I hate to rate this book so low, because I was really looking forward to it! Gen Z girl trying to find her place in the corporate world? Excelling in school but struggling with "adulting?" Navigating identity and messy relationship dynamics, while also feeling disillusioned by it all? Wanting to find love and connection...but with someone who can never fully want her in return? GREEN DOT sounded right up my alley. Sadly, I just couldn't fully get into this one. I was also disappointed with how quickly the story's "humor" veered into insensitivity, sounding disrespectful rather than "darkly hilarious" as the synopsis describes. Within the first 10% or so of the book, our MC compares getting an office job to going to an abortion clinic "because everyone seems sadly determined to gain entry to another room that will take something from them." And when a coworker gives her a tour, Hera describes her as having "the embodied exhaustion of a Holocaust museum tour guide." There are several instances of these types of remarks (at least in the version I read).

Beyond that, I wished both Hera and Arthur had a little more depth. I usually enjoy characters who are unlikeable and make frustrating decisions, so that wasn't an issue for me at all, but here I just couldn't feel fully invested in them or their relationship. I thought there were so many interesting aspects to Hera's character, like her family life, that I would have liked to see get even more development. I really enjoyed reading about her relationship with her dad (he and the dog, Jude, were the best characters!), and would have liked to see more of those moments, but also wanted to know more about her relationship (or lack thereof) with her mom. Overall, I love some good sad girl litfic, but unfortunately, GREEN DOT just fell a little flat for me. However, if you're also a fan of those types of books, you might feel differently! Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC.

Young girl meets older married man who happens to also be her coworker,,, a tale as old as time...

The way that I lovvvveedddd this book. The witty commentary... the relatable content... the gorgeous one liners... I loved this. It made me laugh and it made me feel some deep feels... Gray really nails it with the employment search struggles, workplace woes, and "relationship" blues. I can't imagine someone not relating to at least pieces of this. Unfortunately for me... I related to a whole hell of a lot LOL

the writing was difficult because it’s all from hera’s perspective and hera is (very) delusional and (insanely) self absorbed.
its very much written as a streamline of her thoughts, which was confusing because she drops random anecdotes and opinions that just get redundant and hinder the flow. i can concede that this was done to prove a point, but she was “self aware” to the point where the concept itself lost all meaning and her thought process becomes a repetitive, annoying cycle.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6261454510

I would like to thank NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on February 27, 2024.

I loved it. Maybe because Hera was working within Communications (me core) or maybe because she uses her dark humor to cope with her trying to figure out what she wants. Hera and the plot is super relatable for any post-grad trying to figure out when it's time to "grow up" or what it even means to start doing so.

The first half of this book sucked me in. I was drawn to Gray’s writing style and her ability to convey Hera’s feelings and emotions to the reader through inner dialogue. In many ways, I related to Hera and her inability to see herself in the never ending grind of work life as an adult.
My feelings of relating to Hera did end when she knowingly continued her relationship with Arthur after learning he was married and had not yet left his wife. I was especially appalled when they stayed together after learning that Kate was pregnant.
However, while I was completely disgusted with the behavior, I found myself consistently needing to know what happened to them next. Madeleine Gray’s writing kept me engrossed in a story that I normally would have no interest in. I was also proud of Hera’s growth in the end, though I wish she would have made better decisions earlier on. However, the blame is still on Arthur, and I’m glad that Gray maintained that sentiment in the end.

I loved this book. You will love it, too if you relate to Hera. She is the one telling the story. Hera is 24 and a bit adrift, she has 3 art degrees, but she just isn’t that excited at her job prospects. She knows it’s time to finally get a Real Job, and well being a Communications Moderator is a mind-numbing and useless job. How will she possibly endure this? Fortunately, Hera gets through life with her sarcastic dark humor. She starts making jokes with her fellow worker, Mei Ling. It is quite funny, and right away Heda was my girl that I would route for.

