This is a modern romance with a main character that happens to be trans. And it’s bloomin lovely! Max is our main character and she is warm and bright and funny and the perfect friend. All of the characters are so well written and made me feel really emotionally invested in their stories. Whether you want a trans romance or simply a romance involving two human beings, this is a great choice.

I did really enjoy Bellies by Nicola Dinan but this follow-up book is just as incredible, if not more so! I liked how the characters were in their early 30s and contemplating what comes next with relationships, health and the future whilst trying to reconcile with their past.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

I really loved this author's debut, Bellies, when I read it a couple years ago so I was very excited to get my hands on this, her follow up book. And I am happy to say that I loved it just as much!
Max is a 30 year old published poet. But her life isn't really going anywhere much. A fall down some stairs at a New Year's Eve party has her reflecting on her life in order that she can possibly follow it up with some serious hard choices.
And then she meets Vincent, a corporate lawyer and part time baker. But he has his own baggage, as well as people close to him who might possibly not really understand his dating a trans woman.
So... as we follow Max and Vincent and their relationship in the present, we also go back in time and follow Vincent as he travels during his gap year.
I'm not going to say anything else about the story as I want you to discover everything at the right time and that means, as the author intended. Suffice to say, as with Bellies, it had me in all the feels. I laughed with them, I cried with them, I cringed at them, and I also did a fair bit of shouting at them. Not that it did me (or them) any good!
As with Bellies, it is rather characters driven and, as such, needs to have characters that are strong enough to carry the story. Again, as with Bellies, it most definitely has. Every one, no matter how big or small a part to play, is carefully crafted and perfectly formed to do the job tasked of them. I was well easily able to find a way to connect to each and every one which is especially important as we really all do come from different worlds, and have very little in common.
You might also think that with the main story being around a trans woman and her man, it would be a bit of a repeat of Bellies, well, although it tackles similar issues it's really not. But you don't need me to convince you. If you loved Bellies, you will probably love this. And if you haven't already read Bellies, where have you been?
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

There are no character in this book that aren't perfection.
It's tender and warm. It's heartbreaking but healing.
I felt like I was floating on some sort of.clpud throughout the pages of this book.
I was so in love with our main character and felt all her vulnerability.
I was.amazed she could pick herself up. Not only with the knocks she had but also with just how they made her feel about herself. And I wanted to hug her. Or shout at everyone around her too!
When an accident causes her to bolt to action I was frightened for her. No no just be calm and let people who deserve you come. But act she did. And had she finally found her acceptance from another?
But this man has baggage. A big old suitcase that will or could wipe our Max out.
I applaud this author so much. Her writing is so smooth. So glowing and flowing and flawless. If this is how good she is at such a place in her career than we should all look forward to what's next. There was a real sense of care towards all details big and small. Towards all characters big and small. And everything and everyone to do with the book seemed cared for by the author.
Brilliant.

