Sometimes you get a bit of brain damage that may potentially be life ending, and you decide to maybe try that whole upper class trad wife thing, and maybe the person you fall in love with has a pretty relevant dark secret, and you have to figure out what it is you ultimately want out of your life. Took this in three doses over the holiday, and was an absolutely fantastically plotted read. Absolutely go and preorder this.

Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan follows Max, a trans woman navigating love, identity, and family dynamics. The novel explores her relationships with Vincent, a new romantic interest, and her close bonds with friends and family, including Simone and her brother Jamie. Dinan’s writing is sharp, relatable, and introspective, capturing Max's emotional journey with humor and depth. Themes of forgiveness, grief, and self-acceptance are central to the story, though the open-ended conclusion may leave some readers wanting more. Overall, it’s a thought-provoking and character-driven novel about the messy complexities of life and relationships. Highly recommended for fans of introspective fiction.

It’s well written and honest in a raw sort of way… but it is forgettable. I’ve read many stories that are just the same as this… but yet the big draw back is the lead doesn’t make me care enough that this story will stick with me.

In Disappoint Me, we follow Max and Vincent as they navigate the messy realities of queerness, identity, and forgiveness. Dinan’s characters feel real and she does not shy away from their flaws. Nothing felt heavy-handed and it all felt possible, a world that was easy to live in but didn’t feel fake. Some of the marriage monologues felt trite, but the book showcases an impressive grasp of the complications of the real world and how there’s always a bit of hope even with the negative.

This book was phenomenal. Max’s character was so relatable and I loved the way she was written. I appreciated the friendships and relationships and the scene with the confrontation with Fred was amazing. Ending with a poem is one of the best I’ve ever seen!

This is a bittersweet book about Max and Vincent and their many escapades as Max is born a woman but is now trans. She's a lawyer who falls down the stairs at Caspar's New Years Eve party and is humiliated. She meets Vincent on a dating site and says he's never slept with a woman before. Many escapades later, Max has bad news for Vincent....and...who knows what's next? It's a crazy, heartwarming book about misfits, weddings, and characters who will live in your thoughts with laughter and tears!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

4.5 stars rounded up.

Disappoint Me is a smartly written, moving story about Max. The first third or so felt intelligently amusing—I chuckled immediately to learn at the outset that Max works as a lawyer impersonating an AI software for her firm (is that im-computer-ation? Can you impersonate a computer?). Then the story got rolling and it felt just as strong, but much less humorous; instead, there were some deeply sad moments Max is Chinese and trans. Both of these characteristics come into play as we follow a few months of Max’s life, including her new romantic relationship with Vincent.

I loved Max’s relationship with Simone the most, her childhood best friend that has lasted into adulthood. I also enjoyed Max’s relationship with her brother Jamie, a work-obsessed protector and confidant.

The book also shares some stories from Vincent’s perspective, mostly about 10 years in the past. It takes a while for these two things to come together, but they do.

This could have been a straight 5-star read to me, but the ending left me wanting more. Overall, highly recommended. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was not prepared on how much I would love reading this book. I couldn’t put it down. This is the first novel I have read by Nicola, and now I am obsessed with her writing style.

Max is entering a new year and trying to find a different outlook for her personal and love life. Her recent breakup has her questioning what she should look for in a partner. She is also continuing to navigate her family and their connections with each other. I felt that Nicola knew how to describe each of their relationships and why some members continue to be at odds with each other.

The part where Max and her dad have a moment over her poetry melted my heart. I felt like crying.
When Max finally finds out what Vincent wasn’t sharing, I again was on the verge of tears.
The epilogue? I cried.

I think my favorite part was about Max and Vincent and how their relationship didn’t always feel so perfect. Their relationship felt real and their feelings so raw. I wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen to them.

This book is very well-written and the cover is gorgeous.

Unfortunately I found the contents to be too triggering for my mental health currently and had to put the book down. I plan to purchase this book physically after it publishes to get the full experience when I am in a place that I can handle the specific triggers.