Then things get much more complicated. She starts messaging Arthur, an older journalist and they start being a little flirty, then that moves to drinks with colleagues, and next are alone at Hera’s. Right away, she finds out he is married. Hera knows she should end it, but deep down she knows this guy is different. She has dated both guys and girls, but it never meant much to her. Arthur she has intense feeling for and when they talk about it, so does he. This is not just going to be a fling or a short romance. No, both say they are all in. Hera has been feeling depressed and unsure how to get on track with her life. It is completely understandable at her young age. I think before Arthur, she would roll her eyes if you asked her if she be with a married man. She does worry about the effects this will have on Arthur, his wife, and at the bottom of the heap, herself. Yet, she tells us she is not going to walk away. Many more incidents happen and she tells Arthur she needs time to think it over, but she knows she is not leaving this relationship. It comes to completely define her.

Hera wants something more out of life. This is it, she is intoxicated on love. I could understand that and felt for her. It’s easy to say something is completely wrong, but when you love someone deeply, you lose site of that. So, I wanted Hera to be happy. I wanted her to have the future both her and Arthur were planning. She even admits maybe she just wanted to achieve something, that someone would give up all the things she wanted and do this just to be with her. It satisfies her sense of purpose and she will feel safe, secure, and loved as she always wanted. Hera makes many mistakes trying to get this to work. She is lucky she has her friends Soph and Sarah to listen and ground her, but they are not going to change her thinking.

At 24, you are just stepping into yourself and meeting someone older who is smart and accomplished, well I get that. Hera is also very intelligent herself and she is funny. The book made me laugh so much and then I’d cry with Hera. It made me remember being that young and how the world seems a little simpler. Pushing Hera’s sarcasm aside is easy, she’s just using it to cope. Deep down, and you really don’t have to dig far, she wants to be accepted, accomplished, and loved. It moved me so much more then I expected.

This is Madeleine Gray’s first novel and she does a fantastic job with it. Best debut I’ve read this year by far.

Thank you NetGalley, Madeleine Gray, and Henry Holt & Company for granting this book to me. I always leave reviews of books I read.

This wasn't for me but those closer in age to Hera will no doubt find some if not much of her experience and angst relatable. A 20-something woman living in Sydney who is wandering through life and having an affair with a married man-whose wife is pregnant- is not a likable character but she makes sharp observations. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

I started seeing this book everywhere recently, and I was delighted to get to read it in advance of it publishing thanks to Netgalley and Henry Holt and Co.

This book is reminiscent of "chick lit." BUT the writing is**significantly** elevated, so I almost hesitate to say that! I am surprised that this is a debut novel because it is expertly crafted for this genre.

In the first half of the book, we meet Hera, a 24 year old well educated, book smart, but perhaps not so much life smart, woman who falls in love with her superior at work, who happens to be almost 20 years older than her … and married.

This book has a great opening and is full of humor from the start. We see Hera’s self-awareness and how she uses that to curate what side of herself she allows people, particularly Arthur, her love interest, to see.

Hera is young, she has multiple degrees, and she has a father who genuinely unconditionally loves and supports her. She could have anything she wants, and yet, she insists on pursuing this man. Having been with only women before, this is an especially big change for her.

What was most interesting was how Gray turned around the evil mistress trope, as we see this relationship develop from the point of view of the mistress. Especially with this age difference, who bears the blame? Should Hera answer to the wife? Or does the culpability for that ignominy fall on Arthur alone?

Gray deals with all this with so much comedy, but as we enter the second half of the book, it sneaks up on you that at its heart, this is a sad novel. Hera was a bit lost and lonely prior to this relationship, but her world keeps getting smaller as she falls further in love with Arthur and puts her life on hold while she waits for him to leave his marriage so that they can start their life together.

Hera gets lost in her own head, constantly waiting for Arthur’s “green dot” to show he is online so that they can connect, analyzing everything she says and does in an effort to convince him to do the right thing by her, tell the truth and honor his love for her. The story gets darker and darker as this becomes all consuming for Hera.

