YA Authors with Adult Debut Novels in 2025
If you’ve been itching to see some of your favorite YA authors stretch their writing prowess by trying out stories in different categories, then you’ll be floored with the options hitting shelves in 2025. This is the year of YA authors making their debut in adult fiction. Long-time YA standbys are publishing their first adult novels, and YA authors who are newer to YA are flexing their muscles in adult.
Authors who can write across several genres and/or age categories are worthy of attention. It takes tremendous skill to navigate thinking about audience during the writing process, and while some decisions about who a book is for happen in the marketing department, seeing authors skillfully try their hands at books for young readers and those for adults is straight-up fun. It’s a nice way to not only admire the craft but, for readers, a nice way to dip your toes into the types of books you might not always be drawn to.
This list is limited to authors who began their careers as YA authors but who will publish their first work of adult fiction in 2025. Some will be trying their hands at a new genre or sticking with a genre for which they’ve gained acclaim in YA, while others will write in the lit fic/contemporary category. I have not included YA authors who’ve previously published adult novels nor adult novelists trying out YA—those are two potentially worthwhile lists for the future. Also, know that not all of these adult novels will be great crossover reads for teen readers.
Get excited to meet some of your favorite YA writers in the world of adult fiction this year!
Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber (September 30)
Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths is a class taught by someone known only as the Professor. No one believes the stories are true, especially because they’re about the devil and about magic.
But Holland St. James is bound and determined to prove that several deaths in Old Hollywood were, in fact, committed by the devil. Holland is going to write her graduate thesis on this, but it’s not going to be easy, especially as some of the deepest buried secrets begin to emerge.
There are also a couple of dangerous men on her heels. They don’t want those secrets exposed, even if it means ending Holland’s life in the process.
As of writing, there isn’t a cover. What you’re seeing here is just a placeholder, though if these are the vibes of the real cover, it’s giving a great representation of the story.
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker (April 14)
Cora Zeng’s job is as a crime scene cleaner. She’s seen it all in the line of her work, and none of it phases her. That’s because she witnessed her sister Delilah being pushed in front of a train. The only thing she heard at that moment was the murderer shouting the phrase “bat eater.”
What is bothering Cora, though, are the weird things outside of her work that she knows she’d never seen before. Subway germs are growing, there seem to be viruses everywhere, and there are weird bite marks on her coffee table. It doesn’t help that she’s also finding bat carcasses everywhere and that most of her last jobs have been at scenes where she’s been cleaning up the bodies of East Asian women.
This is a story about hungry ghosts and more as they lurk around every corner. It’s set during the pandemic and has garnered praise from some of the biggest names in horror, as well as comps to work by Stephen Graham Jones.
The Broposal by Sonora Reyes
Alejandro and Kenny are roommates, though their friends and family are not surprised when they two finally get engaged. The thing is they’re not in a relationship. The fake engagement is so Alejandro can get a green card.
Except there’s a problem. The two of them have some real feelings toward one another that the fake engagement stirs. Now, they’re wrestling with the reality that maybe this engagement to get a piece of paper is not fake at all.
The Build-A-Boyfriend Project by Mason Deaver (August 5)
Eli feels completely stuck in his life. His job as an assistant for an online magazine isn’t what he wants, but he can’t seem to move up. His boss seems more interested in keeping him as an assistant than helping him advance his career—and it’s not like there aren’t opportunities, as Eli’s ex, who also works at the magazine, has been advancing.
Eli’s roommate is pushing him to date to at least do something exciting in his life and so he’s set up with Peter. It’s a disaster of a date. When Eli shares how bad it went one day at work, his boss wonders if Eli could write about it. The catch is the story will be about how Eli teaches Peter to be a better boyfriend.
While Eli pretends to play along, he’s actually interviewing Peter about his life growing up queer in the south. Eli thinks this is the real piece to get his career rolling. But it takes little time before Eli develops real feelings for Peter and can no longer figure out what of the story he’s writing is real and what of it is for his career.
Fallen City by Adrienne Young
Isara is a walled city wrought with political turmoil. Luca knows he has to carry on his family’s name in the Forum once his uncle dies, but that is complicated by a noviceship he’s got with the city Philosopher.
