The writing stood out the most for me in this book. While Richard might not be a heroic main character and has his failings, he does live an interesting life. Some of the decisions he makes are frustrating, but you can see why he does the things that he does. The book has vivid descriptions - of New York, of dating in the modern era, of going through troubled times. It was delightful to read. The only thing that I wish the book more of was romance - although Richard is caught between two relationships, neither of them are romantic. So, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants to read about a passionate love triangle as the description might suggest, but I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a brilliantly written novel about life in the city and the strange complications of relationships.

Rating: 2/5
Queer: yep!
ARC: I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summary: A whiny gay man, Richard, disregards other peoples' feelings and somehow manages to get two people interested in him.

Review:

I reaaaaaaaaaaally wanted to like this, but I couldn't get into it. Richard was a hard main character to like, to be honest, and felt sort of like they were discounting bisexuality. I don't know. It didn't sit well with me. Also, Richard felt like the embodiment of all things baby boomers hate about millennials (which frustrates me, because that's not an accurate representation at all).

I feel as though Anne deserves so much better, and didn't deserve to be exploited.

Anne's the reason this gets 2 stars and not 1.

Going Dutch was kinda hard to get into but I did like the story. It was actually set up really well, I actually didn't realize it was being set up and all of a sudden I was in the middle of it. It was weird and at times uncomfortable but funny also. The characters were relatable and diverse.

The author has a gift for writing and describing awkward emotions. the writing is enough to keep you hooked.

I really liked the premise, I thought this would be a fun, and different read. I found the main character to be very unlikable. He had potential, but turned out to be very selfish, and completely deluded. The writing was great though! I thought the other really did a great job with the dialog, etc. Just Richard was so off putting. He would take no responsibility for how crappy he would treat people. I liked Anne, his fellow doctoral candidate, but was hoping she would stick up for herself when it came to Richard.

I had high hopes for this novel based on the synopsis, but I felt that this story fell short of its expectations. It is about a gay (bi?) man in NYC who is searching for love.

Richard, the main character, I found insufferable at times. He represented all the annoying things said about millennials these days. He has a lack of work ethic, doesn't cook, and all around is a touch useless; dependent on others to buy him dinner etc. The main crux of the story is his love triangle between himself, another man, and another woman. The execution of all three meeting was beautifully written and I literally felt myself cringing. I wanted to read on. But overall, his choices or avoidance of making a firm choice irritated me to no end. His flaws were a bit much for me at times and I love a good bumbling flawed character, but the execution of him in some situations at times felt stilted.

Overall, an enjoyable read that could have been more polished for it to be more exceptional and a bit more funny as well.

Thank you to NetGalley/Simon & Schuster for my copy and honest review.

I had high hopes for this book based on the description, but I was sorely disappointed. The writing style was very eloquent, almost to a fault. I felt like this highlighted all of the worst parts of what people think of millennial lifestyles. Richard was extremely annoying and whiny, wasting his fellowship money on unnecessary things. I almost didn't finish this, but I was able to push through it.

*Book received through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Unfortunately, like many of the other reviewers, I found this book insufferable. The characters were annoying and made bad, selfish decisions, and the writing was extremely pretentious which is the one thing that I truly cannot stand in a novel. I can forgive a lot but that just made me want to quit a quarter of the way through. Really wanted to like this one and was excited to give it a shot.

Received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A story about a gay man trying to find love in a big city and discovering more about himself as time . A little slow at parts but it was still able to keep my attention until the end. It gave a pretty cool and insightful look into the gay male community as well. i felt like I was actually there. There is some sex but not erotica levels of graphic. There was one specific scene where all 3 main characters met for the first time and it was so excellently written. I could feel the tension. overall a pretty enjoyable book that could have been trimmed down a little.

This book is what makes Millennials look bad: pretentious, faux intellectual, bemoaning their empty bank accounts, and snorting cocaine. No thank you.

I recieved an ecopy of this book "Going Dutch* by James Gregor in exchange for my honest review.

Um. I'll start off by saying I usually enjoy and actively look for LGBTQ books. This book was not for me sadly.

First the good. The writing is very proficient and well executed. The plot had a solid pace and was easy to follow. Anne was lovely .

The not good. I have no desire to reread this book again. I enjoy a large vocabulary as much as anyone but some of the words seemed to be used just for the sake of using them. Richard ....not likeable. When you think of him sour lemon face happens.

As a debut offering I'm sure it will find an audience.

