I loved every single second of this book. I hadn’t read any of Nicola Dinan’s work before (and to be honest I didn’t even know who she was) but I will definitely be reading all her work now. Her voice is so unique and engaging and I’m so honoured that you at Netgalley offered for me to read this.
Disappoint Me is full of a cast of such real characters that I could have read so many more pages of. Max’s dryness never failed to make me laugh, and I want to be friends with her.
Will be picking up a physical copy also to annotate some beautiful lines that I had to read a few times to just sit in the awe <3

Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy of Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love a book that can make me laugh and cry. Dinan’s storytelling effortlessly layers navigating new relationships, worklife ennui, race, trans panic, families healing from addiction, and the truly lol contrasts between male and female friendships. I finished this book craving a holiday with my girlfriends and a walk with my dad in the Scottish countryside. I haven’t read Bellies yet, but I’m adding it to my list. I definitely want to read more from Nicola Dinan! Disappoint Me comes out at the end of May, so go ahead and add it to your pride month TBR!

I'm a Nicola Dinan superfan. I absolutely love how she writes about queerness, relationships, complicated life stages, and finding meaning. Her books are nearly impossible to describe in a nice, clean, short hook because they touch on so many different topics and follow a variety of characters. So just trust me when I say, read this book!

3.75 stars

This novel is giving you can't fix everything just because you're in your 30s now, and it also features some fascinating (and at times infuriating) characters.

Max and Vincent share dual perspectives, and the novel focuses on them as individuals and as a couple. Max's transness is - for obvious reasons - a focal point, as is the sexuality of both characters. I really enjoyed these elements more than some of the other content (which, at times, came at a slower pace than I'd have preferred and felt even a bit redundant in moments).

I'm here for any and all content featuring trans characters, particularly when the focus is not all trauma all the time, and Dinan brings that here. I'm interested in reading more from this author.

This was not for me. I was really excited about this book but really struggled to get into it. I just found myself having to reread and repeat paragraphs over and over. I was really looking forward to this but maybe I will give it another shot on an airplane or something because the concept was so interesting to me

I really enjoyed this book! Dinan is so good at weaving complex relationships that grapple with serious ethical and moral issues and also just...real life. The characters here were all fully realized and created an intricate tapestry of storytelling! I didn't like this *as* much as Bellies but would still highly recommend!!!

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for review.

Disappoint Me was my first Nicola Dinan book. If it tells you anything, as soon as I finished it, I immediately went online and ordered Bellies. I’ve also pre-ordered a physical copy of this one, because wow what a fun cover! Dinan gained a fan, for sure.

Disappoint Me follows Max, a witty trans woman navigating love, friendship, young adulthood, and an unfulfilling job. After falling down the stairs at a party and suffering a head injury, she finds unexpected promise in Vincent, a sweet, straight laced man with a corporate job, traditional Chinese parents, and a secret that he’s tried to keep buried in the past. With alternating perspectives and timelines, we go back and forth, spending time with both Vincent during his gap year in Thailand 10 years prior, and Max in present day as she begins to struggle with some scary health issues.

I’m not entirely sure what I expected going into this, but I know that I got so much more than that. I didn’t expect to laugh out loud, and I certainly didn’t expect to be fighting back tears. This is a story of familial trauma, gender / sexuality, forgiveness, and growth. And I loved every second of it. I felt truly connected to these characters- even side characters like Max’s family and Vincent’s past fling. Though they’re all pretty messy, I had a blast with them, and part of me was sad to say goodbye when I finished the book.

This was easily my favorite read of March, and it got me out of a month-long slump. Nicola Diann’s writing is so funny and charming- I truly can’t wait to read Bellies now.

Wow! I loved this. Beautifully written and profound book about friendship, love, shame and forgiveness. The FMC is trans and it was so great to have her perspective. I won’t provide a synopsis but I will say that this is a refreshing and modern work of literary fiction not to be missed!

