This was a fantastic read. I was a little wary for the first 50 pages or so, but once I dug in I was hooked. The writing is beautiful and evocative. She writes characters so well - for a short novel there was an impressive amount of depth and development to the characters, even minor ones. She writes vulnerability and uncertainty so clearly. The theme of forgiveness ran through the narrative, and I particularly liked some scenes between Max and her dad. Every character was imperfect, but we care about them, anyway.

I loved how beautifully written this story was. I was swept into the story pretty much immediately due to the writing alone. I love the intricacies of the relationships in this story - not only the MCs, but of everyone, whether it was friendship, family, work, or more. Forgiveness and acceptance were main themes, and I love how complex the topics are. The characters were all so well done and I was equally interested in all of them. If anything, read this one for the beautiful writing alone!

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

"Time is kinder to men, even gay men."

I requested this book, because I LOVED the cover. I have always felt a strong kinship to A Decadent Young Woman. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This book had ALL of the emotions. Literally, I felt them all. It's a story about a trans-woman, I'm not even trans and I could relate SO much. I highlighted half of the book, and I don't even get to keep this copy because it's an ARC (please don't come for me about how many quotes I put in this review).

"Can finding a boyfriend be my New Year's resolution? Can that be something that a person resolves to do? Is feminism dead?"Girl same.

"It is said--in the Bible, I'm sure--that men know within seconds of meeting you whether they'd like to sleep with you. What an incredible burden. How much sweat, chemical exfoliant and ripped activewear is laid at the alter to shift those odds. And so preoccupied with our supplication, we barely consider our attraction to them, if at all. Release me from my chains, I beg." I feel that.

"I am aware that there was a shift--sometime after Arthur--when I stopped caring about flutters and cared more for caring, for feeling like a priority. When I stopped questioning if I found people hot and thought more about whether they were nice. When things stopped being about what someone was, who their friends were, what they did for work, and more about how they were."RIGHT! Like only going for hot assholes is a canon event, but we all get over that eventually.

And while I cannot relate to the trans experience specifically, I can empathize with it. The writing in this book was pure art. I'm not joking when I say I highlighted half of the book. Every other paragraph felt so profound. Like the author was pulling feelings from my head, and forming them into cohesive sentences.

"I feel a prickly heat across my cheeks, a slapping reminder that I'm the other, that people are thinking about medicines and genitals and internal organs and other things that are none of their fucking business. What if I don't want kids? Why does everyone assume that is a tragedy?"

I feel I must tell you about some other major themes in this book. This book is duel POV with our FMC being a transgender woman, 1/4th Asian, and struggling to enjoy the prime of her life. In our MMC's POV, we actually travel back in time to his college gap year, and one of the biggest regrets of his life. He too is part Asian and grapples with staying true to himself vs. doing what he thinks his parents would want him to do. When his mistakes come to haunt him, he is forced to reflect. Has he really changed? Or has he let this mistake define him? Or is he both the boy who made a mistake and the man who learned from it?

This would've been a five star had the ending not been so abrupt. I get that it was poetic, just like the rest of the book, but I NEEDED MORE!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and after reading the “blurb” it wasn’t at all what I expected. Part of the description contains the line “Fell down the stairs and woke up a trad wife.” My idea of a trad wife comes from the content makers on Instagram. I thought maybe the book would be more snarky. The book is actually a well written examination of friendship and relationships as people move into their 30’s. It just so happens the main character Max is trans. The tumble down the stairs does not instantly cause Max to wake up as a “trad wife”. The story begins at New Year’s Eve party where Max is unhappy and recently single feeling like she is floundering. Back on the dating apps she meets Vincent and begins dating which leads to a relationship. Vincent’s friend group is considered “trad” which I now understand it means something different than instagram content makers. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the arc:

I want to start with how much I loved the writing in this. Nicola Dinan is effortlessly funny and clever, and then will turn around with the most heartbreaking line you've ever heard all within one paragraph. She also writes in a way that is impossible to put down. Every time I picked this up I became entranced. The dialogue flows easily and is believable, the inner turmoil that Max (and Vincent) experience is tangible. Her characters are very real and incredibly flawed, but easy to love, until they aren't.