If you are someone trying to quit drinking, struggling with sobriety, or are triggered by alcoholism and the talk of it, I would pass on this book for now. It was a pretty constant talking point and it became too much for me very quickly. I should have known this as it does literally say it in the book's blurb, but I didn't realize how much it would be emphasized.

I loved the call out of the AI companies in this book though, and found many parts of what little I did sample to be validating and fascinating.

Thank you for allowing me early access to this!

I thought this book was very well written and thought provoking. The characters were all interesting and complex. I was a bit disappointed by the open endedness of the ending, though.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press for this ARC! I really enjoyed this book. Themes of forgiveness, grief, family, and complicated relationships stood out to me. I really like Dinan’s writing style, it’s beautiful and there were some one-liners that stuck with me. I am eager for a sequel to this book !! It’s very character-driven for most of the story, so when we get some plot without a clear ending, it left me a little bummed (but also, I get it).

This was just really...perfect. I'm sad to leave these characters and their lives and the introspection they have brought out of me.

Nicola Dinan has such a beautiful and brutal way with words. And Max and Vincent were so real to me while reading.

Disappoint Me is a witty and introspective novel that explores millennial dissatisfaction, identity, and the messy intersections of relationships. Max is a relatable yet often frustrating protagonist. Her voice is sharp and distinct, carrying the narrative with a blend of humor and vulnerability, though her frequent detours into self-deprecation and cynicism can sometimes feel repetitive.

The relationship between Max and Vincent provides the story’s emotional core, offering both tender moments and pointed commentary on the challenges of navigating intimacy while carrying individual baggage. Vincent’s struggle with his past and his attempts to reconcile his family’s expectations with his present life are compelling, though they sometimes overshadow Max’s own journey. Their dynamic highlights the complexities of gender, race, and societal pressures, even if certain conversations feel underdeveloped or overly convenient.

This novel offers a unique and voice-driven perspective on modern relationships and identity. While it may not satisfy readers looking for a tightly plotted story or profound revelations, it’s a worthwhile read for those who appreciate character-driven narratives and a dose of millennial angst.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this! I’d put it in the same category as something like The Rachel Incident, or maybe a Sally Rooney—literary-leaning and more focused on a glimpse into a character’s life and the relationships between people, but still mostly entertaining. I found the writing to be very strong and loved the characterization of most of the characters. I think the one thing that kept this from being a five star read is the ending. Since it’s more slice-of-life, this story just kind of ends, in the same way that it just kind of begins. For a story to be a favorite, I think I typically prefer a more… manufactured ending, a more distinct sense of satisfaction and resolution. But this book is still one of my favorite reads of the year overall, and I eagerly await Dinan’s next work!

I have to say, this book was fascinating on every level. I loved the plot, I devoured the writing, and the characters were just chef's kiss. Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan follows the characters of Max and Vincent, a couple of young people finding their way in love and life, learning about their sexuality, discovering their identity, and attempting to create structure and peace in the chaos that is life, the reality of making choices that can haunt you and the allure of self-destruction. The writing is feels very much in the heads of the characters, and feels extremely relatable in a way I can't truly describe. The thought trains, the random quips and references had me flicking pages like crazy. Dinan has an amazing talent for expressing humanity in "seeing the forest through the trees" kind of way. I really enjoyed reading from both characters' points of view, and I thought they both had a distinct and unique window to the events that made me yearn for their connection. I really liked all the characters in their own way, and felt the emotional pull of longing and fear of rejection, that hope fused with danger and pre-disappointment. I think we've all felt lost at some point, and Max is such a loveable, if frustrating, character with a complex path. I feel like I got a lot of insight into experiences I've never had, and that's what all the best novels do. There was a lot of diversity in characters and sexualities, which I always appreciate and enjoy.

To end, I'd like to send the biggest of thanks to Nicola Dinan, the publisher, Random House - Dial Press, and NetGalley for the huge privilege of being able to read this novel. I will share my review to Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble, as well as recommend this one to many people I know. Thank you!

