If there’s one thing I love in a novel, it’s an exploration of messy relationships, and Disappoint Me was exactly that.

Nicola Dinan does such a good job of weaving together a story of love, identity, friendship, secrets, and forgiveness. I loved that it was told through both Max’s and Vincent’s POVs. This was an excellent character study.

It was at times funny, at times heartbreaking, but always insightful.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

Disappoint Me has discussions of gender, identity, expectations, relationships, and the questions of "should people be judged by who they were in the past? Can people really change?"

I laughed, I cried, I nodded my head in agreement shouting "yes!" and dropped my jaw in shock throughout the novel. I loved that Max is 30 and it felt like I started this at the perfect time; the week I turned 30.

I marked so many sentences- really beautifully written, relatable, moving, and funny! The characters are flawed and complex, with moments that make you question how you would’ve handled the situation.

Despite Max being trans and me being cis, we both experience the mental gymnastics around pregnancy and kids. It’s easy for many people but for others, it’s something you really have to work for and hope that everything you do works out. Those moments made me feel closer to Max and pulled at my heartstrings!

I also related to her feelings around her parents-there was a great quote about feeling bad that she isn’t closer to her parents and that her childhood was difficult but others had it so much "worse" so how bad could it really have been?

I flew through the second half! These characters and their lives and relationships had me fully invested.

Immediately after finishing this book I thought “Shut the fuck up this was incredible!” and started crying which does not happen for me often! The discussions and explorations of relationships, seeing their flaws, through a character driven narrative reminds me a lot of Greta & Valdin. I think fans of that will enjoy Disappoint Me! This is my favorite for March and I can’t wait to read more from Dinan 💗

TW/CW: alcohol, drug use, homophobia, transphobia, alcoholism, infertility, pregnancy, violence, blood, hate crime, outing, infidelity

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy.

This is an excellent novel! Engaging plot, gorgeous characterizations, important life experiences. I loved the interplay between Max’s POV and Vincent’s.

Nicola Dinan is a very talented writer, and delivers a relationship focused novel better than Sally Rooney. I said what I said!

I can’t wait to go back and read her debut, Bellies!

*Stares off into space* Wow. Nicola Dinan's writing is truly poetic. I loved this novel. It had so many components - Asian culture, trans lives, imperfect humans, and how we seek forgiveness. I truly felt so close to Max and Vincent reading their story. Max is trans and falls down the stairs and hits her head on New Years Eve. She decides to start changing her life after that moment. She meets Vincent on a dating app and they hit it off right away. We start to see glimpses of Vincent's past and how his experiences are shaping him in this newly formed relationship with Max. This book is sad and hopeful, and heartbreaking and really just an insight on what it is to be human and how much we trust others to keep changing for the better. I would absolutely recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC.

I absolutely loved this. Nicola Dinan's writing was so gripping, and I thought the use of the two perspectives was masterful. The way she writes about Max's experience as a trans woman intertwined with Vincent and all of the supporting characters' own things they deal with was just so well done. This felt compulsively readable, and as a reader, it gave me a lot to think about, particularly the ending. I'm going back and forth on what I think Max should do at the end, and I can see this being a big discussion point among readers.

This books make it very clear that nothing is black and white, and everyone is a little f-d up in their own way.

I loved it, and I can't wait to read more by Nicola Dinan.

Laugh-out-loud funny, character-driven exploration of complex relationships, forgiveness, acceptance, and empathy. Hard to put down, with gripping, emotional, heavy scenes – yet approached with a light hand. Interesting reflections on the idea that we are more than the worst thing we've ever done. I didn't love the ending; while there were beautiful moments throughout, I needed more closure – the plane didn't land. Still, a well-written and thought-provoking read.

Psyched to get an advanced copy of this.

Could not put this down—read it in a day. Bellies was my favorite book of 2023. Nicola Dinan has this unique ability to deeply convey the messiness of human relationships and how we're all flawed that really gets to me and encourages empathy without judgment.

I adore her descriptions, sometimes comical sometimes profound, that had me physically nodding in agreement like "Yes, that's exactly how that feels!" I underlined a ton of quotes that resonated, on topics such as the push and pull of emotional intimacy, the isolation and community of queerness, forgiveness vs. acceptance, and the remnants of past love.

I encouraged a lot of people in my life to read Bellies and will be doing that for Disappoint Me when it comes out!

When I tell you that I dropped everything to read this ARC...