I loved Max as the lead in this. She is deeply insecure and so incredibly smart. She is empathetic but she can be mean. She is varied and full of life. Living in her head broke my heart because I saw her virtues so much clearer than she did. I wanted to tell her she is loved and deserves happiness, comfort, and to not feel like such a burden. She is a rich character that I found myself so enamored to almost immediately.

The relationship between Max and Vincent was done very well in this also. They struggle when Vincent is ignorant about what it means to be trans and missteps. It's a real relationship, it isn't idealized and it doesn't feel fake. They felt like people I might know. And I probably would have told her to leave him a couple times. They were so real that I could understand Max's choice in the end, not that I agreed with it.

I can't get too into the main conflict in the third act without spoiling things, but I will say it made me feel incredibly uncomfortable and incredibly angry. This was the point, I know that. But I can't help but think that maybe it could have been handled differently. The book has a very realistic take on the conflict, but I guess what I was hoping for was some theatric retribution. This wouldn't make sense in the book, but I hoped for more comeuppance regardless.

Overall, I really loved this. And I will definitely be pursuing Nicola Dinan's previous work, as well as what she does next.

Disappoint Me follows Max and Vincent as they navigate their new relationship. Weighed down by past mistakes the two wonder if what they have is something real, something that can last, can they weather the storm on the horizon? We meet Max at a New Year's Eve party, she's recovering from a break-up and wondering what her next steps are. A few weeks later she meets Vincent on a dating app. This could be the start of something wonderful. But, Max has got baggage, she's trans and Vincent is cis, her queer friends question her desire for a hetero-sexual relationship and there's something about Vincent that might be off- or maybe it's just her fear of commitment.

Exploring multiple layers of the modern dating experience, examining relationships through a queer lens, Disappoint Me contains multitudes. As the characters navigate traditional parents, Asian diaspora and immigrant experiences and the moral dilemmas of modern dating the reader gets a unique view of trans life that is seldom seen in media.

For fans of Sally Rooney and Naosie Dolan- who maybe wish those books were a littler less heteronormative, Disappoint Me is an exciting new addition to the modern canon of disaffected 20-somethings living in the UK.

Nicola Dinan is a genius at writing compelling and real characters. This book may have just suffered from having too many of them.

I enjoyed Max and Vincent’s storyline, the dual timelines, the way they navigated their relationships, and the unfortunate parallels between the timelines. However, there were so many characters and so many small plot lines that made it hard to follow. For the first half of the book I had no idea where it was going, though it became a lot more clear in the second half.

Dinan is a great writer and after Bellies, I will continue to read anything she releases. This one unfortunately just ended up falling a bit flat.

I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did!! I felt such a kinship with Max - her voice was very distinct, and by the time she met Vincent and we saw how their story progressed both as individuals and as a couple, I truly could not put this book down. What a genius touch to end with one of Max's poems. I can't wait to read more of Nicola Dinan's work!

Wow. Nicola Dinan has so beautifully captured what it feels like to be trans today. Through thoughtful prose and sharp dialogue, you can feel the heaviness of Max & Alex’s many disappointments, the fatigue that comes with repeatedly having to tell (cis) people what is and is not appropriate to say, and the aching pain of someone close letting you down. I will be thinking about these characters and their conversations for many years to come. This was my first read of Nicola’s work, and it certainly will not be my last. I cannot wait to add the hardcopy to my shelf. Thank you for this!

Nicola Dinan, the writer that you are 🙇‍♀️ I just can’t get over how much the writing style is just my inner dialogue. 100% a new auto buy author.

Dinan has such unique ability to bring out the absolute worst traits in people and make them the parts I love most.

Dinan did an incredible job at addressing modern day relationships and identity. The dual narrative was *chef’s kiss*- I felt like I was inside Max’s complex head as well as listening to the secrets inside of Vincent. This was a simple story, but a very important one. The author’s ability to write about deep, meaningful relationships and make you think about love, forgiveness and acceptance is different than I’m used to in all the thrillers I read.

I LOVED this book! I read it in two days, and was itching to get back to it when other responsibilities tore me away. I loved Max and her "judgmental" truth bombs and her vulnerabilities. I empathized with Vincent, mostly, although some parts were hard. Even though Max's personal story is far from my own, there is so much I related to. Very much looking forward to reading "Bellies"!