Nicola Dinan’s second novel is anything but a disappointment!
After loving Dinan’s beautifully tender debut Bellies, I was so keen to get my hands on Disappoint Me. Following a slightly older set of characters (both narrators are in their early 30s), Disappoint Me tackles the isolation and self-doubt that comes when your friends’ paths begin to splinter as each person settles into their adult life.
It took me a few chapters to get used to being in Max’s head – she’s more abrasive than the protagonists in Bellies, and more sure of herself than our other narrative voice (her love interest, Vincent, at 19). But after a few chapters, I was completely sold on her. One of the aspects of humanity that Dinan’s is brilliant at capturing is the ups and downs of vulnerability – the terror of letting your guard down, the sublime reward of someone seeing and accepting you as you are – and this is something we see Max and Vincent struggle with in both timelines. Without giving away a spoiler, we sense right away that Vincent is struggling to disclose his full history to Max in the present; and we see so many instances of Max being invalidated even by people who profess to care about her. Arguably, a fascinating thing that Dinan captures in both characters is that vulnerability isn’t only frightening when it comes to being vulnerable with others, but also with yourself. Max and Vincent struggle to face themselves in so many ways, from their most shameful flaws to their most precious ambitions, and it is this that humanises them so effectively to me.
Dinan’s writing at the sentence level is, as with Bellies, wonderful. She is realistic without being overly bogged down in the details, and in a few strokes of her pen, captures the various settings the characters find themselves in, from Thailand to rural France. Characters speak to each other with verve and wit, but they sound true to themselves and to their real-life counterparts, the mass of adults trying to make it work in London while feeling perpetually behind their peers. The nuances of friendship, and specifically the fallout of when friends fail to live up to the people we believe and hope they are, are also captured so thoughtfully here – in fact, I wish Dinan had expanded on this more. Both Max and Vincent’s friends act in problematic ways, and arguably you could make whole novels out of the blemishes on their characters. I’d read them, anyway.
I did conclude that I slightly prefer Bellies, mainly due to structure. While this was really hard to put down once it got going, it takes a while to establish the direction of the story and really settle into the characters (particularly Max, as I mention earlier in this review). A lot happens very quickly, and a large cast is introduced from the very start. Because of this, the first fifth didn’t land for me as much as the rest, but the payoff is absolutely worth it.
If you’re a fan of Dinan’s, you’re right to be anticipating this one. And if you weren’t fully sold on Bellies, I think this is different enough that you could give it a go and be very pleasantly surprised indeed!

Told through dual perspectives, Disappoint Me, is a poignant novel that explores the idea of coming to terms with the mistakes that those you love most make and the complexities of choosing to forgive them.

Max is a 30-year-old transwoman who while recovering from a break-up, working as a lawyer for a tech firm where she doesn’t even get to sign off emails with her own name, and an unfortunate incident at a New Year’s Eve party decides it’s time to change her life and “get serious” about building the sort of life she thinks she should be living at her age. Enter Vincent, a corporate lawyer of Chinese heritage that she meets on a dating app, who seems to be an answered prayer for Max, but whose past contains a life-changing event that casts a shadow over their future together.

I thought every single character (down to the side characters that make a one-off appearance) in this book was so well-developed. Dinan writes with such depth, and it’s all told through the main characters’ voices which are filled with humour and vulnerability. I enjoyed both perspectives equally which is a rarity for me when reading dual POV books.
The large themes of the book – identity, forgiveness, complex modern relationships, and the weight of past mistakes are heavy, yet the author managed to balance them and create a narrative that was engrossing and hard to put down.

This is a character-driven novel done INCREDIBLY well and I will be forcing everyone around me to read this.

Thank you to the team at Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC.

So it was always unlikely that Nicola Dinan's sophomore novel would top her debut, Bellies, for me, and at least part of that is because the skill, intelligence and freshness of her writing is inevitably less surprising second time around. But Disappoint Me is still absolutely worth reading, and I yomped through it in a few days. Max is a British-Chinese trans woman, Vincent a British-Chinese straight man. He's not the kind of guy she's dated before, with his corporate job and worryingly heteronormative circle of friends, but could their relationship work? Disappoint Me skips forward about ten years from Bellies, considering the compromises made by people in their early thirties rather than the uncertainties of people in their early twenties. It feels appropriate that it's both colder and wittier, and Max gets all the best lines ('If this is trans rights, I will do some trans wrongs'.) I missed the more expansive, complex cast of Bellies, but Vincent is a fascinatingly difficult character, as is Max's best friend, lesbian Simone, who has her own troubled relationship with gender that's brought to a head when she's forced to wear a bridesmaid's dress for a friend's wedding: 'It's not like I'm trans... I almost feel if I was trans I could justify not wearing that dress.' Thematically, Dinan continues to avoid simplistic takes on identity politics, and indeed attacks some kinds of social media activism as she considers how far we can and should forgive others, both for the things they have done in the past and the mistakes they make now.

Do we ever really know someone?

The book is told from two perspectives: Max and Vincent. The two of them meet at the start of the novel and strike up a relationship. Max’s story follows her as she navigates the new relationship, feeling uncertain about the direction of her life. Vincent’s story is from about ten years ago when he went to Thailand on his gap year, when things don't go as planned.

