I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Dark, funny, albeit frustrating at times because the protagonist in a relationship that won't give her what she needs but really well-done coming-of-age story.

I received a free copy of Green Dot from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From the blurb:
“At twenty-four, Hera is a clump of unmet potential. To her, the future is nothing but an exhausting thought exercise, one depressing hypothetical after another. She’s sharp in more ways than one, adrift in her own smug malaise, until her new job moderating the comments section of an online news outlet—a role even more mind-numbing than it sounds—introduces her to Arthur, a middle-aged journalist. Though she's preferred women to men for years now, she soon finds herself falling into an all-consuming affair with him. She is coming apart with want and loving every second of it! Well, except for the tiny hiccup that Arthur has a wife—and that she has no idea Hera exists.”

What a delightful book! A very enjoyable read. Though my twenties are long gone, Hera reminded me of the challenges I too met all those years ago. Her affair with Arthur reminded me of some of the relationship missteps I made before I met my husband. I thoroughly enjoyed this books. Highly recommended.

A captivating exploration of obsessive love. It is a witty and thought provoking story that plunges into the complexities of human emotion, identity, and autonomy. The writing is energetic and captures the chemistry between Arthur and Hera. The story is thought provoking.
Many thanks to Henry Holt & Company and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Such a fantastic read! I loved the humor—it’s so rare to find a book this funny, and it balanced out the heavier topics and emotions very well. Even though I could see where the book was going, I was so invested in every twist and turn that I couldn’t put it down. One of the best reading experiences I’ve had in a while – I’ve continued thinking about it long after I’ve finished, and have now listened to many podcast interviews with the author as well because I couldn’t get enough.

In the summary it says how it’s a 24 year old who is a mess of on reached potential in by the end of this book not to spoil it for anyone but she doesn’t reach that potential she is a selfish self-absorbed 24-year-old who only thinks of herself and how things affect her I didn’t like her I finish this book a few weeks ago and kept trying to think of a way I could write the review with more creative statements then I didn’t like the book but sadly I cannot I did not like the book. Please forgive any mistakes I am blind and dictate my review I want to think the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc copy.

Another millennial malaise banger.

What this book does really, really well: Hera’s narration is pleasantly stream-of-consciousness, and so it’s very fun (and then, later, heartbreaking) to read. It feels extremely authentic, too; oftentimes books that are trying to write this kind of story, one where there are a lot of asides about pop culture and current events, come across as cringey, like the author isn’t entirely sure what they’re doing. In Green Dot, though, you can really tell Madeleine Gray has a finger on the pulse, so to speak. Hera is also—as a result of the authenticity of the writing, I think—an extremely relatable character. Not all the time, but enough that I felt seen by the book more often than I didn’t. Always a plus! So is the fact that it never overstays its welcome; it’s exactly as long as it should be, with a nice, quick pace that goes down easily.

What it doesn’t: honestly, not much. The only “flaw” it really has, at least in my eyes, is that it very much is what it stays it is. If you like slice-of-life stories about depressed, queer, twenty-somethings fumbling their way through the world, you’ll like this book, end of story. It’s very much for fans of books like Ripe, or My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Given how polarizing that particular niche can be, though, I’d steer clear if it’s not your thing! This book is amazing at what it’s doing, but I don’t think it’ll make someone love a genre or style that they usually can’t stand.

So, 4.5 stars/5, rounded up because it deserves it!

thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt for the eArc!

it goes kinda exactly how you expect it to but because it is so well written i didn’t mind that!

At first glance, this book seems hard-pushed to differentiate itself from all other stories of an affair. The young, naive protagonist spends far too much time begging her lover to leave his wife and then seems baffled when she inevitably ends up on her own.

While Green Dot does follow this premise, the writing is what made this book a five-star read for me.

I found myself relating to Hera, despite the fact that I have never had an affair nor have I ever worked as a comment moderator. Hera’s thought process is inherently flawed and she continuously falls victim to her own delusion, but for some reason, I found myself rooting for her. I attribute this to Gray’s writing. The language and style that she used were beyond sensational for me. She writes exactly the words that I want to read.

At the end of the day, Hera is lost in her twenties and I think we all relate to that in our own way.

The only downside to this book is the inclusion of the pandemic. I’m aware that you should write what you know, but since I lived it, I don’t feel like reading about it right now. This is personal preference and it didn’t damage the rest of the book in my eyes so it’s still a five-star read.

