I enjoyed Green Dot and found it a gripping and pacy read. There were elements to it that made it clear it was the work of a debut author, rather than someone with several published novels under their belt - the part where the protagonist moves to the UK, for example, felt slightly unnecessary to me. That said, it was an enjoyable read overall and I would recommend to friends

An absolute better of a book 5 stars excellent story that evoke such a wide range of emotions along with the tale. If you're thinking of an affair this lays it out shamelessly to be digested. Run, don't walk to read this.

3.5*

“Is love just when you decide that having power is less important than having your person?”

Green Dot rather perfectly encapsulates the lonely, insecure existence of being “the other woman”. The writing was witty and warm, and Grey peppers the text with popular culture references that sang to my soul…Bernard Black, Arrested Development and Lucille Bluth, Eternal Sunshine, Clueless and so on.

I was utterly charmed and wanted Hera (our hero) to be my friend, but all the references did begin to get a bit tiresome after a while, and their arguably excessive usage will undoubtedly mean the book will age horribly.

Her father sounded adorable, but I wish her difficult and damaging relationship with her mother was explained, it was mentioned too often to remain so mysterious. And it felt a shame to not write more about her time in the UK.

I think any woman who has been waiting for the mythical knight in shining armour to rescue her from the banality of life will relate to much of what’s written.

“ Maybe I gave him too much credit from the beginning. But what is lust if not generosity persevering? I wanted him to be what I needed, and so that is what he became.”

It’s definitely a novel for the sad girl fans, but that’s not a slur, I’m certainly in that camp. It just felt a little repetitive, meandering, and opportunities for investing in areas of interest were missed. Tonally it felt a little unsure of what it as trying to be, and seemed to move over and back from incredibly clever and insightful, to self conscious pretence to flimsy fluffy fun. And the random breaking of the fourth wall near the end was just confusing.

I did enjoy it though, what I liked I loved, and and for a debut effort it’s strong enough to make me keep an eye out for Gray’s next work.

This was such a gem to find! I found Hera to be so relatable with her mid-20s crisis and entry to the job market. The mistress romance is nothing new, but Madeline Gray makes the trope be super refreshing. One of my top 2023 reads!

Entertaining collection. Some parts I even think of using as poster materials and the thought behind the stories and prose really stood out to me.

Green Dot by Madeleine Gray has an endearingly relatable and realistically flawed narrator and is the perfect blend of funny and sad. I would definitely read anything more from this author.

Hera, an intelligent 24 year old with 3 arts degrees, is completely and utterly bored with her life until she starts a new job and becomes enamored with her much older (and much more married) colleague, Arthur. We follow along, from her perspective as she begins an affair with him, daydreams of a future with him and the consequences of their affair.

I genuinely loved this book. Going into it, I was pretty sure I could predict the ending (we all know how these stories go) but wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it. However, I quickly found myself falling in love with Hera as a character, she is fantastically sarcastic and the deadpan, dark humor throughout this book really does make it a pleasure to read.

This is such a refreshing telling of a familiar story, one that gives Fleabag vibes and will keep you in that sweet spot between laughter and tears throughout.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC, one of the best I've had so far!