Green Dot is all at once funny, upsetting, anxiety-inducing, and fascinating. Hera half-heartedly works as a comment moderator while flirting and then falling for her much older colleague.

Hera’s decision-making skills aren’t great but it was certainly entertaining to follow along her journey. This is a novel for fans of literary fiction, readers who enjoy rooting for characters who aren’t necessarily likeable, and anyone in the mood to reminisce about questionable choices they may have made while in their early/mid twenties.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Publishing February 27, 2024

"I tend to overestimate my own power when I think back on this night, almost like I am trying to absolve him of guilt for what happened after."

Madeline Gray’s debut novel comes with witty banter, lighthearted remarks with deeper sentiments, and intense feelings of want. Hera begins an affair with an older, married man - and continues against her known better judgement. What comes to follow is a tale of a young woman who so desperately has to cling to hope in order to not fall apart.

I found myself with a pit in my stomach for so much of the book. I found myself wanting to yell at her, but the rose colored glasses she dons are much too opaque.

An aside - it was unnecessarily diminutive about getting to know other people when dating and makes herself out of be a “mysterious and illustrious woman that all men and woman would fall for”. It was a bit dense at times, some of the humor clunky - but ultimately did what every good story does: makes me root for her as a person.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing an advanced copy through Netgalley.

Madeleine Gray’s character, Hera, is like the voice inside my head. I understand her so well yet I was angry as she ruined her life for Arthur even if I would have done the same. Hera is a character you root for even though you know she was lose, the classic underdog. I wish I could say this book ended happily although I knew it wouldn’t. I don’t know where Hera is headed or if she will ever find home.

An incredibly witty book that had me laughing out loud at some points, and wanting to scream at the main character at others. As a woman who was once a dumb person in their early twenties, I just wanted to slap some sense into Hera. Which means the book was effective, I think. The author beautifully put into words the thought process behind some of the worst, life-ruining mistakes one can make in their youth, while at the same time allowing you to sympathize with the person making them, no matter how morally wrong they are. Also loved all of the Simpsons references.

Madeleine’s writing pulled me in immediately. Her voice is fresh and clever. Her playful writing breathes extra life into Hera’s story.
Hera, a 24-year-old who lives with her father, has multiple degrees and no real professional experience. She begrudgingly begins a job in online comment moderation and slowly begins to befriend some of her colleagues. Her friendship with Mei Ling is fairly immediate but her slower-to-build affair with Arthur becomes the focus of the story. Despite Hera’s lack of ambition, her opinions and decisions are always strong, sharp and unwavering. This juxtaposition was handled really well and it kept me wondering what would happen next.
Ultimately, I really enjoy Madeleine’s writing style and find her voice to have a really great energy. I will definitely keep an eye out for what she writes next.

Green Dot by Madeleine Gray is an experience of a book. The main character Nera is a twenty something with her whole life in front of her and this tale joins her as she makes the decision to date a married man. It was an interesting read. Thank you netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book.

The epitome of new adult fiction if Gen Z feels Emily Henry is too millennial.

How insufferable were you when you were in your early twenties? We follow Hera in her bi-life girlhood as she lands in a relationship with a married man.

Believe me when I say there are no more good editors in the world. They all went away with Carver, unless you're with Cunningham. When we get sentences like these:

"𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦."

You know you have to throw the book across the room. Gray's novel tries to capture the essence of youth for Gen Z, to remain contemporary, but the book is littered with too many needle drops that play no relevance to the text itself. Okay, yes, I love Maggie Rogers and even Lizzo, but please write in WHY it matters and why it should work. If you wanted these needle drops incorporated, just give us the Spotify playlist to bookend the book! And your letterboxd! With prose like this and lackluster cultural references, Gray remains amateur at best. She then becomes the kind of writer you wait two or three books for to see a bit of maturity in her work.

Gold star for creating a bi narrative (bc we need more bi representation!) and a single brownie point for mention of Virginia Woolf's The Waves here:

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 “𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘐’𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 (𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 @ 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯)."

Because that's actually funny. There's a lot of humor and wit, which promises better work from Gray in the near future. I hope.