The story is told from Hera’s perspective, looking back upon this time of her life, so we know the ending from the very first page. And yet, even when you are as shocked as Hera's friends are at her cognitive dissonance about what she's doing, you still want to keep reading.

4.5 stars for now.

Disclaimer: This is another sad, messy, disaster girl lit fic with mostly unlikeable characters making poor, terrible, immoral decisions. If you don't like books like that, steer all the way clear of this one! It also takes place in the last half during the pandemic!

I normally am not one for reading books about affairs. They're triggering in so many different ways. But this novel, from the jump, lets you know that we're following a woman who falls in love with a married man that won't leave his wife (I'm not going to lie, I started this book and then set it down and forgot about that part, so part of me was wondering how it would shake out while also knowing how it would shake out, you know?). And this woman was also very relatable for me, in non-disloyal ways, from the first page, so I wanted to continue reading.

I think Madeleine Gray wrote a really great, observant, funny, and sad novel. I laughed out loud. I cried. I was angry. I underlined and highlighted so many parts of this book because they resonated on so many different levels. I've never cheated on a significant other, and I never plan to, but the way she described friendships and relationships in general were spot-on. How do you navigate those relationships as friends watching another friend make absolutely shit decisions? This book touches on what it means to be a woman in a relationship with a man. Our main character, Hera, is constantly at odds with trying to empower and speak up for herself while walking this fine line of satisfying a man who is promising her true and forever love. The commentary on that, in itself, was so interesting. It explains why she stays in this toxic, terrible situation (not every reader will find that validating--I didn't, but I empathized with it).

Overall, I knew I would more than likely enjoy this novel, but I didn't think it would hit quite the way it did. Another one for the catalogue of disaster girl novels that I'll be thinking about for a looooong, long time.

Green Dot by Madeleine Gray was such a joy to read. I honestly believe that what makes this book so much fun and entertaining to read was the main character, Hera. She's not perfect but she's lovable in her own way. I flew through this book and could not get enough of Hera's thoughts. I think it does a great job of showing how messy your 20s can be and feel. I also think it has a FANTASTIC cover. It's so eye catching. Luckily, this is one of those times where the book cover is just as good as the book itself. I cannot wait to read more from Madeleine Gray.

Thank you to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Co., and the author for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

Do you like morally gray, sarcastic, quick-witted, darkly-humored, socially awkward, Australian female main characters in your novels? If so, this is the book for you.

Hera is 24 years old and quite possibly one of the most apathetic individuals to ever grace the pages of a book. She has multiple degrees and enjoys learning but has no desire or drive to achieve more for her future. She is disenchanted with the mundanity and absurdity of her everyday life, settling for a menial job as an online community moderator at a news company. Hera is bisexual and has never really had a deep connection with someone beyond the physical - until she meets her dorkishly charming British coworker, Arthur. Not only does she realize she shouldn’t “dip her pen in the company ink”, but Arthur is nearly two decades her senior. Arthur is also married. But Arthur makes Hera finally feel a tingle in her deadened senses, and her future that seemed so bleak is now filled with wanton possibility. The little green dot next to Arthur’s name on her device becomes a welcome distraction from her unmoored existence.

This is not a unique plotline and we know how this is likely going to end. But I did enjoy following Hera’s self-absorbed monologues as she navigates this controversial role of playing the side chick. The characters in this book are wholly unlikeable but there were also many relatable moments. Her relationship with her dad was endearing for someone who struggled immensely with interpersonal relationships. The writing was clever and funny and I laughed out loud many times at Hera’s self-deprecating humor. As I read, I looked back at my own life as a twenty-something professional and reflected on the insecurity I felt trying to fake-it-'til-you-make-it as a fledgling adult. And who of us hasn’t tried to fill a void in ourselves with a partner who we know probably isn’t the best for us?

Yes, Hera’s a homewrecker. But the author also paints her as more than a caricature of a trope - Hera feels very human despite her immoral actions. Ultimately, this is a coming-of-age story about a girl who wants to want something. Splendid debut that I would recommend to fiction lovers of all walks of life.

