This summer I was a new shooter, but I suspect everyone is different. I had never shot, never really touched a gun before, am female, and "senior." Won't go into my reasons for deciding to do this at such an advanced age.
Fortunately for me, I have a friend who is really into guns who let me try all of hers. What I remember - .22 revolver; .38 European Arms revolver; several Glocks, a 19 and 34 among them; a Bodyguard .380; a Sig P238; and a Sig P938; a .45 semi-automatic.
I had trouble with both recoil and muzzle blast. Both were intimidating. IMO the .22 had such a light trigger, it would be dangerous in such a newbie's hands. You'd have to pay me to shoot either the Bodyguard or the .45 again. I found the Glock 34 less off-putting than the 19, but didn't much like either. Same for pretty much all the others. Out of all of them, the P238 was the one that made me say, "I could live with that," and so I bought a P238 for my first gun. And I love it.
Since then I bought a Ruger SP101 (4", .357 but I only shoot .38 special), which from research, I thought would be the best gun for me. But I didn't shoot it first. I'm still struggling with it. Hogue grips, 10# trigger spring, but the long, heavy trigger pull and weight of the gun itself may prove too much no matter what I do. Will keep it and practice with it through the winter and decide.
Since then my friend bought a Baby Desert Eagle 9 mm, and if I had shot that before buying the revolver - well, things would be different.
So my best advice is don't buy anything you haven't tried, and I know that can be hard for many people and that am fortunate to know someone who could give me such a wide range of experience without my spending as much as a gun costs in rental fees.