But girlies, if you're pining over a man after being a lesbian for too long, this one's for you!!!

This was a really good story! It's funny but will also make you angry and sad at the same time. You want to keep reading so you can find out how it all ends.

Hera, overeducated and underemployed, dips a toe into real life and starts working as a content moderator for an Australian newspaper's comment section, where she falls in love with a married man.

Stylistically, it's light, chatty, and persistently funny. GREEN DOT makes a very smart point about the value of humor in late-capitalist workplace malaise, and how life-affirming and solidarity-inducing it is to find people who can laugh at the same things. Hera is running her mouth constantly. I liked it best when it was about workplace foibles and dynamics, but sure, an affair makes sense. (I'm sure many will bristle at the morals of an affair-based plot, but as a reminder, these people ***aren't real.***)

I found the pandemic part of the novel weirdly fast-moving, and the end a little brisk, but the voice makes this a quick and enjoyable read. Sort of like if Fleabag and Bridget Jones had a baby with the blog Ask a Manager.

4.75/5

this falls into the mid-20s, sad girl book genre, & that’s probably a lot of the reason that i liked it. it follows the story of Hera (which, love the name choice, feel like i could really dig deeper on that alone) and her disaster of an affair with a 40-year-old coworker. pretty much devolves from there.

her character felt real, i understood exactly what she meant about being there but not being there, about glued to the phone (different contexts, but yknow), waiting waiting waiting. and since she IS the book, that’s pretty important. her inner monologue feels pretty faithful to a real person, and i can’t say that there was anything even too far-fetched in terms of plot.

one of the few disconnects was i didn’t feel it fully utilized to breaking fourth wall, addressing the audience feature. it felt like that was decided as the voice for the beginning, forgotten around the middle, and thrown a little jarringly back in at the end. but that didn’t really detract from it, just made me a little confused.

it’s one of those books where you know what’s going to happen the whole time, of course you do, but you still will it not to happen. and watch with dread as it inevitably does happen.

thanks to netgalley and henry holt & co for the advanced copy!

While our main character Hera makes questionable decisions, I found her to be a relatable and a likable protagonist. Hera is in her mid twenties and feels she's spinning out. She's living at home, she doesn't have a job, her life has stalled a bit. When an online forum moderator job falls into her lap, so does Arthur. Not long after meeting Arthur, who is a journalist and older, married man, Hera finds herself enamored. We follow Hera through her passionate, although messy, love affair where she is pushed to her limits and slowly finds her self worth.

Gray's writing is witty and has its fair share of dry humor. If you like the show Fleabag, you are destined to like this book. They both have a very similar vibe. I did enjoy this read, but found myself getting frustrated and tired of the same shenanigans between Hera and Arthur. There was most definitely a purpose behind this, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Other than that, I did enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review can also be found on Goodreads.

Madeleine Gray captured that aimless, nihilistic feeling of being in one's 20's, but perhaps too well. This was a challenging read that was ultimately unenjoyable for me. I'm glad that it's finding its audience judging by other reviews, but I won't be recommending it to others.

Thanks so much Henry Holt & Co and NetGalley.

Hera is a 20 something year old figuring out life. She has an affair with a married man as she is trying to figure herself out.

This story was so interesting. I am passed the horrors of the 20s, but I can remember how it was a confusing time because you think you know everything. The author does such a fantastic job progressing the story and talking about desperation and yearning for love and acceptance. I can recall being naive about relationships and hoping that a situation would change, even though deep down I likely knew it wasn't. I really felt for Hera as she utilized self destruction while coping with knowing that the man she loves is married. The supporting characters in this book are fantastic. I wanted more from Hera's other coworkers. I also appreciated how the pandemic made its way into the story. Well done.

This was an adorable, fun read. Madeleine Gray makes it feel like you're having a tea spill sesh with your bestie throughout the book. It feels like a two sided conversation. Our main character, Hera, responds to the comments she knows you must be making about her office tryst with a much older, married man in her office. By golly, her assumptions about the reader's reactions thoughts are spot on.

