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.

as a certified lover of the “millennial women fumbling through life” genre it pains me to say this but i think we need to shut this genre down until we can figure out wtf is going on.

because THIS BOOK? what was the reason? where were the editors (if there were any at all)?

this book reads like someone gave chatgpt the following prompt: millennial white woman struggles post-grad & has illicit love affair, include references to being chronically online ad nauseum (emphasis on twitter references from 2016), fatphobic remarks (with no nuance), include a laundry list of offensive metaphors & analogies that don’t sufficiently explain the situation at all.

cringeworthy writing aside, when i started reading i was highlighting like crazy, not because the quotes were meaningful in any way but because they were deeply offensive.

examples of egregiously offensive quotes (that made literally zero points):

1. the author compares waiting to be called in for a job interview to an abortion clinic waiting room, but suggests that getting an abortion is actually EASIER than going through the job interview process (ma’am?!?).
2. “max didn’t know that inside my skinny body was a fat person waiting to break free.” (HUH???)

i understand the protagonist is meant to be insufferable but my god, could she not have come up with other analogies (& ones that actually work)? if nuanced, these books can work so well, but sadly there was no nuance to be found here.

i’ll admit when books are simply just not for me but i am actually THE target demographic for this book & reading it incensed me. the second half of the book had some gems but having to trudge through the first half of the book was just too much.

this book is trying far too hard to be “edgy” & therefore elicits the opposite effect.

thank you to the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

This week’s headline? It’s better to live without expectations

Why this book? We all know why 👀

Which book format? ARC

Primary reading environment? Bed

Any preconceived notions? The affair might be your run-of-the-mill affair

Identify most with? “I am not good at being on my own, without distraction.”

Three little words? “Zelda was GASLIT.”

Goes well with? So much wine, dinner with friends, parks, hotels

Recommend this to? If the synopsis intrigues you then read the book. Tbh, it’s been difficult for me to give über specific recs lately.

Other cultural accompaniments: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/feb/01/green-dot-by-madeleine-gray-review-witty-tale-of-obsessive-love

I leave you with this: “I know that sometimes the best audience for your jokes is yourself.”
“But women have been forced to harm themselves in the process of making men accountable for millennia. I have been in training for this moment. I will not be quitting, and I tell him as much.”
.
I think I wanted more from this book, but maybe I shouldn’t have expected the male character to not be the stereotypical man who cheats on his wife and such an idiot. It became annoying when Arthur kept telling Hera he’ll leave his wife and then putting it off. I don’t have patience for this behavior in real life and I have less patience when reading about it, I guess, because it took me longer than I anticipated to finish this book.
Barring that, there were some funny moments and there’s a lot of good quotes - I couldn’t share them all here due to the character limit for posts. I wanted more of a friendship between Hera and Mei Ling, or I just wanted more Mei Ling because she was the most interesting character in my opinion. Honestly, a lot of Hera’s relationships, romantic or otherwise, were very superficial - even her longtime friendships came off that way - and I was left wanting for more emotional depth, but maybe the characters weren’t meant to go that deep.

And I think I may be done with narrators in their twenties for a while. Call me ageist, I don’t care. I want to read about different experiences. These sad girl narrators are all starting to sound the same.

Green Dot is available now.

“So I decide. Standing in this dank alleyway I decide I’ll settle for a sliver of the love I want, in the hope that one day soon, there will be space for it to become more.”

I enjoyed this book a lot, while simultaneously wanting to shake some sense into this woman for the whole book. This novel provides a look at how disheartening and soul-crushing entering into the workforce can be, while being unable to escape the necessity of it. However, the main experience this novel explores is falling in love with a married man and what being the mistress feels like. It was difficult to read sometimes because we are in her head, which meant we were in delulu town for a while. The writing was fantastic (I loved the unexpected breaking of the 4th wall). It was funny, heartwarming, irreverent, and tense. I will definitely be getting a physical copy of this book!

DNF at 23%....the writing style was too quirky and hard to follow.. I just had a really hard time paying attention. I also didn't realize going into this one that the plot focused on an affair. That is a very triggering topic for me.

I really enjoyed (hmmm…maybe not enjoyed but appreciated) this book. It’s very well-written, and packs an emotional punch. I was drawn into Hera’s poor decision making and empathized with her despite her pain being mostly self-inflicted. And the anxiety it inspired in me was truly evidence of its power.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Hera is 24, lives with her dad (whom she adores,) and realizes she needs to start living the adult life. The job, though, is an online moderator which is monotonous, and leaves her wondering if this is all that there is for her future. She's bisexual, but she finds herself attracted to a manager in the office who is much older than she. They begin a flirtation over IM, which (as it usually does) progresses to a physical relationship. She is so in love, she feels Arthur is in love with her, but then...she finds out he's married. This is a tale as old as time, but what's unique is that the author really made you feel every single bit of this affair. The highs and then lows, the inability to move on, and hanging on to the fact that Arthur (wait for it...) promises to leave his wife.
I loved this novel because Hera, with all her angst, worry, and love rings true to life. Highly recommended.
Thank you to Henry Holt & Company, NetGalley and the author for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
@NetGalley @HenryHolt&Company #MadeleineGray #GreenDot

4.25*
Green Dot follows Hera, a 24 year old woman living with her father, who, upon entering the workforce for the first time, starts a relationship with a married coworker.