I enjoyed this novel, a solid examination of millenial angst and hetronormative relationships. Dinan tells a story with pithy humour, it always feels very current.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC.

Disappoint Me is about how those closest to you can let you down in a myriad of disturbing ways while still loving and caring for you, and how the main character Max ultimately chooses forgiveness.

I appreciated the natural sounding dialogue, though none of it was spectacular. I did laugh a few times. Life is messy and "good" people are capable of committing terrible mistakes, though I'm unconvinced some of the characters had really changed enough.

Max ruminates on the same few topics, which could get irritating, but it's also realistic. Several times I noticed the book reminded me of something else, only for that to be directly referenced on the next page - it's no secret Detransition, Baby and After Life were influences.

I enjoyed Disappoint Me but I'm not sure how memorable it'll be, or if I would recommend it to everyone.

This was a beautifully written novel about relationships, family dynamics, friendships and the complexities of letting go of the past in service of a better future.

Max is a 30 year old trans woman / poet, living in London working a job she hates at a tech company. Vincent is a corporate lawyer who loves to bake and meets Max at a vulnerable time in her life when she’s recovering from a breakup, recently fell down the stairs whilst sober at a New Year’s Eve party, and is having somewhat of an existential crisis.

The story unravels in dual timelines, flitting between Max in contemporary London, and a 19 year old Vincent on a gap year in Thailand with his best friend Fred over 10 years ago…

However, over the course of the book we learn not everything is as rosy as it seems, and Max is faced with some difficult decisions to make.

Disappoint Me was tender, reflective, satirical and completely engrossing! I never wanted the perspective to change, yet when it did I found myself absorbed by the next chapter.

The characters were beautifully rendered and I loved Max’s friendship with childhood bestie Simone. The author writes about the different relationships (romantic, familial, friendships) so perceptively, there was a real emotional tug.

With such a character driven novel the MC’s voice is central to the reader’s enjoyment, and Dinan nailed it with Max (and Vincent). There is so much depth and complexity within all of the characters and the themes of the book are heavy without weighing it down (a true skill from Dinan). There is also a hilarious and devastating scene involving multiple characters, space cakes and the south of France, but I’ll let you discover that for yourself! 😆

I highly recommend picking this up if you are looking for a book that is insightful, funny and compassionate and explores identity, the complexities of modern relationships and forgiveness.

Thanks to the publisher, author and net galley for the e-arc!

Disappoint Me did not disappoint, but it did overwhelm me. There was a lot going on, some of which seemed superfluous and detracted from the plot.

In terms of character writing, Vincent's thoughts and feelings were better explained which therefore made it difficult to understand Max at times because her history was more closed off to the reader. There were some explanations for her attitude towards her family, for example, but personally I didn't feel there was enough about her history as an adult to make me understand her that well. This also made Vincent's character development much easier to follow whereas it was unclear whether or not Max evolved much throughout the novel.

The prose flowed well and the writer's intentions for the novel felt clear throughout. I didn't feel the novel needed the additional drama in Max's storyline but it didn't ruin it for me.

Disappoint me
By Nicola Dinan

I was thrilled to have been offered this ARC—I adored Bellies , such a fantastic debut, so I practically devoured Disappoint Me . Nicola Dinan has done it again; her second book is even better.

No doubt about it, Nicola Dinan is a master storyteller. From the very start, I was completely enveloped by Max and her friends. I love that the story kicks off at a New Year’s Eve party in London— I would have loved to have been there (if only)! After a mishap, Max finds herself at Homerton Hospital, quipping that “jealousy and weak joints got her there.”

Max is a lawyer currently on a “training AI job”, and she just had a book of poetry published that “The Guardian shat on.” (I couldn’t resist searching online to see if Dinan was referring to her own work—there was nothing that pointed to that. In fact, The Guardian, like me, loved Bellies , too.), her ex is doing better with publishing his own work though. At one point Max jokes “Half of queer culture is fronting as an artist while working in an office. It’s the new, more gruelling system of artistic patronage.”