At the same time, you feel the pain and tension of Hera's struggle as she longingly waits for her beau to leave his wife (yeah right, amirite?). It takes a lot of nerve for her to even deliver the ultimatum, but he does agree to leave his wife by a certain date. Of course, hiccups happen and it's never a good time for Aurthur to leave his loveless marriage. While that may sound obvious and cliche, Here totally acknowledges that. Sher persists because of her love for him and the way he makes her feel about herself.

This isn't deep, it's a fun read.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved GREEN DOT, an office novel, an infidelity novel, a hilarious novel. Thanks to the publisher for the e-galley!

An automatic 5 stars for any book that can make me feel such *feelings.*

I was charmed yet obviously conflicted with the path Hera Stephens's love life was taking. At 24, she strikes up a relationship with her 40-year-old coworker, Arthur. And, surprise! He's married. They continue seeing each other anyway. She goes all-in on the relationship and believes him when he says he'll leave his wife. On and on this goes.

I think many readers will unfairly rule out this "unlikeable" narrator, but I'm pleased that she wasn't characterized as being cartoonishly evil and did in fact have all the complexities of a real person. She was naive and vulnerable, yet she also had a backbone and could speak up for herself. While many of her actions can't be justified, we see that she's young and misguided but not a truly bad person.

Also, I love her sarcastic, quirky observations. That in and of itself made this a worthwhile read.

Enjoyable portrait of mid-20s malaise and turning to an affair to seek meaning. Felt a little bit uninspired/stodgy, I didn't feel super connected to the narrator or driven by the story.

To characterize this just as a book about an affair is to minimize the spectacular accuracy with which Madeleine Gray has captured the anxiety-ridden aimlessness of navigating your mid-twenties. It is an experience of clinging to a life wracked constantly by change: both the small calamities of friends moving and parents aging but also the broader context of trying to envision a future in world riddled with pandemics and climate catastrophes. With this context well-established, it comes as less of a surprise when our protagonist Hera finds herself drawn to the intoxicating promise of love and stability with an older, married man, even as the reader can sense the inevitable outcome creeping in from the very first pages. There is a certain seductive irony in this: I knew what was going to happen between Hera and Arthur from their very first meeting, yet I couldn't stop reading, watching Hera's bitter self-awareness collide with her fragile hopes for a different life.

As much as Hera's choices were frustrating, her voice was eerily retable. I especially enjoyed Gray's exploration of Hera's bisexuality and how this identity impacted her relationships and self-image. As a bisexual woman myself, I felt keenly many of Hera's struggles, and highlighted a staggering amount of lines that captured emotions and experiences I shared but had never been properly able to put into words. Hera's character gave words to the loneliness that this identity can prove in me, and the pressure to change yourself depending on who you are dating.

Overall, I was impressed with the fresh perspective that Gray inject into what I generally consider a tired trope. I could sincerely feel Hera's pain and understand that knots she twists herself into in pursuit of future happiness, even as I frequently disagreed with her self-destructive choices. Maybe a controversial take, but think Madeleine Grey far outstrips Sally Rooney in capturing the melancholy of young adult existence, and I sincerely hope this debut rockets her into the recognition she deserves.

I was not a big fan of this one, unfortunately. The ending felt a little flat and unresolved to me, and I didn’t love the direction that it went in as the novel progressed. I do think others may enjoy it but it was not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Green Dot. All opinions are my own thoughts. Green Dot follows a 20-something year of Hera and her life moving through life in Australia. She gets a job working as a Social media Moderator and that's when she meets Author. From meeting him, she finds that falling in love is not simple. Author tells her an important detail and she slowly but surely starts to spiral. Now if you have seen Tyler Perry's A Family That Preys, you know that the Husband in an affair never leaves his wife and I swear I was screaming this throughout the book. It hurt seeing Hera going through what she went through with Author and I just cried for her at the end. I loved the pop culture references and Hera was a character that you could easily relate to. Her humor is dark but she's also a great friend and is loyal. The ending needed to happen to her and you wonder how she will move forward after everything is done. This book will for sure be a rollercoaster so buckle up for the ride.