ELLE Editors Share the New Books They Loved Best In 2023

“Reading Emma Cline’s latest book, set in the Hamptons, in the actual Hamptons might have colored my POV, but my enthusiasm for The Guest remains unmatched regardless. The chaotic narrative of a sex worker-turned-grifter as a fish out of water in the toniest part of Long Island will have you anxiously awaiting each secondhand-embarrassing encounter until the very last page—and leave you questioning the ending, too.”—Claire Stern, digital director

“Chain Gang All-Stars might have the most exhilarating opening chapter of a book I’ve ever read. Right from the jump, Adjei-Brenyah pulls you into a gritty, gory world where prisoners fight one another to the death to earn their freedom—and people love it. Here, in this not-so-distant future, these gladiator-like matches are televised and widely popular; the public worships the fighters like celebrities, and corporations profit off of them. He writes with such vigor, you’re transported right into the arena; but you also see the parallels to our own issues with mass incarceration, classism, and capitalism.”—Erica Gonzales, senior culture editor

“I only have notifications on Instagram for one person: Britney Spears. So when her book came out, I was excited to read and hear her story, in her words. Her story is heartbreaking, and you easily get engrossed—I read it in two days. However, I did think that it could have also delved more into her rise to fame in the early aughts to truly set the foundation and illustrate how invasive and unfair the media was to her. The book feels like it focused more on her conservatorship and relationships. Nevertheless, it’s still an engrossing read. #TeamBritney.”—Danielle James, digital beauty director

“Inspired by events from Tembe Denton-Hurst’s own life, her debut novel, Homebodies, follows Mickey Hayward, a twenty-something journalist who unexpectedly gets laid off from her media job. The prose was so engaging, and I found myself really rooting for Mickey (a Sagittarius sun with a Virgo moon, according to Denton-Hurst) when she decided to return home to Maryland to figure out her next move.”—Juliana Ukiomogbe, assistant editor

“I stayed up three hours over my bedtime to read this book. While the rest of the family watched Top Gun: Maverick during Thanksgiving, I secretly read this on my Kindle for two more hours (even during the shirtless volleyball scene). I love an underdog female character, and this story takes the high stakes of The Hunger Games, combined with dragons and some steamy love scenes. It’s completely addicting, and I can’t wait until my hold on the second book is up.”—Kathleen Hou, beauty director

“Claire Dederer takes that all too cumbersome topic—the artists we love, the evil they do—and, miraculously, makes it elegant. Her essays assessing the monstrous behavior and artistic accomplishments of ‘geniuses’ including Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, and Picasso are emotional but measured, allowing for great nuance but never failing to condemn bad behavior. I find myself thinking about Monsters all the time, and I can’t wait to comb through it again for further insight.”—Lauren Puckett-Pope, staff culture writer

“It’s Groundhog Day meets Heartstopper in this speculative YA romance. When Clark wakes up on the same 310th Monday, something is different this time: There’s a new character in his plot, Beau. Are Beau and Clark meant to be? Is Beau the key to getting out of this time warp? Will Clark get trapped in this timeline forever? All will be revealed in a grand journey around Chicago in author Robbie Crouch’s third novel. Trust me, this one will make the hopeless romantic in your life sing (and also might just make you book a trip to the Windy City).”—Samuel Maude, assistant to the editor-in-chief

“Julia Fox’s masterpiece, Down the Drain, was everything I hoped it would be. The memoir has all the juicy details about her life thus far—from her highly-publicized relationship with a man she calls ‘The Artist’ to her brief stint as a dominatrix. Every single chapter had me on the edge of my seat.”—JU

“When the book world’s Next Big Thing, Asian American author Athena Liu, suddenly dies, her white acquaintance and fellow writer June Hayward steals her manuscript and publishes it as her own, under an ethnically ambiguous pseudonym. That’s just a taste of how far she’ll go to succeed. R.F. Kuang’s brutal satire of the publishing world is also a nuanced exploration of identity, ownership, and race. It had me both infuriated and in awe, not only of June’s audacity but also the real-life systems set in place to protect people like her. Yellowface will make you cringe, but it will also leave you amazed.”—EG

“Bret Easton Ellis is a master stylist, honing in time and time again on the most mysterious and alluring city in America, Los Angeles. The book is slightly gay, definitely murderous, and includes zigzag directions around the Valley and Mulholland Drive, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was by far the most absorbing read of the year for me, and the 600-plus pages zoomed by. It’s also being optioned for a limited series by HBO, and my fingers and toes are crossed that Jacob Elordi’s name is on the shortlist to star.”—Kevin LeBlanc, fashion associate

“I’ve never gone wrong picking up a book by National Book Award-winner Jesmyn Ward, so I immediately added her 2023 release, Let Us Descend, to my To Be Read list for the upcoming year. The historical fiction novel follows the story of Annis, a Black woman enslaved before the Civil War, and involves spirits in the way I’ve come to expect from Ward after reading (and loving) her 2017 novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing.”—Madison Feller, digital deputy editor

“In Big Swiss, Jen Beagin introduces us to Greta, a transcriptionist for a sex therapist in Hudson, New York, who becomes enthralled by the voice of a patient. The plot has everything I love: revenge, dogs, and small-town eccentricities. Best of all, you can already look forward to a screen adaption: HBO is developing a series based on the book starring Jodie Comer.”—Rose Minutaglio, senior editor

“I couldn’t have read through Disha Bose’s (debut!) novel any faster if I tried. I love a good thriller, and Dirty Laundry was filled with all the twists and turns one could ever need against the backdrop of a seemingly perfect life in suburbia.”—Carine Lavache, senior social media editor

“Andrea Bartz is a master of suspense. From the very first page of her latest thriller, I was hooked, desperate to find out what would happen when Kelly and her cat, Virgo, move in with a hot couple in a gorgeous suburban mansion during the pandemic lockdown. At first, it seems Kelly has lucked into a dream life, but with time she discovers she isn’t the first woman the couple has welcomed into the marriage…and their last partner is missing. I flew through The Spare Room’s short chapters (my favorite kind), propelled not only by the gripping, well-plotted storyline but by the steamy will-they, won’t-they sexual tension and several surprising twists.” —Kayla Webley Adler, deputy editor

“Elizabeth Lim’s specialty is fairytales with an East Asian focus, pairing good against evil but not shying away from darker, complicated characters or a non-obvious female hero. Her Radiant Curse is an origin story with complex world-building, and I savored the richness of the writing from beginning to end.”—KH