Maris’s future is one of service to the corrupt city, even though she dreams of something else. She worked under the last Priestess and saw how the stolen magic of the Old World operated. Maris’s chance encounter with Luca feels like a sign, and the two of them pledge an alliance to each other and to changing the future within their world.
But as secrets become exposed and the true gravity of the holy war upon Isara comes to light, Maris and Luca will be cast as enemies. Can the two of them find their way back to each other or is the game being played by the gods simply too dangerous?
I, Medusa by Ayana Gray (Fall 2025)
There is very little about Gray’s adult debut available beyond the author’s own announcement made last fall. What we do know is that this is a reimagining of Medusa featuring a young Black woman who changes her fate and becomes a vigilante.
I Think They Love You by Julian Winters
Denzel’s father is CEO of 24 Carter Gold and is very successful, so his announcement of an early retirement takes everyone by surprise—especially Denz, who wants to compete for the role. His family doesn’t believe he’s committed or responsible enough, though, and to prove to them he is, Denz tells them he’s in a serious and long-term relationship. The problem is that he’ll have to find his fake boyfriend and the only person he can turn to is Braylon, an ex who shattered his heart.
Why would Braylon be in on it? Because he needs the help of Denz to network his own way to a promotion. The two plan to keep this as business, but…texts and kisses start to leave them both confused. Now Denz is not only trying to prove his mettle to his family, but he’s trying to unravel what the truth is deep down in his heart.
A queer fake-relationship romance? This sounds delightful.
The Influencers by Anna-Marie McLemore (April 15)
What happens when the children of a social media influencer grow up? In May’s case, it’s that some of them will follow in her footsteps and others will be eager to take their mother down.
When May’s newlywed husband is found dead, and her new home is burned down, she knows someone is out to get her. After the murder, everyone May knows has an opinion and an idea of who would want to commit such a crime, but what’s the truth? Who did it? Why?
This book is described as a campy mystery (the best kind!), with explorations of class, race, gender, and sexuality. While a number of the YA authors are sticking to similar genres in their adult debuts, we’re getting something completely different from McLemore.
The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater (June 3)
It’s January 1942, and the Avallon Hotel and Spa has forever been a getaway for high society. June Porter Hudson, the hotel and spa’s general manager, has helped keep the place stable through the first part of the war. That’s thanks in part to the Gilfoyles, the hotel and spa’s owners. But then the hotel heir makes a deal with the State Department, wherein the hotel will house captured Axis diplomats. That means June has to somehow convince the hard-working hotel staff to serve the Nazis, even when they themselves have family overseas fighting against them.
FBI Agent Tucker Minnick is listening in, though, knowing those captured diplomats may spill secrets that could aid in the war. He’s got a big secret though, too, and it has to do with how he knows June will be able to keep her staff working happily, even with their deplorable guests. There’s something in the sweetwater the hotel and spa has always been known for.
The Matchmaker by Aisha Saeed (April 8)
A mystery featuring a high society matchmaker? This sounds SO GOOD.
Nura Khan is a third-generation matchmaker, and she knows how to make her high-society clientele happy. Though Nura herself isn’t married—something that would otherwise raise suspicions for a matchmaker—her bestie Azar plays fake fiancé when she has to attend weddings or other events for her clients. But some of the feelings Nura has for her long-time bestie and fake partner are far from fake.
When one of her couples is ready for the altar and the whole thing falls apart, that’s but the first in a string of disasters befalling Nura and her clients. Something is going on, and someone (or someones!) is trying to ruin her business. Now, Nura’s job is less about matchmaking but about finding out who is out there trying to ruin her life and the lives of her clients.
Overdue by Stephanie Perkins (October 7)
Ingrid Dahl, 29, has been working as a librarian in a small North Carolina town and has spent the last 11 years dating her boyfriend Cory. They’ve never talked about getting married, even though things have been going well for a long time.
But when Ingrid’s sister announces an engagement to a woman she’s dated for only two years, Ingrid begins to feel weird pressure. Should she and Cory get married, too?
Before they do, the couple decides to try something different. They’ve only ever been with each other as adults, so what would happen if they took a one-month break to try seeing other people? They’ll know then whether their relationship is the real deal.
