in no particular order

—fantasy and scifi

• Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods
• The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
• Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
• The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
• Sister Snake by Amanda Lee Koe
• The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown
• honorable mention: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

—lit fic

• Endling by Maria Reva
• Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
• There Are Rivers In the Sky by Elif Shafak
• On Beauty by Zadie Smith
• Wanting by Claire Jia
• honorable mention: Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley

—historical fic

• The Pretender by Jo Harkin
• Trust by Hernan Diaz
• Costanza by Rachel Blackmore
• Rapture by Emily Maguire
• Boy by Nicole Galland
• James by Percival Everett
• honorable mention: The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore

—horror and thriller

• Chlorine by Jade Song
• You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego
• We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
• honorable mention: Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison

—honorable mentions

• Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
• Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley
• The Wedding People by Allison Espach
• The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore
• The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

if i had to put them in order?

• Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
• There Are Rivers In the Sky by Elif Shafak
• The Pretender by Jo Harkin
• Trust by Hernan Diaz
• Chlorine by Jade Song
• On Beauty by Zadie Smith
• Rapture by Emily Maguire
• Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods
• Boy by Nicole Galland
• Sister Snake by Amanda Lee Koe
• Costanza by Rachel Blackmore
• We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
• The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
• Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
• Wanting by Claire Jia
• Endling by Maria Reva
• James by Percival Everett
• The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
• The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown
• You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego