2025 has been a standout year for every genre, with contributions from new, exciting voices across the board. Here are the very best debuts of the past year, from pacy thrillers to fresh YA and feel-good fiction.
This year, the winner of the She Reads Best Debut of 2025 Award is:
Passion Project by London Sperry
Since the death of her first love, Bennet has been coasting through life without a real passion or purpose. Then she runs into Henry soon after standing him up for a first date and drunkenly confesses that she’s not ready to date again. To help Bennet find a passion for life, Henry proposes a “passion project” that takes them from skyscrapers to tattoo parlors—platonically. But as the project continues and secrets come to light, Bennet must decide if she’s truly ready to move on.
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And don’t miss out on the rest of our favorite debuts from 2025!
Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang
When supermarket cashier Julie Chan finds her estranged identical twin sister Chloe’s body, she slips into Chloe’s glitzy influencer life like a second skin. No one notices this swap—or so she thinks. When she attends a private island retreat with Chloe’s insular, secretive inner circle, Julie begins to unravel the truth behind Chloe’s final days. But will she uncover the truth before she becomes just another corpse?
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Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours
Sariyah has the ability to hear what objects people need most, but only her family and Malcolm, her best friend, know about this ability. When her friend Deja disappears after her need is fulfilled, Sariyah and her friends embark on a mission to track her down. Pressed for time and money, Sariyah starts using her ability to gain cash, not knowing that it may put both her and Deja in danger.
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This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara
Sarai is still reeling from the attempt on her life four years ago, but the investigation was closed without unearthing the culprit. Ravenous for vengeance, she becomes a Petitor, a prosecutor who detects lies using magic, and is assigned to work under Tetrarch Kadra. Kadra is cruel and sadistic, and his voice is identical to Sarai’s assailant. Sarai will stop at nothing to take him down, even as attraction flares to life between them and the investigation embroils her in political warfare.
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Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie
There is only one way out of Blackwood Academy, the legendary institute on the fringes of the afterlife: winning the brutal competition known as the Decennial. This year, the six top students at the Academy have been chosen to compete in the Decennial. But these six aren’t the only ones forced to play Blackwood’s twisted game, and they will quickly discover that there are far worse outcomes than death.
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Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild
Honor has everything she could ever want: a beautiful daughter, Chloe, and her charming husband, Tom. But her desire for another baby puts the little family’s idyllic life in jeopardy—until a shocking event changes everything. Years later, Tom’s fateful choice brings two women together in a way that can’t be unraveled.
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Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill
Jenny Greenteeth rules her lake with needle-sharp teeth. But when a witch named Temperance is thrown into the lake, Jenny feels compelled to save her. Together, Jenny and Temperance embark on a quest to vanquish a cunning threat to Jenny’s lake, Temperance’s family, and all of Britain.
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You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego
When renowned author J.R. Alastor invites writer Mila to host a private writing retreat, she ecstatically accepts, especially since one of the six invitees is someone she wants dead. But these invitees are all thriller authors who know every trick in the book, and after one of the guests is unexpectedly murdered, Mila must outwit the killer before it’s too late.
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The Eights by Joanna Miller
In 1920, Oxford opened its doors to female students for the first time. Beatrice, Dora, Marianne, and Otto move into adjacent rooms in Corridor 8 and quickly become known as The Eights. Each woman has her own reasons for coming to Oxford—and secrets they must keep close to their chest. If they want to overcome adversity and misogyny overshadowed by the ghosts of the Great War and the influenza epidemic, these four women must stick together.
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