ash's Reviews > Green Dot

ARC received for an honest review

i don't mean this lightly when i say that i was utterly devastated. finished this last night and i still can't get over it. that was a phenomenal reading experience.

i felt everything with the main character; i was laughing, i was falling in love, i was crying, i was angry, i was hopeful, i was crying, i was frustrated, i was desperate, i was delusional, i was longing, i was crying again. it was insane. and i think it is a testament to the author's writing skill to make a character so real and yet so endearing. i rooted for her. i saw myself in her. (and wow what a crazy thing to admit here.)

aside from the double ending punctuations, i don't think anything else bothered me. i usually don't like the presence of social media in novels but this one here is an exception. i also, on principle, don't think that three exclamation points should stand on their own as one line after a paragraph but here, it was appropriate and perfectly placed that i was just shocked of my own acceptance of it. plus, the karaoke scene that i usually love in fan fiction but don't commonly see done well in novels was so tense and so well set up and organized that i just have to applaud Madeleine Gray for this. add to this the sad yet humorous girl inner monologues, the music and movie references, and other pop culture or social media references, it was all arranged brilliantly. i don't know why it worked for me, just that it wasn't as corny or cringey as it is usually done in other novels.

i will say though, this book made me reflect on myself. a lot. i won't share them here but i must say that the author did such a great job with the progression of the plot, the presentation of the ideas, the rationalization of immoral actions, the expression of desperation, of hope, and of the absolutely sickening yearning. yearning for life, yearning for something big, yearning for someone, yearning for acceptance, yearning for love. and yes, it was sad, but it was also humorous. i was fully engaged and intrigued, so i really enjoyed myself here. and i bet the author was chuckling to herself naming her main character Hera!

anyway, pick this up if you like Madelaine Lucas' Thirst for Salt, Fleabag, Sally Rooney, and Diana Reid, and Genevieve Novak's books. or really, if you like a sad and funny novel that will make you reflect on your own life then go on ahead and read this one. this definitely made it to one of my top books this year!