Agh, this is such a bummer. I was really looking forward to this one and couldn't get past the first 40 pages. Everyone enjoys a slow burn from time to time, but I just couldn't get into this one at all. I am still very thankful to the publisher and author for sending this one my way, but it just wasn't for me.

I loved the main character - she’s really the star of the show in this novel. She is a very relatable morally grey character who engages in unlikeable activities - not an easy character to write and get people to relate to. While I maybe wouldn’t make a lot of the same choices, I was able to understand the MC’s rationale and it made her much more real. This was funny, sad, tense, and messy all at the same time. Reminded me a lot of Thirst for Salt and No Hard Feelings, two books I greatly enjoyed. Overall, a great read that was relatable, funny, and devastating all at once.

Thank you to Henry Holt and Co. and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“An irresistible and messy love story about the terrible allure of wanting something that promises nothing.”

Ugh, I loved this book more than is probably healthy. Although I am well out of my 20s, this book took me right back to trying to find yourself and grasping at anything or anyone who promises to make that journey easier - even if they’re actually making it much more painful.

Hera has just joined the workforce and hates it, but her days are made more bearable when she embarks on an affair with her married co-worker. So many of Hera’s choices will have you begging her to stop, but it also endeared her to me more. This book is razor sharp, laugh-out-loud funny and touching. In short, it has everything!

I knew from the epigraph that I was going to love this one; quoting Ginsberg's Howl and Taylor Swift's "Blank Space"? Yes please!

It's interesting reading this at this point in my life. Hera's thoughts felt universal for women in their 20s. Gray captured that feeling so well. I had to keep reminding myself that not only am I not in my 20s, I'm actually Arthur's age. Bland, generic, terrible Arthur.

I thought the book was paced well, and I appreciated that Hera was telling the story in hindsight. To me, it made it feel like the reader and Hera were on the same team, journeying to the story's inevitable end.

Hera’s story is one I think many women can sympathize with. She’s attracted to a guy at work. He’s attracted to her. He’s married, but they start up a relationship anyway. She wants him to leave his wife and he says he wants that too. But he won’t leave her. And of course, there’s a baby coming. Hera knows the relationship is doomed, but continues anyway. At one point she moves across the world to get away from it. We all know where the story is going, it just doesn’t feel too good getting there.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

GREEN DOT by Madeleine Gray. Woof! What a book. I absolutely love the header of the plot description so I'm going to just copy and paste it here: An irresistible and messy love story about the terrible allure of wanting something that promises nothing.

Hera is a struggling 20 something in Sydney. It's 2017, she has no career, and a few close friends. She's bisexual, but hasn't been with a man in a while. That is until Arthur wakes her up from her doldrum office job. He is 40 something, quirky and adorable, but has a secret. He's married, and it's not until they begin an affair that Hera finds out.

Most of the book is you screaming at Hera in your head saying: don't do this! Do not continue with what you are doing! But of course, she does. The affair goes on for years and we experience each and every high, low, disappointment, You will see yourself in Hera, and it won't be pretty, but Gray's incredible writing style (loved ALL the subtle pop culture references) will give grace to both yourself and Hera. It's a somewhat simple book, but a daring one that will stay with me.

3.5 stars for me
I struggled to like the main characters, even though I really wanted to like them. Despite not loving the characters of Hera and Arthur- I did find parts of the book and Hera’s banter funny! The plot (young 20-something female falls in love with an older married man) showcases her personal journey into figuring out who she is.

For fans of Conversations with Friends and Fleabag, Green Dot was magnificently written. About a third of the way in, I was totally hooked. Despite knowing where the relationship in the story was likely headed, like the main character, I maintained hope. That's Gray's power in telling this story. I felt for and with Hera as she navigated the depressing expectations of her workplaces, compared herself to her friends, and navigated a love that was probably bad for her, right from the start.

On another note, Hera's dad is a shot of sunshine and the dream supporter for literary millennial sad girls.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced review copy.