Max’s New Year’s resolution? To find a boyfriend: “We live in a world that pathologises singleness, where being single means being alone.” Enter Vincent, a fellow lawyer who’s also Chinese, and our story truly begins.

The main narration is from Max in 2023, but we also get glimpses into Vincent’s perspective during a pivotal gap year trip to Thailand in 2012. I enjoyed both timelines equally; Dinan has an amazing gift for creating characters that leap off the page, and Max, Vincent, Simone, Aisha, Fred, Alex—the entire cast—are no exception. Special mention goes to the touching moment between father and daughter, when they finally communicate—it just felt so honest and vulnerable. Needless to say, I was gripped from start to finish.

The social commentary is spot on. They inhabit a self-aware Gen Y/Z world, understanding how their “Thatcher flat” contributes to the problems, how they’ve “colonised” a piece of Hackney, and how “being a bit Chinese doesn’t absolve” anyone of that. Self-awareness doesn’t make it any better, and I love Dinan’s narrative all the more for it. Her emotionally charged storytelling is grounded. The witty repartees and sarcastic musings are ever so observant of our current human ethics and morals. Their questions and reflections on what we’re experiencing today are both poignant and deeply relatable.

Dinan expertly propels the story forward, as we witness Max transition from one party to another—be it the festive New Year’s Eve bash, family dinner gatherings, or intimate dates with her soon-to-be boyfriend, culminating in a grand wedding celebration. I was completely enraptured.

Disappoint Me is deliciously witty, fiery, and fierce—my first novel of 2025. If my reading continues this strong, I’m in for a wonderful treat. #pudseyrecommends

Thanks to NetGalley, Nicola Dinan, and Random House UK for the ARC

Following her superb debut novel Bellies, Disappoint Me confirms that Nicola Dinan is a writer of great talent. That said, there was something that niggled at me about this book: the writing was artful and accomplished but I also felt somehow distanced from the characters, who largely inhabit a very economically privileged world.

Let me tell you, I screamed when I got my hands on this arc. Having adored Nicola’s exquisite debut Bellies, I wondered if anything could top it. But she’s done it again (and Disappoint Me might even be better…)

We follow Max and Vincent as they navigate their new relationship which is tender yet fraught, filled with the complexities of navigating identity, societal expectations, and the ghosts of their past. They are forced to confront questions of forgiveness and ultimately decide whether it's possible to love people who’ve made mistakes.

The “main” narration is by Max in 2023 but dispersed throughout we flip to Vincent’s pov during a pivotal gap year trip to Thailand in 2012. I enjoyed both timelines and both characters equally - Nicola has a gift for writing characters that feel so vivid that they leap off the page, and Max and Vincent are no exception. Their journeys had my attention from start to finish and honestly, it was one of those books I didn’t want to end.

Nicola masterfully captures the messy, imperfect realities of life with a balance of humour, heartache, and sharp social commentary. Her emotionally charged storytelling remains grounded, offering poignant and deeply relatable insights. With this book, Nicola Dinan has firmly secured her place on my auto-buy list and if she isn’t on yours, she should be.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nicola Dinan and Random House UK for the arc!

Dinan tackles a fascinating and contemporary situation of a trans woman well in this novel. Sometimes the pace of the novel was a little lagging, but essentially, the characters are well-rounded, and the storyline is, in itself, a good hook. Enjoyable. My thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

Dinan has triumphed again with her second novel. I loved Bellies and so was expecting great things from this. Although it took me a while to get into this one, once I was settled into the structure and knew the characters I absolutely loved it.

The book is told from two perspectives: Max and Vincent. The two of them meet at the start of the novel and strike up a relationship. Max’s story follows her as she navigates the new relationship as a trans woman and deals with some traumatic health issues, and Vincent’s story is almost like a flashback to his time in Thailand with a friend which goes horribly wrong after they both hook up with the same girl.

Once this novel got going it really grips you. Dinan is so good at writing deep, emotional scenes which you can tear your eyes away from. I love how her books are still about being trans, but they are more about friendship, betrayal and growth. The friendship group wasn’t as strong as the one in Bellies but the two main characters in this one really made it for me, and I thought it was amazing. I definitely recommend if you like books about messy friendship groups but which will have a big emotional impact on you.