I’ll be "adrift in my own smug malaise" while I wait for Madeleine Gray to write my next favourite read ;)

I think this is closer to a 4.5 instead of a full five, but the more time that goes by since I finished this, the more I love this book. I saw a review on Goodreads that said "She is delulu but aren't we all?" and I think that really sums up the book. I always enjoy stories where we really just spend a bulk of the time in the MC's head in an almost stream of consciousness narrative structure as the MC navigates everyday problems (many of which created by the MC herself). This book really felt like I was listening to a friend make absolutely ridiculous life choices but you just lover her anyway.

Gray is a fresh and exciting author whose debut has a lot of truly relatable and endearing specifics. I found her MC to be appropriately flawed and at times annoying, but in a way that I appreciated were character choices and authentic. I would absolutely read more from her and am excited to have gotten an early look at this new talent.

I am OBSESSED with this book. Thank you to @henryholtbooks for the ARC—from the Taylor Swift epigraph to the wrap-around cover, I loved GREEN DOT. Gray’s voice is so unique; she really captures the verbal cadences of millennial women and the way in which technology saturates contemporary relationships. Not since Drake’s Hotline Bling has a millennial dramatized with such emotion the transference that happens between our generation and our phones. Due to the crucial role the latter play in our affairs of the heart, the phone itself becomes a kind of love object.

The Taylor Swift epigraph was 100% perfect. My only gripe was that I wish it was the only epigraph to the novel. I get what the Ginsburg is going for but the Taylor Swift is such a genius move here that it deserved to stand alone.

GREEN DOT perfectly depicts the type of relationship one has in their early-to-mid-twenties; Hera has so many anxieties about adult life and she pours herself into her doomed relationship with Arthur in order to avoid confronting how she will make meaning in her life. It’s SUCH a stage and Gray shows it perfectly—Hera decides that if she can lose herself in Arthur, she will be happy, but he is ever out of reach. And, of course, that is why he has been selected for Hera’s “blank space”; he is appealing because he makes concrete the relationship that Hera already has to fulfillment, purpose, and happiness: inconsistent and fleeting. I adored how, at the end of the novel, Gray turns Arthur into the green dot in a different way—he becomes merely a blip in Hera’s past, once she realizes that she has been using his unattainability as a distraction from bigger, more interesting questions about her life trajectory.

Overall, I highly recommend GREEN DOT. Readers who love millennial fiction will enjoy it immensely.

I enjoyed this sparkling little novel. The wit and humor was well-developed, and the main character (even though a bit un-likeable at times) was a star. For the first time I felt I understood most of the pop culture references an author was making, which I loved. The portion of the book that took place in England, while it felt important to the plot, fell flat for me. I look forward to seeing what Gray does next.

it is very hard to read a whole book without sympathizing with its main character once.

this is actually not because the character in question spends this entire book sleeping with a married man, and a large portion of it sleeping with a man married to a pregnant wife, and a slightly smaller portion of it sleeping with a man married to the mother of a newborn. i have sympathized with characters who have done worse. although not by much.

it's because this character is SO unfeeling, so shallow, and so cruel in the worst way — the way that comes from just not caring about the interior lives of others. i don't know if this character has no interior life or is just uninterested in showing it to us, but it is not on page. not even implied.

i liked the writing of this at first, but eventually the constant slang and pop culture and devil-may-care mentality got old. it reminded me of greta and valdin at first, and then bad greta and valdin, and then not at all.

time passes in this book without reference, feelings grow without reason, and the plot just bumbles on. it's a frustrating read, unfortunately.

"Green Dot" details a young woman's mental and emotional decline as her inappropriate relationship with a married man progresses. I felt for Hera because I understood her feelings but was also frustrated with her actions. But I understand that, as a reader, I am able to have more objectivity and am not emotionally tied like she was. I think Madeleine Gray captures Hera's feelings and actions effectively, making this a relatable book.

This book is hard to read, but it is to Madeleine Gray’s absolute credit that I was on Hera’s side the entire time, despite being a 40something wife and mother who’s seen way too many of my friends, marriages break up due to cheating while pregnant. You never hate her, even when you hate what she is doing. Gray’s writing allowed me to re-see the world through Hera’s jejune eyes.and remember what it felt like to be 25. I even cried for her when the inevitable happens. I will devour everything this woman writes moving forward.

