Dan Taylor Is Giving Up On Women

by Neal Doran

[Leah]

When Neal Doran asked me to read and review his debut novel Dan Taylor is Giving Up On Women, I was chuffed. I’d spotted the bright blue cover on Amazon a little while earlier and earmarked it as a book I wanted to feature on the site. I was eager to dive in, as I love novels written from the male perspective – they’re such a rare thing, that it’s a bit of a treat. It’s so nice to see how male minds differ, and how males handle different situations etc and assuming from the title Dan was going to give up on women – something I presume is quite a difficult thing to do, being a man and all, I was intrigued as to how he would accomplish such a task.

Sadly, although I did enjoy Dan Taylor is Giving Up On Women, it wasn’t what I expected at all. I thought it was going to be a novel about a man who went celibate for a while. Who spent more time doing other things than chasing women etc. and although Dan himself does give up on women, his best friend Rob and his wife Hannah (aka the Harrison’s) don’t allow him to do that, and instead set about setting him up on dates to try and find his perfect woman. Trouble is, the dates Hannah and Rob set him up on are the most disastrous dates in the history of the dating world. I’m talking a weirdo with a peanut allergy that goes severely wrong; a bike-loving klepto… I’m sure most of the dates Dan goes on do happen in real life but they seemed so insane, so out there, so far-fetched! I felt so sorry for Dan and kept wondering just what would come next!

I did enjoy the book, but I felt it was only OK. It didn’t blow me away, and I wasn’t as invested in Dan as I might have liked to have been and I certainly didn’t like Delphine, I wanted to swat her! I did, however, love Hannah and I felt she should have been the driving force behind Dan. She was there, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted more of her because she was a brilliant character, definitely my favourite by far. The novel had it’s moments, and I certainly snorted with laughter a couple of times, and I’d definitely look out for another of Neal Doran’s novels as he does get into the male mind quite well – Dan was a good character, he just didn’t blow me away. Definitely a good read, definitely one for you if you like novels from the male perspective, I just wanted a bit more oomph and it would have been fabulous. Worth it though to read about Dan’s disastrous dates, believe me.