This one has been on my tbr for way too long. Green Dot - so aptly named - has an affair storyline, and while I'm not the biggest fan of stories about affairs, particularly when told from the perspective of the 'other' woman, this one sang to me.

Hera, the protagonist in Green Dot, is young, nearing her mid twenties but behind her counterparts in terms of career progression and generally being 'sorted' on the life front. She's done three arts degrees back to back and is living with her father, rent-free, and finds herself in the position of finally needing to find a job and take that next step into adulting.

Enter Arthur. From the get-go, there is a power imbalance within the relationship between Hera and Arthur. They meet at work, he is a journalist while she is a comment moderator, he's also the boss of his department and significantly older than her, financially secure, and of course, married. What starts out as an office flirtation rapidly progresses to an affair.

The novel is written in a first-person ominiscent narrative style, giving the reader the benefit of hindsight, as Hera breaks the fourth wall regularly throughout the novel to remind us that she knows she was behaving badly, stupidly, pathetically, etc. within certain situations with Arthur. I think it is here, within this space, that made me like this story so much and feel empathy for Hera instead of disdain. She's so young and so vulnerable, so desperate to be within the next stage of her life.

Green Dot is funny, particularly in the beginning, but the humour does fall off once the affair intensifies. It's very much a coming of age story for Hera, and as she reaches the conclusion, at long last, that this is not the right relationship for her, she also realises that the life she was reaching for with such desperation is not particularly the life she even wants.

I enjoyed this novel a lot. Desite the main character being so much younger than me and such a disaster throughout, it ends on a hopeful high and I think it has a lot to offer to many readers.

Belated thanks to Allen & Unwin for the review copy.

I had a feeling Green Dot by Aussie writer Madeleine Gray would make for a great poolside read this summer and I wasn’t wrong!

I was up north in Queensland for a few days and this was one of the books I packed, hoping for a funny and fresh take on sad-girl lit. And in fact it was the voice that sold me from page one. I must admit I’ve been a little bit wary of this genre lately - as you get further away from your twenties, it’s harder to remember all that angst, and perhaps I’d read a few too many of the same-sounding book.

But a novel always wins me over when it can make me laugh out loud, I found myself reading passages to my friend so we could both laugh over the accuracy of some of Gray's observations (she immediately borrowed the book from me too, so she was also sold!)

Our protagonist is Hera Stephen, a perhaps directionless young woman not so very keen on the prospect of having to work to make money, but also with some deep-seeded wounds that she probably hasn’t tended properly. At her new job as an online comment moderator for a newspaper she meets Arthur, a married journalist in his 40s, and falls head over heels into an affair doomed to fail. That’s not a spoiler, we know it from the start because Hera tells us…and because everyone knows no man ever leaves his wife.

Although I was predictably frustrated by Hera, I was also compelled to hear her out. As I mentioned, it was the voice in this that won me over. There’s no doubt Gray is a smart and capable writer, and her darkly funny and dry humour definitely aligns with my own. Hera is relatable in that she channels her feelings of loneliness and aimlessness into something totally misplaced. At the end of the day, who hasn’t done that in some form or another?

For lovers of Genevieve Novak and Dolly Alderton. Its a brilliant character study of some truly insufferable people. I hated them all and could not put it down.

A honest relatable look at floundering in your 20s, it's crazy how human Madeleine Grey has made someone who has become the other woman. Entertaining!

Once in a while, a book comes along that grabs you from the first few pages and you know you’re in for a real treat. A book that makes you want to push the pause button on life for a moment because you just can’t bring yourself to put it down. Green Dot is precisely that kind of gem. Madeleine Gray, in her debut novel, introduces us to the unforgettable Hera, a character whose humor, quirks, and vulnerabilities make her an instant favorite. Hera's journey, her friendships, and the touching bond with her dad create a hilarious and charming story. While this had me laughing out-loud, it is also so much more, delving into universally relatable themes that tug at your heart strings. Gray's writing is sharp, confident, and as hilarious as Hera herself. I loved it.