So what happens when the month ends and neither Ingrid nor Cory feels they are ready for marriage? Especially if Ingrid’s been feeling a crush on a coworker and thinks it might lead to something more? Things get really complicated.
On a very superficial note, that cover is spectacular.
Park Avenue by Renée Ahdieh (June 3)
Jia Song grew up the daughter of bodega owners, always dreaming of what was just outside her reach: everything glitzy and glamorous on Fifth Avenue. Now that she’s grown up, Jia’s close to achieving this dream as she is a junior partner at a prestigious law firm.
She’s sitting in on a cash cow of the Park family, whose net worth is in the billions. The family is not only rich but well-known, and Jia has a front seat to their collapse. The patriarch is filing for divorce from his dying wife and the three children have a contentious relationship. Everything here needs to be secret, lest the family’s reputation get harmed.
Jia’s learning, though, there are a lot more secrets within this family than she could have ever imagined. But as she travels the world in search of answers, she seems to be unable to be obsessed with the Parks. She’s doing her job and doing it well, but maybe Jia is starting to realize that all she thought she wanted isn’t REALLY what she wants.
Red City by Marie Lu (October 14)
Alchemy is an exclusive power of transformation held by criminals and sold to the elite in the form of sand. The sand holds the promise of allowing everyone who has it to be the best they can be, to be the most they can be.
Two crime syndicates control alchemy and the rivalry between them has always been close to explosion. It’s been a tender dance between competition and violence. So when two former childhood friends cross the line, it’s not only their lives and futures on the line. The entire population of Angel City is in grave danger.
This is the first in a series pitched as The Godfather meets The Magicians and perfect for readers who love VE Schwab, magic, and stories about amibtion.
Shaw Connolly Lives to Tell by Gillian French (June 17)
Shaw is a finger print analyst whose job is to be among the first at the most gruesome scenes in her rural Maine home, and to say she’s no stranger to the dark and disturbing is an understatement. But one thing haunts her: the death of her sister Thea 16 years ago. Shaw’s obsession with what happened, even this many years on, is causing difficulty in her life and in her relationship with her husband and children. Part of why she’s become so fixated is because she’s started taking phone calls from someone named Anders, who says he’s the one who murdered Thea.
The calls are getting scarier and scarier though, and it’s clear Anders is stalking Shaw at this point. But she needs closure about Thea, and she’s convinced Anders holds the key.
We Met Like This by Kasie West (September 16)
Margot Hart lives for love. She dreams about working as the kind of literary agent who gets to represent the best romance books imaginable. Margot also hates dating apps with a passion, forever dreaming of her own perfect meet-cute.
The problem is she’s never had a strong romance herself. Sure, there was Oliver, with whom she keeps being matched on the apps (yes, she’s using them despite her feelings). But her date with Oliver was terrible, minus the makeout sesh at the end of the night. She knows they’re not meant to be.
But when Margot is fired from her job, she’s feeling especially desperate and Oliver just happens to walk back into her life that same day. Oliver’s not so sure he’s game to try this relationship, thinking Margot only wants another chance to kiss. Except they’re going to give it another shot, just to try, and well…perhaps the truth of the matter is that it’s not Margot who is unwilling to compromise or who has secrets she’s not sharing. It might be Oliver.
Perhaps it’s not the meet-cute romance Margot envisioned but something even more.
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White (September 9)
The pitch for this is Alien meets Midsommar and I am all the way in for that.
Crane decided to join The Hive, a cult-like group that exists in the Appalachian wilderness. He did this after deciding he wasn’t going to speak anymore and after he transition. What Crane didn’t anticipate was meeting Levi, another Hive member.
Levi’s role in The Hive was the handle all the unsavory business. He was a killer and an enforcer. That is, until he and Crane meet and start to date and Levi gets Crane pregnant. Now not only does Crane have to figure out what to do about the fetus (which isn’t even human!) but both Crane and Levi have become infected with an alien virus.
There’s no cover yet, but per the author, it’ll have an ’80s horror vibe feel.
Love visiting your favorite authors in different styles and categories? Then you’re in luck. In 2023, I pulled together a big lost of YA authors trying out adult fiction, and I did the same in 2024.