Disappoint Me is the story of Max told in the present tense, a trans woman navigating a new but serious relationship with Vincent, trying to make sense of not only what she wants in life, but what forgiveness looks like when everything feels new and unfamiliar. In parallel, we read the story of Vincent in the past, 19 years old on his gap year in Thailand. The book builds until the two timelines converge: Vincent's past coming back to haunt him and Max having to test her capacity for forgiveness while her visions of the future hang in the balance.

This book was riveting. There is no fat here: each person is whole and flawed and familiar, the relationships and interpersonal dynamics feel true, and the dialogue is propulsive. There is a celebration of queerness, a reflective theme that creates depth, and multiple laugh out loud moments. I would knife fight a dragon for Max.

Dinan is an engaging, thoughtful author and I am so thrilled to follow her work.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC. The book will be published on May 27, 2025.

The title says it all. I thought I would love this novel based on the synopsis, but unfortunately, I just couldn't connect to Max or Vincent. I liked reading their different points of view, but it's the writing style that really irked me. The prose is so pretentious and clunky. If the writing style would've been simpler and more direct; I think the storyline would've paid off. The plot is interesting, but I just felt like this book did nothing for me. I wasn't rooting for either character. The whole concept of the trad wife is why I wanted to read this book. but the execution of this book failed to deliver. I wanted this book to be more satirical, but it ended up feeling like a lifeless and weird little romp. The cover art is absolutely stunning though. Might be my favorite cover of 2025.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

loved the alternating perspectives and timelines! learning about past & present vincent simultaneously helped me get a better understanding of what exactly it was like for max to be navigating her relationship with vincent.

i felt like the story was pretty slow and not very gripping until around the middle and then i was more invested.

probably a 3.5 for me personally

I was completely captivated by this book! The author's portrayal of the trans experience was profoundly eye-opening. The writing style was both accessible and beautiful. Every time I intended to read 'just a chapter or two,' I found myself utterly absorbed, losing all sense of time. Highly recommend if you would like to explore themes of forgiveness, gender and identity.

i have a feeling this will be my fav fic of 2025

told through dual storylines and dual POVs, disappoint me explores what it means to wholly accept those you love. nicola dinan perfectly captures the complexities of relationships—platonic, romantic, familial—in such vivid, accurate detail and honesty that it feels almost uncomfortable at times (but in the best way?! just wow. disappoint me has a depth and richness to the story that made me feel the emotions of each and every character. and my god, the characters! all of them were spectacular and so well-developed. read this asap!

An exploration of identity and queerness in your 30's while everyone around you is starting to get married and having kids - hit pretty close to home as the weird gay cousin going to a family wedding this month. The characters were well-written and complicated, there were many things going on here that weren't always fully explored but it was realistic. I enjoyed having past Vincent's POV and I loved Max and Simone's friendship. Without spoilers, I really liked the reflections in the end and format of the epilogue.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC!

I really enjoyed reading Disappoint Me because of how heartbreaking real the story felt. Nicola writes about navigating your life in your 30s through relationships, breakups and family conflicts.

I am a cis woman, but I feel it’s important to read books about the trans experience and queer identity. I found Max to be a great character and there were so many lovely quotes throughout this book.

Highly recommend and I can’t wait to read Bellies by Nicola in the near future!

I really liked this book! Great characters, super interesting moral explorations of forgiveness, gender, sexuality, and navigating your 30s as a queer person. I laughed out loud many times, as the writing style was sharp and witty. Max was such an interesting and deep character, I’d love to read another book about her. Will definitely read the author’s other book soon.

Thank you Will from Random House & NetGalley for the eARC!

Max started dating Vincent, and after a lot of bad luck in relationships, things seem to be going alright with him. But is everything as rosy as it seems?

Though the story started a bit slow for me, I really liked the pacing of the second half of the book. I was immersed, despite the writing style not being my cup of tea entirely. I loved the intimate looks into the lives of the main characters and think the book explores some very important themes, especially regarding the trans-experience.

All in all a very enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend! 💛

DNF - This didn't work for me; I couldn't immerse myself in the writing style and pacing, though I'm sure other readers may find their ideal with the plot. Unfortunately, I wasn't the right reader for it.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc. Travis falls down the stairs at a New Years Eve party and wakes all alone in a hospital. She decides things have to change. This story was funny and great. I really enjoyed it.

This one was very well written and I enjoyed the storytelling of this one, even though the timelines going back and forth is really not my favourite. I did appreciate this one for what it is, albeit it having a somewhat out there plot. Would read more by this author!