Even though this sampler was put out in 2020, I had never read or even heard of most of these books. I love these samplers because I can read little bits of a lot of books and decide which ones I want to add to my TBR list.

This is a great taste of books I want to add to my to-read list. I enjoy these samples for tastes of new books.

The Space Between Worlds was such a great book. Knowing that it was included in this group of excerpts makes me interested in checking the others out!

Pros: This is the first sampler I've read. What interested me is that I just read and really enjoyed The Push, so I thought I'd learn about more books in this sampler to add to my to read list! When I saw the list of titles, I also noticed that several had been mentioned on the podcast What Should I Read Next. I've already requested a few of these titles from my library, including Fifty Words for Rain and The Space Between Worlds.

Cons: None except I'm impatient to know what happens in these books!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Samplers for the opportunity to read a bit from these books!

These samplers always help me add to books I plan to read next or books I am going to look for in my local bookstore. I love the short stories and getting to know new to me authors.

I’m really excited to check out some of these books! I appreciate having samples all in one spot to read through!

This collection of short stories lives true to its name. It is a debut fiction sampler. There are a variety of stories, with authors that possess skills vastly different from each other. Yet the stories do have the raw quality of a debut. I was looking to discover new voices that enthrall me, but none of these stories quiet did that, despite many of them being well-written. For a light read, and to get a view into the new and emerging voices, I recommend this book to short story lovers.

How did I miss this sampler, and its potpourri of new fiction from Penguin Random House? Well, it’s never too late to catch up on great reads like these. So glad I did!

5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 11 Aug 2020
#Fall2020DebutFictionSampler #NetGalley

Thanks to the authors, Penguin Random House Samplers, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Did not go through............................................................just want this off my shelf

I always enjoy these. I like to read about the new books coming out so this is a helpful guide. But I don't like needing to review it. I suppose they want me to write up which ones look interesting but if they look interesting, I request them and then review them.

Great way to find out about upcoming titles. I love reading about the new tittles and adding them to my radar. It was nice to have a little preview of each title as well.

Thank you so much, these samplers are my favorite way to read bits of the titles I might be interested in, and find titles I didn't know anything about before this! Excited to add some of these to my want to read list!

This is a Book Sampler that is ideal for libraries and their acquisition department. There are some great ideas for collection development.

First of all, I’m so excited with the level of diversity of Authors and genre in this sampler. Having said that, I had to guess the book genres myself because the sampler didn’t specifically list them. It would probably help if samplers like this could list the intended genre alongside each title to help set the right expectation.

My reviews below:

== The Push == 4 sampler stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Self-assessed genre: Thriller
Intriguing. This book used second person POV in the style of ‘You’ (Caroline Kepnes), which always added an element of creepiness to me.
I liked the back-and-forth switching between events, and I definitely wanted to know more. It was engaging.
Cover review: the cover doesn’t look like ‘standard’ thriller, which can be good or bad. Good as it differentiates the book from the rest, bad as readers might not be sure if this is thriller (I’m still not fully sure myself if this is a thriller or a hard-hitting drama).

== No Heaven for Good Boys == 3.5 sampler stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Self-assessed genre: Literary Fiction
I was personally unfamiliar with the setting, although I googled it and found out that the book was set in Senegal. I had never seen a book set in Senegal before, so this was a great addition to the fiction world.
The book itself had a good setup for a great heartbreaking story. It triggered something in me personally, as I grew up in Indonesia and organised beggars like the kids in this book weren’t uncommon.
Cover review: great art, definitely eye catching and different.

== Bestiary == 5 sampler stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Self-assessed genre: Literary Fiction
What an opening. I was gobsmacked with the eloquence. The book unashamedly used harsher words which made the storytelling felt vulgar in some places. I loved it! It was also a pleasant surprise to see how young the Author was - such a promising young debut Author.
Cover review: Another great art which represented the writing style well. Loved the font.