4.25

I really enjoyed this book! It was excellently written. It’s the funniest book I’ve read in a while and made me laugh out loud several times. The humor reminded me of Melissa Broder, but in my opinion funnier. It also had a good balance of seriousness, though.

It was a very frustrating book. It’s essentially 300 pages of Hera (the main character) making the same horrible choice over and over. It made its point though and the ending brought it up from 4 to 4.25.

I definitely don’t think this book is for everyone, but I enjoyed it and will definitely read more from Madeleine Gray.

I discovered this book while traveling in Australia - the title and the cover really caught my eye - and I was thrilled to get a copy from NetGalley upon my return to the States. I love a workplace drama (though drama may be overselling the worklife of Hera, a 24-year-old who reads comments online at a media outlet and escalates incendiary comments through an established color coded scale). It's a ho-hum existence until she has a meet-cute with Arthur, a journalist who sits a mere few feet away, and they start a non-stop dialogue over IM in their office - suddenly work isn't so boring. Alas Arthur is married - Hera breaks the 4th wall as she tells her story, admitting all the doomed clichés - and hopes - of such a relationship. I really enjoyed this book - the story is told in a fresh, compelling voice and I really felt for Hera. Look forward to more from this author.

Oh, Hera. I felt so bad for you throughout this book. A relationship like this never, ever ends well. However, I remember being young and naive, particularly with regard to dating older men. Sometimes we just need to learn these lessons the hard way. However, I did worry a bit for Hera when we read her internal monologues about whet her future would look like with Arthur. Some of the things she thought were so very unhealthy for all involved.

This book was witty and fun in its own way. I was eager to find out what happened next. It was very well written amd kept me engaged the entire time.
I typically turn my nose up at pandemic references, but this time it felt appropriate and not like it was thrown in the book as an afterthought or simply for the sole reason of including the pandemic in a book.

This was a wonderfully relatable debut novel! Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I heard buzz about this upcoming release a couple months ago and was able to get my hands on this recent publication via Netgalley. This book is incisive, hilarious, and slightly unhinged. I loved it. The tone of the writing is cutting yet honest and it draws you until you can no longer put the book down.

The plot follows our protagonist Hera, a young woman in Sydney in her mid twenties, trying to find her footing in life. She takes a job as a content moderator at a large newspaper and crosses paths with Arthur, an older senior editor who she eventually begins an affair with. The affair intensifies until Hera demands Arthur makes a choice: her and their future, or his wife and their past.

I can’t tell you how funny the writing in this book is. Hera is truly delulu but aren’t we all? She knows she’s making terrible decisions, and yet she speaks directly to the reader and recognizes her idiocy. Hera was both real and endearing, a little bit psycho and a lot emotional, and you really couldn’t help but root for her happiness. The length was perfect and despite the subject matter, this book was fun. From the way the author described the soul sucking atmosphere of corporate America to the niche Australian cultural references, I couldn’t put this book down. While karaoke scenes are typically botched in romance novels, Gray manages to turn this scene into a win. Additional praise for the sad but funny girl inner monologue.

I recommend this to all my chronically online ladies or anyone who enjoys reality tv. This book published on February 27th. Thanks to NetGalley for an honest review in exchange for a copy of the novel.

The very first thought I had after finishing Green Dot was: "That book really messed me up."

And yes, Green Dot really messed me up, but in that very specific way in which I am okay being "messed up" by a book...

In this book, we follow Hera, a twenty-something woman who is just trying to get through life without succumbing to the existential dread of being in your early 20s, when she enters into a relationship with an older, married coworker. This isn't a spoiler. This fact, that Hera's story is about her illicit relationship, is established from the get-go. She is telling her story from the future, post-relationship. And this is important. This is what *makes* the story, because she has the perspective of knowing exactly where her story is heading. She frequently pauses to speak to the reader, to say, "Yes, I know that this was wrong. I know that this was stupid. But bear with me as I try to explain..."

I could not stand Hera's choices. They infuriated me. But...I LOVED Hera. I loved her fiercely, like a little sister I wanted to save from herself. I loved her like I would love a younger me. Because even though I can't imagine a younger me making her specific choices, I know that younger me absolutely made stupid choices in the name of love. I could relate to her heartache, to her longing for stability, to her loving someone who was not the right person for her.

I absolutely recommend this book. Not because it is a story about cheating, but because it is a story about young adulthood, a story about family and friendships and work angst and love and heartbreak and growing up. And it's beautiful.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.