Add these 2024 releases to your TBR list.
As the BookTok community has made reading, well, *cool* again, it was only a matter of time before the Gen Z readers of TikTok went from influencers of literary culture to creators of bestsellers.
Many of the young publishing hopefuls documenting their manuscript progress during the 2020 lockdowns are now teasing debut releases, and the literary analysts of the rom-com and sci-fi genres are finally piecing together their own stories to tell on platforms like Kindle Vella, which allows authors to publish their stories one episode at a time (aka Vellys).
The newest class of Gen Z authors — such as Chloe Gong, the writer behind the BookTok mainstay series Flesh & False Gods — are playing out nontraditional storylines (think: queer experiences, narratives by women of color in the workplace, and more spaces for the Internet generation to feel seen) in ways that feel authentic to today’s maturing teen and early 20-something audience.
As the 2024 literary scene plays out, here are 13 new releases from Zoomer authors to keep tabs on, from multifaceted fantasy trilogies like Lauren Roberts’ Powerless (psst, the sequel is coming out this summer!) to snarky rom-coms (one of which plays out like the fan-fave To All The Boys franchise) to meme-filled short stories (for the chronically online) that will enrapture far beyond Gen Z audiences.
A Book That Dares To Play Out The Ultimate Fangirl Fantasy
Release date: Jan. 2, 2024
Tashie Bhuiyan is the YA romance genre’s latest sparkler, with three must-read novels in three years. Her creative, driven protagonists often have a soft spot for the bad boy (#relatable), and as a Bangledeshi American author, she hopes to create stories “that young brown girls can pick up and feel seen.”
Her newest release, Stay With My Heart, plays out the full Y/N (aka the classic *insert your name here*) trope and famous band fantasy that pretty much every fangirl has only dreamed of coming true. In the words of fellow Gen Z author Chloe Gong, as the book follows music-obsessed Liana, hot new band Third Eye, and the group’s ~dreamy~ leader, Skyler Moon, Bhuiyan plays readers “a love song in book form.”
A Silicon Valley Novel That’s Giving The Devil Wears Prada
Release date: Jan. 16, 2024
For her first two books, Singaporean author Kyla Zhao drew on her experiences as a woman of color in the workplace. She earned a Buzz Pick selection from Good Morning America for her debut, The Fraud Squad, as well as a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List in 2023.
The author’s sophomore release, Valley Verified, captures the realities of the East Coast fashion world and the West Coast tech scene in 4K. By highlighting the glamorous yet often complicated trade-offs each path has for the modern creative, she delivers what a Goodreads reviewer dubs “a storyline that seamlessly weaves the essence of The Devil Wears Prada with the fast-paced world of Silicon Valley.”
The Anti-To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before Rom-Com
Release date: Feb. 6, 2024
As one of Gen Z’s most ambitious writers, Ann Liang beautifully walks the line between rom-coms and fantasy in her library of novels. Her third outing, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, sits firmly in the rom-com category, putting a snarkier turn on the premise of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before — where hate emails, not love letters, change their author’s life in an instant.
The book earned Liang a spot on the New York Times bestsellers list this spring, and the author shows no signs of slowing down, with two more novels coming in the next year. Her first full foray into the fantasy genre, A Song to Drown Rivers, hits bookstores this fall, while I Am Not Jessica Chen will provide another tally in her powerhouse YA collection early next year.
A Dystopian Space Epic With A Queer-Driven Cast
Release date: Feb. 28, 2024
Nonbinary author Olive J. Kelley’s writing navigates the intersection of the dystopian and queer genres with a key common theme: hope. By once again exploring the galaxy of their queer sci-fi epic, Junker Seven, with this world-building novella, the author introduces D3F3CT to bring readers behind the curtain of the tyrannical Intergalactic Police Force through the eyes of one of its lieutenants.
By centering a space epic on two queer protagonists, Kelley flips the futuristic genre on its head, creating a compelling and inclusive tale that speaks to many readers. As one Goodreads review put it, “Reading about trans people in space is, quite literally, something that I didn’t know I needed to experience, and now that I have it, it feels so dear to me.”
If Queer Romance & Dark Academia Had A Love Child
Release date: March 19, 2024
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is no stranger to the NYT bestsellers list, dominating the YA thriller genre with striking nuance and depth. Her debut novel, Ace of Spades, a buzzworthy 2021 thriller inspired by the author’s Gossip Girl marathon-watch in college, gained acclaim from Entertainment Weekly as the “summer’s hottest YA debut.”
Back again with Where Sleeping Girls Lie, the author brings the YA mystery genre right to the heart of one of BookTok’s favorite aesthetics with this slow-burn, dark academia novel. Promising dark secrets shielded by a storied boarding school, Àbíké-Íyímídé weaves another tantalizing tale of illuminating truth in the shadows of privileged youth.