I really enjoyed this book! Hera was a such a relatable, funny, but flawed character. Her voice was so distinct and her character so fleshed out that she felt like a real person. I really felt the increasing desperation and heartbreak that Hera feels as the book goes on. The writing was really well done. I thought it was really funny and had just enough pop culture references without feeling like too much. I also liked the inclusion of the Covid pandemic without it completely taking over the story.

I really enjoyed Green Dot and would recommend it to people who enjoy LitFic, and I look forward to more by this author!

Thank you to Henry Holt and NetGalley for a copy of this arc for review!

Hera is a 24 year old woman, living in Sydney and beginning her post-graduate life. She starts her new job as an online comment moderator, disliking her boss, but quickly falling for her coworker, a slightly older journalist, Arthur. Hera’s level of infatuation skyrockets, and soon she is all-consumed by this affair.

Hera tries to navigate this new phase of life as a working adult and her affair with Arthur. They mostly communicate through an app where Hera can see Arthur’s “green dot” indicating his online status.

Some of Hera’s behavior as she find her way in adulthood is relatable, but not all of it. She’s a bit unhinged at times, a bit naive at others, and has questionable judgment, but I couldn’t look away! I was entertained throughout Green Dot, not lacking in tense moments.

I have never finished a book in one sitting (and I still haven't) but if any book could convince me to do so, it's this book. I devoured it in two days and I want MORE from this author. I had no idea this was her first novel and I am a bit surprised as her voice is so definitive. Her humor disarmed me multiple times and I found myself really rooting for the narrator even though her complicated life decisions sometimes made me cringe inside. Her ability to call out the absurdities of our lives was so refreshing. I cannot wait to read her next book!

Good writing with a good start, but then it got away from me. I was not a big fan of some of the characters and it wasn't a book I reached for consistently. It was a bit of a chore.

Content warning:

- Alcoholism
- Disordered eating
- Intimacy
- Mental illness
- Pregnancy
- Suicidal ideation

Hera is our main character in Green Dot, and she’s an anti-capitalist who has recently finished her advanced degrees and is staring down a lifetime of work. Though she hates the idea of work with a passion, she still ends up applying for a job at a news station, where she moderates the comments under online articles.

Shortly after starting in the role, Hera falls in love with a coworker, and the rest of the novel explores how love can lead you to sacrifice yourself in the worst of ways. It’s exploration of growing up, sexuality, and how to manage our relationships with others is engaging, and the writing is fluid and gives the character a unique voice.

If you read Green Dot and you enjoyed it, you may also like:

- Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin
- Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
- The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane

Hera Stephen is a quirky and insistent anti-capitalist, who spends a majority of her life after high school avoiding the inevitable time when she’ll have to join the workforce. She pursues degree after degree, until she ends up living with her dad, needing a job. Though it physically pains her to do so, she sends out her application to a comment moderator job at a media organization.

To Hera’s surprise and dismay, she’s hired for the role, and when she shows up for her first day on the job, she finds that the comment moderators are relegated to a certain part of the office, and expected not to interact with the journalists or other “important” people. Her boss, Alison, is weird and overbearing, but her colleague Mei Ling has the same kind of dry humor as Hera, which makes the job more tolerable.

Hera pushes through the monotony at the office, continuously commenting on how horrible the whole thing is. The only upside of the situation is that she can now join in on work-related complaining with her friends, Soph and Sarah.

In the elevator one day, Hera runs into a journalist, and in a moment of bravery, asks him who he hates most in the office. He’s baffled at first, but later mouths “Doug” to her, which gets the ball rolling on their relationship.

They begin to chat at work, trading witty banter and getting to know each other better. One day, after a bunch of coworkers go out for drinks, the journalist, Arthur, and Hera end up getting a meal together after. Though they go home separately after that, it’s not long before they sleep together.

Immediately after Hera invites Arthur into her bedroom at her dad’s house, she discovers he’s married because of a call from his wife. Hera isn’t as concerned about this turn of events as you might think, and instead tells Arthur that she’s serious about their relationship.

Though Arthur promises Hera he’s going to split up with his wife, he comes up with reasons why it’s just not the right time to do so. Hera continues to believe him for a while, until one night when Arthur says he’ll meet her, but leaves her waiting in a park instead. After this happens, Hera decides it’s time to take extreme action, and looks for a job in the UK.