It's so hard to review books that are actually good. I'm fighting the urge to reach for comparisons to other, less successful books -- really, there are too many to name; complicated romantic relationships are the bread and butter of mediocre litfic -- to explain, by contrast, this book's virtues. Sometimes you read a book and you can see what it's trying to do, and you can also see the ways in which it falls short of that vision. Maybe the characters are too one-note, or the ending is too pat, or the themes are too heavy handed. It's a little bit like seeing through an optical illusion. You can't un-see that it's a contrivance on part of the author.
But there's no gap here. Disappoint Me is the book other books want to be when they grow up. Dinan's contrivances are so artfully executed that they all but disappear. There's a spark of life, a sense that the narrative is not exhaustive, that the world extends beyond the frame. Also, it made me cry, which never happens.

A haunting, sad yet funny Literary Fiction commentary and character study in an experience of being a Transgender millennial navigating the modern landscape. Max is a 30 year old lawyer and poet, flirting with sobriety and in a new relationship with Vincent. Her brother, who can't commit to a relationship, is going to start a family and be a co-parent. She has a good community and friends, but constantly worries about being forgotten and being out-of-place. Of not being self-aware to her own destruction.

This is a painfully constructed novel, helped create a sense of empathy to those of us who benefit from heteronormativity in our complicated world. There are characters across a gender and sexuality spectrum, with a powerful community but similar insecurities that all of us have on a daily basis. This book is descriptive and smart, not one that I would read over and over again, but that gave me an insight into someone else's experience.

The POV is mostly Max but also changes to her boyfriend Vincent, with a very engaging thread that alternate in London and Bangkok. A somber yet hopeful story about the messiness of life and love.

Thaks to @netgalley and @thedialpress for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#booksbooksbooks #booktok #bookstagram #arcreader #bookreview #bookrecommendations #disappointme

I will officially read anything Nicola Dinan puts out. Her writing is stunning and really pulls me in. Bellies was one of my favorite books last year, so I was thrilled to get into this one. It is similarly tender, vulnerable, and introspective.

The title prepared me for a plot that would be filled with.... well, disappointment. And yes, it is there although maybe the imagined or expected disappointment feels larger than reality.

Bellies was phenomenal and had a very strong ending so I will say that the bar was high and Disappoint Me didn't quite reach it. But still a great book that I couldn't put down. And Max is maybe my favorite character of both stories.

Ratings
Story Concept 4/5
Quality of Writing 5/5
Pacing 4/5
Plot Development 4/5
Character Development 5/5

Overall Enjoyability 4.5/5

Disappoint Me, the second novel from author Nicola Dinan, read like a stage performance. I often felt myself wishing certain scenes would end, or living inside other scenes that were beautifully complex and emotionally riveting. While, overall, I struggled to follow the timeline (dueling narrators perhaps adding to this challenge), I think Dinan succeeded in developing rich and thoughtful characters that I feel curious about. I would pick up another book by Dinan but wouldn't recommed this one to a friend.

Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan did quite the opposite of its title. While it took me a few chapters to fully get into the story, once I found my rhythm, I was hooked. The novel follows Max, a trans woman who, after an accident that leaves her with a head injury, decides to start the year by embracing heteronormativity, a choice that brings new complexities to her life. The other perspective comes from Vincent, a man grappling with his sexuality while trying to come to terms with a past mistake he made during his time in Thailand a decade earlier.

Dinan’s writing is beautiful and nuanced, capturing the complexity of growing up and the isolating effect of friendships evolving as people move through different stages in life. Each character is facing significant personal struggles and searching for forgiveness, whether from others or themselves, all while navigating the challenges of love and acceptance.

For me, the alternating timelines between London and Thailand added a rich layer to the narrative. As an expat in Thailand around the same time as Vincent’s story, the setting and the memories it evoked were especially poignant. I also found Max’s family dynamics compelling and well-developed, adding depth to her journey. The diversity of the characters—whether in terms of ethnicity, sexuality, or identity—was another standout feature. Dinan fully imagined each character, making them feel real and multi-dimensional.

Disappoint Me reminded me of works by Coco Mellors and Antonia Angress, with its melancholic, beautiful undercurrent and engaging plot. It’s a story that is as emotionally resonant as it is thought-provoking. I look forward to reading more of Dinan’s work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group—Random House & The Dial Press for providing me with an advanced e-copy.