Early Thirties, Josh Duboff’s debut novel, offers a sharply observed window into the messy realities of modern friendship amid the chaos of New York City life. Through the intertwined stories of Victor and Zoey, Duboff crafts a narrative that resonates with anyone navigating the disorienting transition from carefree twenties to the more sobering responsibilities of one’s thirties.
A Friendship on the Brink
At its heart, Early Thirties by Josh Duboff is an examination of platonic love. Victor and Zoey’s decade-long friendship serves as the novel’s emotional anchor, with Duboff skillfully portraying its evolution from the steadfast support system of their twenties to something more fragile and complex as they age.
The novel opens with Victor waking up in a hospital bed after a suicide attempt following his breakup with Oliver. This dramatic beginning immediately establishes the stakes and emotional intensity that will drive the narrative. Zoey, his best friend, is by his side—loyal, protective, and slightly exasperated. Their dynamic is instantly familiar: she enables his drama while also serving as his foundation.
What makes their relationship compelling is how recognizable it feels. Duboff captures the shorthand language of long-term friendship—the inside jokes, the unspoken understanding, and the occasional cruelty that can only exist between people who know each other deeply. When Victor texts Zoey that he “can’t wait to come over and see the new lamp!!” after a particularly difficult night, it speaks volumes about how friendship can be a lifeline.
New York as Character
Duboff, a former senior writer for Vanity Fair, brings firsthand knowledge of the media landscape to his depiction of New York. The city emerges as a character in its own right—sometimes glamorous, often unforgiving. From the “nondescript sports bar” Victor stumbles into after learning of Oliver’s death to the “bodega at the end of the block” where Zoey and Victor linger before Celeste’s baby shower, each setting feels authentically rendered.
The novel excels particularly in its portrayal of media industry parties and events—a world Duboff clearly knows intimately. When Victor attends a premiere after-party at The Standard and unexpectedly encounters Valentina Lack, the actress whose profile caused him professional turmoil, the writing crackles with tension and specificity:
“I had a bunch of regrets. I never tried—really tried—to be kind to Tom, to give him the benefit of the doubt. I truly regretted not trying to place the Selah story in Corridor—that goddamn story.”
Shifting Perspectives and Expanding Worlds
One of the novel’s strengths is its willingness to expand beyond Victor and Zoey’s perspectives. Duboff introduces us to a constellation of supporting characters whose lives intersect with our protagonists:
- Hannah – An insecure young woman obsessed with social media influencer Maddie Brooks
- Erica – Valentina Lack’s long-suffering publicist
- Caroline – A talented writer who captures others’ stories for her fiction
- Tom – Zoey’s husband who feels perpetually excluded from her relationship with Victor
These additional viewpoints provide a richer understanding of the novel’s central themes of connection, professional ambition, and identity. The chapter from Tom’s perspective, in particular, offers a poignant counterpoint to Victor’s dismissive view of him, revealing the hurt and alienation he experiences as the “third wheel” in his own marriage.
Millennial Anxieties Expertly Captured
Duboff’s observations about millennial professional and social anxieties are razor-sharp. His characters constantly measure themselves against others, oscillating between self-loathing and moments of confident self-assertion. Victor’s concerns about his appearance, his career trajectory, and his relevance will feel painfully familiar to many readers:
“I had the though the other day that I should be disqualified from complaining about work to anyone anymore. I willingly went back!” I did feel sheepish about returning to the magazine on some level. I had made such a show of quitting—farewell Instagram post, mass emails.”
Similarly, Zoey’s ambivalence about her marriage, her determination to start her own company, and her complicated feelings about being in the public eye reflect common tensions many face in their early thirties:
“Since splitting from Tom, Zoey had embarked on a spree of flings—though, if she was being honest, it was not quite the anything-goes debauchery she had been anticipating.”
Strengths and Weaknesses
Duboff’s greatest strength lies in his dialogue. The conversations between characters—whether heated exchanges, drunken confessions, or awkward party small talk—ring true. He has a talent for capturing the performative aspects of social interaction, especially among media professionals constantly aware of how they’re presenting themselves.
The novel’s structure, with its shifting perspectives and time jumps, mostly works to its advantage, creating a mosaic-like portrait of interconnected lives. The podcast transcript chapters, in particular, offer a clever structural device that both advances the plot and satirizes millennial media consumption.
However, the novel isn’t without its flaws:
- Uneven pacing – The middle section drags somewhat, with certain scenes (like Celeste’s baby shower) feeling overlong without significantly advancing character development or plot
- Occasionally repetitive themes – The characters’ anxieties about aging, relevance, and social media occasionally become repetitive
- Underdeveloped supporting characters – Some potentially interesting figures, like Victor’s mother or Zoey’s boss Perri, remain somewhat flat
- Resolution that feels slightly rushed – After building tension between Victor and Zoey for most of the novel, their reconciliation comes somewhat abruptly
A Debut Worth Reading
Despite these shortcomings, Early Thirties marks Josh Duboff as a promising novelist with a keen eye for social dynamics and an authentic voice. The novel succeeds in capturing a specific moment in millennial life—that disorienting threshold between youth and whatever comes next.
For readers familiar with contemporary New York media culture, the novel will feel like an insider’s view. For others, it offers an anthropological glimpse into a particular social ecosystem. Either way, Duboff’s empathy for his characters shines through, even as he mercilessly exposes their vanities and insecurities.
For Fans Of…
Early Thirties by Josh Duboff will appeal to readers who enjoyed:
- Rebecca Serle’s In Five Years
- Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- Dolly Alderton’s Ghosts
- Sally Rooney’s Normal People
- Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings
Final Verdict
Josh Duboff’s debut novel, Early Thirties, offers an emotionally resonant portrait of friendship that manages to be both specific to its New York media setting and universal in its exploration of how relationships evolve as we age.
While not without flaws—including some pacing issues and occasionally flat supporting characters—the novel succeeds in capturing the bittersweet nature of growing up and the complex ways we rely on friends to help us navigate that process. It’s a promising debut that establishes Duboff as a voice worth following.
The novel’s final scene, with Zoey rejoining Victor at a restaurant after months of estrangement, captures the essence of what makes this book work: the recognition that some friendships, despite complications and hurt feelings, form the bedrock of who we are. As Zoey thinks to herself:
“In the end, it was his voice she heard in her head; it was there when she called for it.”
It’s this emotional truth—that the people who know us best can hurt us most deeply, but also potentially save us—that makes Early Thirties by Josh Duboff a touching and worthwhile read. Josh Duboff has crafted a debut that speaks to the particular challenges of friendship in an age of constant comparison and shifting definitions of adulthood.