This was an okay book. It was a slow start for me and I found myself having to really push through to finish it.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun book. I enjoyed it a lot!

I liked this cutsie friends to lovers story, and it was definitely fun and messy in the best way. what an amazing debut novel to release 🫶🏼 definitely would recommend!

It’s giving self deprecating humor about life and the uncertainty of juggling friendships, career goals, and the familiar question: “Am I where I’m supposed to be?”

The conversational writing style felt relatable, and the humor kept me engaged, but overall, the plot and what we got felt a little ehhh, it was different than I thought it would be I guess, and maybe a little dry. I found myself wishing for more depth in certain moments.

That said, it’s a fun, reflective read for anyone who’s ever felt stuck between who they are and who they want to be and if millennial humor and existential crisis vibes are your thing, you’ll enjoy this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC in exchange for my thoughts!

A beautiful, subtle, and sometimes painful exploration of adult friendship.

I was so sure of how I felt about this book, ready to DNF at 40%. I’m glad I stuck it out. While the book begins slowly, the characters start to develop around the halfway mark.

Entertainment writer Victor Harris is at the heart of this story. I don’t think he’s a groundbreaking character, but I know I’ll be thinking about him for a while. In many ways Victor of most of us, the parts we keep hidden: our insecurities, need for validation, the propensity to self-sabotage, etc. In a world increasingly focused on outward perception, it’s easy to lose track of what’s important, including friendship.

This is a theme throughout the book, not just with Victor, but also with Zoey and the other, more minor characters. I initially found these minor narratives to be extraneous, but upon reflection, I think they serve a purpose. You can be so many people at once—the person that others perceive, the person you put forward publicly, the person you hide away and keep to yourself. It’s not a question of whether one version is more valid than the other, but rather an acknowledgment that humans are multi-faceted and none of us are as polished as we lead others to believe. The more minor narratives allow the reader to see the characters from multiple perspectives; to see how someone can be a farce and successful, both at the same time.

While I was incredibly moved by the end of this book, I couldn’t give it a full five stars due to the slow first half. I understand that, in a book that focuses on characters over a strong narrative arc, a baseline has to be established to demonstrate growth. I wish that baseline had been established a little bit faster.

I also need to address the fact that the galley copy I received was marketed as Romance. This is a disservice to both the reader and the author. If readers go in expecting romance, they will be disappointed, which will (and already has, it seems) lead to poor reviews. The book has romantic elements, sure, but it is not a romance.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced reader copy of this book, provided in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

not a big fan because of the wrong expectations set by the cover and blurb but a decent read for the content and story in the book

This book is not what I expected. I 100% judged it by its cover and thought it was a rom-com. It is not. Because of this it took me a little while to get used to the writing style The story itself was intriguing and as someone about to be in their early thirties pretty relatable. None of the characters are good or bad. They just are. In that sense, I don’t think I really liked or was rooting for any of them. It felt like they didn’t need me too. But, I did overall enjoy it and wanted to know how it turned out in the end. I think this book is ideal for people who like Sally Rooney or Gabrielle Zevin. It’s a good debut

EARLY THIRTIES by Josh Duboff is such a messy, hilarious and absolutely relatable story about friendship and growing up, and I absolutely loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced copy!

This book started in a really dark place, but the overall tone of the book still managed to be lighter while handling some heavy topics — a balance I thought made it really readable. This book promised a look into the importance of friendship, and how friends can be a love story in their own. And I definitely think it followed through on that. True to the title this was an insight into the way that life and relationships shift during one’s early thirties, in a way that felt so true to life.

I’m unsure what this book wanted to be. The description doesn’t match what we got in the end. I think there were inklings of a story about how friendships evolve (sometimes for the worse) as we age, but it was bogged down by so many subplots and extraneous characters, it was hard to tell.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the writing style but the book just didn’t hold my attention. Maybe because of the time of year I read it but this one just didn’t keep me coming back

2.5⭐️


Todos los personajes me resultaron insoportables e inmaduros; necesitan urgentemente aprender a relacionarse con los demás.