Color me anything but disappointed. Truly the only piece of this work of art that could disappoint- is that it ended.
That Max, Vincent, Simone, Fred, Aisha, Jamie & families- that they left me on a cliffside wondering. Maybe I am even a little happy with this open ending. I think this may be the first time where I thought the future of much love characters, for beloved Max & Vincent, can play out in my head. I found myself enthralled with all of the dynamics and intricacies of the relationships in this book.

Dinan writes conflict in such a stunning way. Seeing the repair on the page- ooph, beautiful. The stream of consciousness style writing - which i know some struggle with, was just so vivid for me. As someone who's brain runs in a similar fashion to Max- I felt so close to her. Simone was another character I grew to adore. Wow did I find myself enamored with and wishing, hoping, waiting- for an adult friendship like that of Max & Simone. Waiting for my Simone.

How lovely that each of us can imagine the next steps, hurdles, triumphs of these beautiful characters. See them go to whatever heights we would wish for them. I would say to the author though- that i wouldn't complain for even a moment if there were 300 more pages of what comes next.

Infinite thanks to Nicola Dinan & The Dial Press for my Advanced e-galley - and for introducing the world to such a cast of characters that wont be forgotten. Queer fiction is truly here to stay at the top of all the best lists.

this has so beautifully raised the bar for queer fiction.

the writing is brutally honest and takes you on a roller coaster of emotions. i loved getting into Max's and Vincent's mindsets through the dual narration, their shortcomings and growth echoing through one and the other. all of these characters have depth and complexity to them, in a way that feels really refreshing in a queer novel.

i've never read anything close to this concept and i could not have appreciated it more.

what an incredible read.

(extra love this cover btw)

I struggled to get into this book. The style of writing had me lost at times. I felt as though every thought that entered the heads of the characters, and I mean EVERY thought, was put onto the paper. There were many points that I felt didn’t add to the story.

I struggle with hating and at times resonating with the MCs. We all have terrible thoughts from time to time but these characters had them in spades. Max truly had some awful thoughts while parading around like she was the savior or at the very least someone to emulate. Her holier than thou attitude had me rooting for someone to take her down a peg. The contradiction of Max was infuriating. She would act like a doormat at times and then others like an immovable wall on her principles.
Vincent was more relatable in that he was also kind of terrible but at least he was consistent with it. I could understand why he was thinking or doing some of the awful things he thought/did.
I didn’t root for either of these characters.

I did love that this book really did try and bring transgender struggles into the discussion, however, as I am not part of the community was lost especially in the beginning with what was being spoken about. This may be a me problem but I wanted to be honest.
I also enjoyed this quote, “No person is fewer than two things.”.

I pushed myself to finish and can say I don’t think this book was for me. The ending left me wanting as well. I hope I’m in the minority but simply put I will not be suggesting this to anyone.

Sadly I couldn't connect with any of the characters. Even though they tried to portray something deep and complex feelings everything felt just so superficial. I did enjoy the two different timelines, those were executed very well.

Definitely one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I could have stayed with these characters forever. I hated putting this down and was simultaneously dreading the ending (just because it would be over). Dinan’s prose is lyrical, funny, thoughtful, and deeply introspective. Her characters were all so well-articulated and dynamic, and the way her narrative moved between Max and Vincent was perfectly executed and always absorbing. She explores themes regarding guilt, regret, shame, and forgiveness while also exploring family, friendship, love, and hate. I will read anything and everything she writes.

another incredible novel from the incredible nicola dinan! this one is a departure from her original novel, bellies, but takes on the same level of complexity (even more so), immersing you into a complicated relationship and the complicated lives of max and vincint.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. I was so delighted to find out this was written by a trans author about a trans character, as someone who is trans. The story is delightful and I really emphasized with Max, our protagnist. The writing was enjoyable and there were light sprinkles of humor but not enough to detract from her feelings or make it an entirely "comedic" book. Either way, it was fantastically written.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Though it took about a quarter of the book to truly feel invested in the characters and the story that was being set up, once the plot got going, I really had a hard time putting it down. The characters felt well-developed and deliciously messy, and as the reader, it was a joy (and sometimes a tragedy) to see the world through Max and Vincent’s eyes.