Dinan’s writing is elegant yet piercing, blending lyricism with emotional precision. There’s a vulnerability in the prose that makes every moment feel real—whether it’s a tender embrace or a heart-wrenching conversation. The novel delves into themes of identity, transformation, acceptance, and the inevitable growing pains of long-term relationships. It’s not just about romantic love; it’s about self-love, loss, and learning how to navigate the unpredictable nature of human connection.

Character Development:
The characters feel so alive—flawed, messy, and deeply human. Their struggles are not just plot points; they’re raw, deeply personal reckonings with identity, expectation, and the fear of losing what they once knew. Dinan does a phenomenal job of making both protagonists fully realized individuals, each with their own arcs, growth, and heartbreak.

The emotional depth is chef’s kiss—it’s the kind of book that sneaks up on you, leaving you staring at the ceiling, replaying conversations in your head. The storytelling is fearless, refusing to offer easy answers but instead leaning into the complexities of love and identity.

If you prefer light, escapist romance, this one might be a bit too emotionally intense. It’s not a breezy read—it’s a book that demands reflection. But honestly? That’s what makes it brilliant.

Fans of Torrey Peters’ Detransition, Baby, Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life, and deeply introspective literary fiction will devour this. If you want a novel that challenges you, moves you, and leaves you emotionally wrecked in the best way possible, Disappoint Me is a must-read. Thank you, NetGalley, for this beautifully heartbreaking story—I’m going to be thinking about it for a long time.

This is a novel about trips.
This is not a vacation novel.
This is:
A trip down stairs.
A trip full of abandonment.
A trip to an exhibit.
A trip where parents meet a lover.
A trip to doctor.
A comical, bittersweet trip to a spa.
A trip with friends.
An acid trip.
A trip towards finding out what it means to maybe love.

What a perfectly painful, sweet, and utterly charming novel. Nicola Dinan writes in such a way as to envelop the reader with characters' thoughts; she connects with you so much so that it's nearly impossible to not finish the book without a severely aching heart. Thank you to Random House/Hogarth/Dial for the opportunity to read this novel. I'll never be the same. I miss Max, Vincent, and Simone already.

Intelligently written and human, Disappoint Me presents a romance for today told from two points of view that ultimately collide. Max, a trans woman who meets Vincent via a dating app, is a person not hung up on her situation, faces her needs without self pity, and narrates with calm. Since this is a novel that probes issues such as acceptance and forgiveness unflinchingly, it makes for illuminating reading with a few laughs thrown in.

This book is written from the heart and soul. I laughed, I cried, my jaw hit the floor numerous times. I didn’t know what i expected from this book going in but I finished feeling seen, understood, and heard. This book is for anyone lost in their late 20s or early 30s, anyone unsure if you’re deserving of love or unsure where to go next. I was over the moon for this book and its characters.

Dinan writes a story that is unique and thought-provoking with Disappoint Me. I found myself having a difficult time putting the book down. I was drawn to the characters. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I had never read Nicola Dinan before, but for some reason, the description had me expecting this book to be chaotic, snide, fast-paced. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was more poignant, touching, and character-driven. I thought the dual perspective worked really well, especially when you start to see the timelines converging, which is a testament to how beautifully drawn all of the characters in the story were. I'm glad I got the chance to read this really thoughtful, emotional novel.

Starting 2025 strong with a 5 star read.. I loved every single page of this book.

It's written from the POV of Max, a trans woman living in London who meets her boyfriend Vincent via dating apps. The story unfolds as we get chapters from the POV of Vincent on his gap year in Thailand many years earlier. These two threads collide and Max is left to carefully consider whether the ghosts of our past define us.

By chapter 2 I wanted to thrust this book into the hands of all my friends because its so relatable. The witty and astute narration from Max on the topics of modern dating, feeling conflicted about having children, being a woman and having a body, being in your thirties and "feeling like people are graduating into things that don't feel made for me". All the little observations throughout have a way of making the reader feel seen. I loved every minute I spent with these characters and missed Max when I turned the last page.

I found this to be a really interesting and compelling read. The dual perspectives offer an insight into different character's minds and allow the story to unweave slowly. The MC was likeable and relatable in her self hatred and self doubt, I think a lot of trans people share those same feelings of being an imposter pretending to be a good and real person. The friendship between the two female MCs was endearing and believable. While there was romance in this book, I wouldn't consider it a romance novel, definitely more in line with litfic/slice of life.