I wanted to not like this book, and I wouldn't say that I *did* like it, but I did finish it despite struggling to care at various points about Richard and his whining and complete disregard for other people's feelings. On the one hand, I feel for poor Anne, of whom I suspect being vaguely desperate, but on the other hand, I think there is something satisfying about choosing the relationship in which you don't feel as if you're lacking.
Also, the author tried very hard to be clever, which was annoying but manageable.

Once I got oriented to the main character Richard's world, which is very different from mine, I hung in for the ride. The story goes somewhere interesting as Richard is between the possibility of finding a boyfriend (future husband material? in Blake and a different sort of intimacy and relationship with fellow grad student who is a woman (who may or may not be aware or care this his gay). I enjoyed this book, but it is one in which I wasn't really rooting for or identifying with any of the characters. There is definite tension as Richard commits to being in two different relationships at once.

Though the writing was often too smart for its own good and many readers will likely find the tone and the main character himself altogether intolerable, I enjoyed this awkward look at Richard's overlapping love & professional lives and the many asides to how depressing and difficult dating in the NYC is.

Pile on writer's block and the exhausting city summer and Richard is soon floundering. He is probably relying too much on his school colleague Anne to help him complete papers which he's been stuck on due to an obscene case of writer's block and ennui- but his future is riding on regular submissions to his course advisor as he's on a scholarship that pays for his whole life. He has a pretentious group of friends and bad luck finding a boyfriend (who should be husband material, his friend Patrick is always reminding him).

This is a laser-focused introspective novel full of haltingly cringeworthy situational dialogue. It was hard to put down as I kept turning pages wondering if Richard's agency would take hold now- or now- or now- or if would keep running from his obligations to his squalid apartment, waiting for everything he's worked for to crumble around him.

Did not finish. I tried several times, but this book just was not for me. The pace of it, the problems with his studies... I just couldn't be drawn in to try yet again.

I was given an e arc from netgalley in exchange for an honest review,all opinions are my own.
I unfortunately did not live this one. I couldn’t connecg with any of the characters and found most of them to be annoying and often time whinny. Really let down by this one.

Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 
Going Dutch was a decent enough read. But the protagonist was very unlikable. The only reason I didn't dnf this book was because of the extremely eloquent narrative style. 
The story revolves around a 20 something single gay guy pursuing his Doctorate in New York with a very low self-esteem and seemingly incurable writer's block.
At first glance, Richard appears as a nice nerdy guy with relatively normal relationship struggles, insecurities and an empty wallet. But he turns out to be a selfish, pathetic liar who cheats on two lonely people and calls it his due for all the lonely years he has spent without love. He uses Anne, a fellow doctoral candidate, to get ahead in his career and pay for his extravagant dining habits. He gets into a pseudo relationship with her, treats her like dirt, yet plays the victim card every time she takes a stand. Simultaneously, he gets into a relationship with Blake, a lawyer he finds online, and builds everyday fantasies around him, only to walk out on him when things don't go his way, claiming to be suffocated in an unequal relationship. Whatever deep rooted pathological issues Anne might be having, she could have just said 'No, thanks' when Richard comes around the second time. Even Blake was pityful, playing second fiddle in a completely messed up relationship. There was not a single halfway healthy relationship portrayed in the book. 
Fickle and unreliable, I had a hard time seeing Richard as the good guy. Sexual ambiguity apart, he was two timing and taking advantage of a lonely, desperate woman. I don't think I can sympathize with a character like that, no matter how hard his life is or how desolate.
Even the awesome writing couldn't save this insipid storyline. 3 stars, and that too only because I'm feeling generous.

I appreciate that the author was trying to create a narrative about how LGBTQ dating in a large city can become overwhelming. However, I thought the narrative was a bit too cynical to become intensely attached to, and the character not very approachable. I think if the narrative was a bit more concise, I would've been really interested in this read. I overall found the read to be entertaining, but at times a little bit convoluted when the narrator would go into stream of consciousness or tangential threads.

While the premise for Going Dutch was intriguing, the execution was not captivating enough for me. I did not connect to the characters or find the exploration of Richard's choices meaningful. However, it is a fast read that provides some interesting starting places for discussion.

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley for an early proof of this.

I was very much hoping to like this book, it has a lot of what I typically look for and yet somehow I feel quite let down. With everything in the media (and constantly from older generations in real life) I am tired of hearing about self-centred wishy washy millennials and that is what this book felt like. The main character - through both his personality and his actions - was incredibly unlikeable and it was far too long a book to not like the lead.

The writing itself was very good and I hope that someone finds this book useful for themselves or finds some enjoyment from it - the more LGBTQIA+ books on the shelves the better!