Hera tells her friends about Arthur’s unfortunate situation, and they commiserate with her, until they find out that Hera’s still seeing him. The longer they continue to see one another, the more uncomfortable Hera’s friends become with the idea.

She finds one, and tells Arthur that she’s leaving because he won’t leave his wife. He begs her not to go, but she’s trying to do what’s best. Hera goes to London and hates every minute of it. She struggles to make friends and finds herself thinking about Arthur all the time. When he messages her on her birthday, the doors are open again, and the two begin messaging like they were before. This is when Hera discovers that Arthur’s wife is pregnant, but Arthur says he’ll still leave his wife, and that Hera can even be a step-mother to the baby.

Right around this time is when COVID hits, and Hera suffers alone in her apartment for some time before caving and going back home. When she arrives in Australia again, she and Arthur reconnect. They continue to talk about how Hera can be a step-mother for the baby, and Hera gives Arthur an ultimatum: he has to leave his wife by the end of the year.

On New Year’s Eve, Hera prepares a cake and plans to celebrate with Arthur after he tells his wife about the affair, but he shows up at her apartment, saying he was unable to do it. She pushes the issue, saying that he has to tell his wife. Then, when Arthur does, his wife asks him to stay, and he does.

Hera is crushed when she realizes that she’s not a special mistress who will actually end up with the man, but instead one of the many who believe falsely that it will happen for them. She breaks it off, permanently, with Arthur. Her friends are happy to hear it, and welcome her back into the social life she abandoned to spend all her time with Arthur.

At the end of the book, Hera is approached by an adorable little girl, and when she looks up, she sees Arthur, who attempts to reconnect with her. Hera rebuffs him, asking if he’s left his wife, and he says that he has not. She finally sees through his veneer of being the perfect, honest man, and realizes that he doesn’t care how much he hurts her by continuing on with the relationship, only that he loves her and wants to have both things at once.

Okay, so now that you know all about what happens in Green Dot, let’s get into some of my thoughts on this book.

The first thing to know about this one is that it’s *not* a feel-good book, at all. I think it’s very by design that the first happy moment the character experiences is immediately squashed by the phone call from Arthur’s wife, and how he leaves as soon as he gets it. Him leaving right after them being together is a pattern that repeats throughout the book.

Speaking of Arthur leaving, this leads me to my next thought about this book, which I’m kind of torn about. On one hand, it is *so* incredibly frustrating to watch Hera make her choices in this one. What would have been most satisfying to read probably includes Hera getting out of bed as soon as she realizes Arthur is married, telling him off, and going to the wife shortly after to tell her about what her husband has done.

But—this book isn’t about what is satisfying, and instead depicts a much more realistic picture of what people are like, and how they can continue to choose the wrong thing, over and over, even when they’re shown and told it’s the worst possible choice.

So I’m torn about it because it was incredibly frustrating, but almost in a good way, like a metaphorical car wreck (because I would not actually feel that way about a real car wreck).

I did like our main character, and there are a few reasons for this. First, I think Hera was very funny, and that comes through in the narrative style. We see it in her interactions with her friends, her dad, and even with Arthur. I also share a lot of the same views with Hera, including not at all wanting to spend the rest of my life in an office, but finding that might happen anyway.

Speaking of her dad, he was one of my favorite characters in this one. There’s something satisfying about how steady and supporting he was, even when watching his daughter continue to pursue a married man. He never criticizes her, and instead is there for her, even when she makes poor decisions that hurt him specifically.

Hera’s friends are also a strong point in this book. I feel they could have been used as an element of drama, choosing to leave her when finding out about her affair, but instead they stay by her side. The book does something interesting here, showing how even though Hera does have a support system, she chooses not to use it when she needs it most.

I also appreciate both the cover and the title of this one. Green Dot refers to the online symbol Hera stares at when trying to see if she can chat with Arthur on Instagram, but it’s got other associations as well. It makes me think of a green light at a traffic stop, and how it’s contradictory to what Arthur does to Hera, as he seems to stop her life completely. The title may also be a reference to the green light in The Great Gatsby, which he is always looking at as he thinks of Daisy.

Overall, I thought Green Dot was an interesting, if depressing, read, and I gave it a four-star rating because I enjoyed it and would recommend it to a friend but I wouldn’t read it again.

Green Dot is the story of a young woman named Hera who simply does not want a career. Despite this, she takes a job moderating comments online. At this job she meets a 40 year old, married man named Arthur who she begins an affair with and falls deeply in love. Green Dot gave me every emotion. I oscillated between happiness and laugher to profound sadness. Hera was such a likable, funny, and challenging character. I truly rooted for her even when I disagreed with her choices. She felt to me, like a real friend. I could not put this book down. The writing was so engaging. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know.