Disappoint Me was one of my final reads of 2024 and it certainly did not disappoint (see what i did there...). It was beautifully written, hugely emotional, and just everything I wanted it to be. I'm probably reading Ninans books in a different order that most on here. I have Bellies on my shelf ready to go, but it has fallen victim to the TBR pile. Then I received a copy of Disappoint Me from @doubledayukbooks and jumped into it, loved it, and it has now pushed Bellies to the top of that TBR pile. I'm so excited to read it now if the writing was even half as beautiful as Disappoint Me.

Disappoint Me tells the story of Max, a trans woman, and her relationship with Vincent. Told in two timelines of present day and Vincent’s past during his gap year, we unravel their stories of how they are the people they are today. Whilst also learning of their family dynamics and friendships, Disappoint Me features lots of important topics that need to be talked about, and Dinan tells them superbly with characters you can't help but connect and empathise with.

When I finished Bellies it stuck with me for a long time and even now when I see it on a shelf in a bookshop, I’m reminded of how much I enjoyed it so in some ways I had high expectations for Disappoint Me but equally I didn’t expect it to be as good.

I was wrong, Nicola Dinan does it again and what a book to start the year on!

It’s so hard not to become entirely invested in the lives of the characters Dinan creates and my only criticism is that I want more of Max and Vincent’s story!

Thank you to NetGalley, Nicola Dinan and Random House UK for the chance to review this brilliant book.

I have not yet read Bellies so have not had the pleasure of Nicola Dinan's writing before. If this book is anything to go by then I cannot wait to read more.

The story is written as a dual narrative between Max and Vincent. We meet Max on New Years Eve as she begins the year uncertain and fresh out of a break up. She is questioning her life and her abilities after her published poetry book received mixed reviews. She works as a lawyer in her day job, posing as AI for a firm, whilst having one day a week to write. She seems to be in a writing rut, unsure of herself and what to do next.
Max then meets Vincent. We are taken through their growing romance as Vincent battles with guilt and shame from actions he has taken in his own past.

I have not read any books before that explore the dating world as a transwoman and found this incredibly educational. It is heartbreaking that this presents a barrier when meeting new families, and thinking about possible futures. It is shocking to live in a world where someone would question themselves based on who they are attracted to, out of fear of judgement or a label this may give them. Everyone should read this book to gain greater understanding and to realise that we should we treating everyone equally.

I enjoyed reading key moments in the story that explored forgiveness and redemption. Should people be punished for past mistakes? What is too much to forgive? It was fascinating to see who I judged for their pasts and what I felt the outcome should have been. This would be a brilliant book to read in a book club and discuss, for this reason.

Another key theme that I took from this book was friendship. This wasn't just about romance. It was about the other relationships in life. Family and those who become family to us. Old friends who may not be prominent in our day to day lives, but share an important history.

A brilliant book to start 2025.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC!

Bellies was one of my favourite reads of 2023, and I always think a second novel on the heels of an excellent debut must be one of the scariest things to write! But Nicola Dinan has risen to the challenge, cementing her in my eyes as one of the most exciting authors writing today.

Disappoint Me follows Max and Vincent as they navigate turning 30 and all of the expectations that come with it. Vincent is also grappling with the past, something terrible he did that he’s managed to keep secret. This is probably one of my favourite things about this book, the nuance with which Vincent’s bad thing is written. Because it is bad. Very bad. But people aren’t (generally) all bad or all good, they occupy a space in between and Dinan writes that space so beautifully.

As I’m writing this, I actually think Vincent overshadowed Max in terms of character development, but I still loved her. Max often gets sort of dimmed by the people in her life; she seems more defined by her relationship to Vincent, her brother, and her best friend (who is awful lol). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as these relationships are so exquisitely written. But Max as a whole entity, undefined by those around her, remains a little out of reach.

But overall, gorgeous, stunning, already eagerly awaiting book 3!