Culture has destroyed comedy and now it's going after what's advertised in literature.
Before anyone becomes angry with me, I studied literature and spent 3 full semesters studying novels set in other countries and LOVED a lot of them. It's interesting and I acknowledge what horrific things occurred because of colonialism. I just hope that we aren't headed down a path we can't come back from.
SORRY, This is so dramatic! I'm actually excited for a few of these books, so anyway... :-D
Do novella’s count too? Then I propose A Queen to Come by Frances Ellen
. The first in a trilogy of magic- and action-packed prequel novellas featuring Asters and Affinites battling Dark Kings and their Disciples for the Surface of the world and the safety of humans.
From a more genre-fiction perspective, here are some of the debuts I'm looking forward to:The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse (mystery/thriller)
Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia (mystery)
For the Wolf by Hannah F Whitten (YA fantasy)
The Conductors by Nicole Glover (historical fantasy)
A Lady's Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett (historical romance)
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (historical fantasy - first novel, but she's published novellas)
A Master of Djinn by P Djeli Clark (historical fantasy - first novel, but he's published novellas)
The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gold (YA fantasy)
May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor (YA contemporary romance)
Your list of great recent pubs has to include my "Screaming and Other Tales," a collection of short fictions spanning several genres published under my pen name, "Harry Neil," Unfortunately, Goodreads seems to have lost my cover image, but we're working on that! It's what's inside that people will enjoy.
Harry Neil
This one is also getting a lot of hype and is a part of the #2021Debuts crowd!
Ohh I'm excited to read this book! As I read the synopsis, the faces of the meddlesome (but always well-meaning) aunties in my own life immediately came to mind. ꉂ(ᵔᗜᵔ*)