If you want a book that is equal parts funny and thought-provoking, this is the book for you.

Thank you, netgalley, for the ARC!

this was a solid read. i loved the humor in it and the character exploration. the unconventional relationship was explored in such a unique way. as someone who is not super familiar with trans relationships, i found it really interesting to read and learn about. this is going to be a lot of reader's top reads of the year.

enjoyed this more than anticipated! begging was a bit slow/hard to get into. Definitely had me more attached the characters by the end of the book. Would definitely recommend to lit/fic lovers!

First of all...

I'm a 50ish year old cis hetero white American woman; so, while I do consider myself an ally and feel very progressive, I'm not sure why NetGalley targeted me to download this title. I'm always up for diversity, so (obviously) I clicked the link.

Although I could have used an English (UK) to English (USA) translator and a street drug reference book to navigate the first chapter, I was absolutely enthralled with the narrator. The descriptiveness is sparse but effective. The house party, the drugs, the hospital room, the internal dialog - it's all spot-on.

I know nothing about Nicola Dinan, but I know there should be some obligation of those involved in publishing diverse writing, to allow those with lived experience to speak the loudest. The narrator feels authentic, to me, the non-expert.

Many of Max's observations are spot-on, from a female perspective. And I appreciate the effort she makes to acknowledge her privilege. It feels authentically trans, in the way that trans women seem very Feminist even though Feminism is often used against them.

This snippet of conversation between Max and Fred seems so authentically succinct re: the trans experience:

“Sometimes I feel like I’m a complication,” I say. “Does that make sense?”
“It does.” He takes a drag of his cigarette. “Maybe it’s a bit rich coming from me, but isn’t that always going to be a fact of life?”
...I’m not mad, because he’s right. “I know I have to accept the way the world is, but I still have to talk about it, because otherwise where does it go?”
“For sure,” he says. “I just don’t want you to think it’s to do with you.”

But it also speaks to navigating those spaces as an ally. We need to "talk about it," but it's hard - to know what to ask, how to ask, when to ask.

I also feel Max and Simone's friendship is such an uplifting girl power relationship. The way they know each other's faults and love each other deeply. It's truly enviable.

A few lines that made me catch my breath:

"... spiraling is easy when it’s done against a frictionless surface."

Who hasn't felt this discomfort of using friends as a sounding board esoecially when you want your opinions voiced in an echo chamber?

"Solidarity, when convenient, seems to be the ailing motto of wealthy minorities."

How easily we judge the disenfranchised for even the most minor snafus.

"As we walk in opposite directions, I wonder if he’s looking back over his shoulder. I guess I’ll never know."

Oh, what a brave thing to do - not look back even when we don't know what waits in front of us.

I'd definitely give this one 5 stars. For the diversity, the European and Asian threads, the entertainment of living waaayyy outside my personal comfort zone, but, most especially, for telling the authentic story of the human experience: the need we have for connection, the folly of youth we have all lived, and the value of hope in the face of the hardness of living.

this book did not, in fact, disappoint me!

i’m a bit embarrassed to admit that i haven’t read <i><b>Bellies</b></i> but trust me when i say i will try to soon if my college work doesn’t swallow me up whole. this book was incredible! dinan’s ability to write such detailed, compelling, and complex characters left me absolutely floored. every character in this book was fleshed out completely; i could vividly see them as people who could genuinely exist.

while the characterization is definitely the stand-out aspect of this novel, the plot doesn’t disappoint (again, with that word. sorry). max’s journey throughout and the journeys of the people around her were so interesting to follow. so much was happening but at no point did i feel like it was all too much or unbelievable.

tl;dr: read this book if you love well developed, messy characters who make you feel all the feels.

(thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!)