Comenzó de manera interesante, con el intento de suicidio de Víctor, pero luego tanto él como Zoe intentaron hacer como si eso no hubiera ocurrido, y si se mencionaba, era porque ella creía que él le debía algo por haberlo llevado al hospital.

No entendí el propósito de los puntos de vista de personas al azar que no aportaban nada.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this author's writing. I haven't read anything by them before, but I really got into the story and the pacing of it. The characters were well developed and lovable.

This book was good. The characters were relatable and going through what many others are in real life. The author really put life into the book. One thing I didn’t like about the book is all the side characters. It took away from the main characters and didn’t seem to add any value to the story.

This book started off great but as I continued I realized it might just not be for me. I wasn't easily as interested in the characters as I was in the beginning. Hitting a lull due to trying to keep up with everyone. But, it wasn't a bad read. I liked the writing enough to finish, Also enjoyed the insight of living in your early thirties.. I just struggled a little with keeping interested enough to finish in a couple sittings. But, I would like to read the authors other work in the future.

This is a deeply heartwarming story about growing up and coming to terms with the fact that life doesn’t always unfold as you expect. The writing is refreshingly realistic, balancing moments of humor with the deeper, often bittersweet truths about love and life. I remember how chaotic life was in my 20’s and I could relate on some levels. It was almost as if I were reading someone’s life story shared through a third-party lens. The love between the two main characters feels utterly genuine and authentic, never contrived, which is something I truly appreciated. I wish it was more of a love romantic story, but it was well-written and I would recommend it. Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

DNF at 46%

When the majority of the description of the book says it's about two best friends growing up in New York City, coming into their adulthoods, and then compared to Gabrielle Zevin and Dolly Alderton, I expected to be captivated by the characters and the story. However, I was sorely disappointed by the other POVs that loosely tied in with Zoey and Victor, the vapid conversations, the overuse of pop culture references, and the general lack of depth in the study of these characters.

I wanted to be swept away in their friendship, especially with a line like, "Sometimes friendship can be its own love story." I believe that, but I didn't find it almost halfway through this book. Did Zoey and Victor even care for each other? I'm not sure. I never felt a true connection between them...

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This title publishes March 18, 2025.

Two best friends, Zoey and Victor, are growing up - moving from their late 20s to their 30s. As its want to do, the friendship changes, moving from wild nights, to deadlines and more important decisions.

Did I recognize these sorts of themes? Absolutely. However, I'm now in my mid-40s so I felt like screaming at both to just....grow up.

Its a good story, but this reads more new adult than regular fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

"Early Thirties" is a painfully honest account of a particular time in life that is rarely glamorized or sexified for TV. And in fact the lives of Zoey and Victor are remarkably unglamorous. Instead they are fraught with tension, strife, and missed opportunities. At times the reader finds themselves nothing but grateful that their life has taken a different trajectory to these characters'. The characters were disgusting and pitiful at times; well-written, indeed.

I found the multiple POV's interesting and a fun way to break up what could have otherwise been a remarkably long and tedious story where the lives of the main characters rarely take flight. Duboff did well to balance a purposeful, plotted novel with the "no thoughts just vibes" literature that is what many thirty-somethings feel they should read. I found myself at times wondering where the story was going, while at other times I was deeply invested in Victor's self-loathing thoughts.

I think this book is going to hit home for a large chunk of audience that is largely ignored by media. Reading this book was like listening to a Lorde album that was made at the same age you were. Someone else has an eerily accurate view of what life is like at this particular stage in life; the result is unsettling and unputdownable.

I think this book was just not for me. Partially because it was deeply oversold as being for fans of Gabrielle Zevin and Dolly Alderton, who I adore. The characters in this book were unlikeable without anything endearing about them, the plot wasn't enough to keep me interested given the flawed characters, and there wasn't much of a lesson or redemption at all. The structure was confusing- not sure why we got random POVs at random times. Idk, this one just really didn't work for me.