A Cathartic Coming-Of-Age Novel For Practical Romantics
Release date: May 14, 2024
The latest from Stanford grad Christina Li exemplifies the universal experience of self-discovery that one faces heading off to college with, as one reader raved, “literally the perfect YA book.” Grace Tang, True Love and Other Impossible Odds’ overly practical protagonist, creates an algorithm that predicts students’ perfect romantic partners, yet finds herself skeptical of the results of her own data.
What New York Times bestsellers Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick call “honest, raw, and breathtakingly real,” this queer YA novel feel tangibly impactful exploring the roles of evolving friendships, personal growth, and managing grief. And in true driven Gen Z fashion, you can expect much more from the author this year, with her adult fiction debut, Manor of Dreams, releasing this fall.
A Collection Of Short Stories For The Chronically Online
Release date: May 14, 2024
If there’s anything Honor Levy wants you to know about her debut novel, My First Book, it’s that it isn’t a Gen Z book. Yet the blasé tone of this rising star’s prose seems to perfectly capture the unique disposition of the Internet generation, memeification included.
The collection of short stories requires a dictionary — that she duly provides — explaining terms like “nerf” (verb). However, to understand terms like “mouse mode,” you may need to be as chronically online as she is.
A Cottagecore Romance For Those With A Bridgerton Hangover
Release date: May 14, 2024
As a mainstay of the BookTok community with The Honey Witch previews, Sydney J. Shields’ debut has been on the Internet’s TBR lists for months. Dubbed “a sweet, witchy romance” by delighted readers, The Honey Witch’s cozy, queer romance will satisfy any Bridgerton stans still reeling from the Season 3 finale’s grand reveal (IYKYK).
With a grumpy skeptic love interest and a power system rooted in bees and honey, Shields’ charming debut wraps cottagecore in a mystical bow, with the author promising a second novel officially on the way.
Another Coming-Of-Age Tale, But With A Y2K Pop Princess Spin
Release date: June 25, 2024
If Y2K and coming-of-age stories had a love child, Honey would be their pop-princess offspring. Following protagonist Amber Young’s budding career in the millennium era, the novel explores the rat race of the music industry, filled with the drive for success and the complicated dynamics of relationships when one’s star is on the rise.
Isabel Banta’s electric debut points a fictionalized lens on the inner lives of the early aughts’ most famed triple threats, offering an alternative, multifaceted POV on superstardom.
A BookTok Romantasy With Plenty Of Fun Banter
Release date: July 2, 2024
BookTok darling Lauren Roberts has had readers in a chokehold with her Powerless Trilogy since the first installment was released in the summer of 2023. Sharing her publishing journey in her early 20s, the author provides much-needed candor in her TikToks about getting her books published, while promising plenty of drama to come with the second in the series.
Reckless will explore the fallout of its predecessor, finding the kingdom of Ilya and its star-crossed lovers, Paedyn and Kai, in turmoil. For readers in need of fantasy with plenty of banter, this sizzling tale will provide chemistry that one BookToker claimed is “out of this world.”
A Regency-Era Romance Living In Jane Austen’s Nightmares
Release date: Sept. 3, 2024
If there’s anything BookTok will love more than Bridgerton and A Court of Thorns and Roses, it will be this best-of-both-worlds novel from Lydia Gregovic. The Austen-obsessed writer based in Brooklyn takes a leaf from Sense and Sensibility with her debut, throwing in a toxic twist to keep things interesting.
While her protagonist aims to marry smartly — as any good Regency-era woman should if they choose to wed — a toxic fog plagues this universe’s England with a countryside full of monstrous creatures known as “Phantoms.” Those lucky to preview this forthcoming book dub Gregovic’s world-building as “decadent and nightmarish,” making it the ultimate TBR for romantasy fans.
A Gritty, Spicy Retelling Of A Shakespeare Classic
Release date: Sept. 10, 2024
Of the Gen Z author repertoire, Chloe Gong is the writer to know. After her runaway success with her debut, These Violent Delights, the New York Times bestseller’s Flesh & False Gods series portrays a spicy sci-fi retelling of the Shakespeare classic Antony and Cleopatra with its first installment, Immortal Longings.
Fans of the first book rave that it’s a “grittier, more grown-up version” of Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass, including a formal competition to gain the twisted leader’s favor, hidden identities, and plenty of romantic tension. Meanwhile, Vilest Things finds protagonists Calla and Anton juggling the fallout of the first novel as new secrets come to light that threaten their newfound power.
A “Book Within A Book” For Fans of Emily Henry
Release date: Dec. 10, 2024
Katie Holt’s spicy debut exists with the specific goal of sniping the rom-com girlies who repeatedly turn to Beach Read and The Hating Game for a satisfying enemies-to-lovers plot. Not in My Book somehow dares to ask “What if Beach Read’s January and Augustus actually spoke in college?” as protagonists Rosie and Aiden battle it out in their literary fiction writing class.
As a fellow BookToker with the moniker @readinromance, Holt obviously knows the modern romance genre like the back of her hand. Plus, with initial reviews raving about the “book within a book” premise, her first foray into writing for the genre takes a leaf from the bestsellers before it while transforming it into something entirely new.