== The Mermaid from Jeju == 2.5 sampler stars ⭐️⭐️💫
Self-assessed genre: Historical Fiction
I’m getting historical fiction vibe from the sampler, but unfortunately what was there wasn’t intriguing enough for me. It could be because of the slower pace in the storytelling, which could make it hard to engage audience just within a few chapters. The Jeju setting was unique and appreciated.
Cover review: great striking photograph, although it looked a bit like Catherine McKenzie’s book covers to me.

== Nights When Nothing Happened == 2.5 sampler stars ⭐️⭐️💫
Self-assessed genre: Literary Fiction
I suppose this would be one of the stories where ‘nothing’ grand happened, but little things instigated bigger things and resulted in an epic event? The sampler didn’t give me too much, and I couldn’t even be sure of the genre of the book. I guess the writing style was quite good and I didn’t mind it, but the book itself wasn’t for me.
Cover review: the cover didn’t tell me much. The monochromatic choice reminded me of a non-fiction, rather than fiction.

== The Space Between Worlds == 5 sampler stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Self-assessed genre: Sci-fi
Ok this one engaged me the most. Great premise, great world design, interesting main protagonist, intriguing supporting characters.
Cover review: Awesome cover design.
*** Not much to say aside from that I’ll be picking this one for my TBR.
*** Extra note: just before posting this review, I realised that this book was nominated for 2020 Goodreads Choice award! So my instinct was right after all!

== Night in Tehran == 2 sampler stars ⭐️⭐️
Self-assessed genre: Action
This was a classic action story, similar to the likes of Bond and Bourne’s. I would expect espionage, murder, politics, money, power, and a bunch of men swapping grand tales and inhaling cigarettes while the meek women gossiped in the next room. It could be a good one depending on the twists and turns later in the book, but so far I wasn’t interested just from the sampler. It seemed too predictable for me, and I’m personally not a fan of grand machismo.
Cover review: I think the cover art was a good representation of the book. It gave me a bit of Dean Koontz/James Patterson vibe.

== Fifty Words for Rain == 2.5 sampler stars ⭐️⭐️💫
Self-assessed genre: Historical Fiction
The chapters were intriguing enough, but more because of the Japanese setting rather than the story itself. The plot was still unclear, so I didn’t really get too much from the sampler aside from a potentially heartbreaking story about coming-of-age and finding self identity (did I guess right?)
Cover review: to be honest, the cover didn’t give me any historical fiction vibe, but it did resonate with my interpretation of ‘Japanese’ style, given the vertical positioning of the text ‘a novel’.

== Fortune Favors the Dead == 5 sampler stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Self-assessed genre: Crime (noir)
Great opening chapter, I was captivated (pun intended) immediately. Loved the female characters, and the hint of action. I really wanted to know more!
Cover review: I definitely got a noir vibe from the cover art.

So out of all the books, I will definitely pick up 'The Space Between Worlds', and most likely 'Bestiary' and 'Fortune Favors the Dead' next.

Thank you so much to the publishers and NetGalley for the sampler. I love getting a chance to preview a few selections at one time and then deciding which ones to request a full galley of or even to buy the actual selection once it's published.

One of the feelings I enjoy the most as a reader, is the joy when I discover a new voice that's really worth reading.
That's why debuts are so appealing to me.

A sampler like this one is the perfect way to see if the writing style of the newcomers can convince me to read the whole book.
As science-fiction and fantasy are my favourite genres, the most intriguing sample for me was the one of 'The Space Between Worlds' from Micaiah Johnson. Although it was already on my TBR-list, it was nice to be able to read the beginning and it piqued my curiosity even more 😉

This was great! I love debuts and it was nice to get a little taste of so many. Looking forward to reading many of the titles mentioned in this sampler.

I love getting these samplers! It makes me so excited to read more of the included titles.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the early look.

This is a great look at what's to come from debut authors being published by Penguin Random House. I'm excited to read more of these titles. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early look.

After reading these spoilers I added each book to my to be read list. I'm looking forward to reading more and was pleasently surprised to see books that were coming out soon but I hadn't heard about yet. Always great to find new books to be interested in.