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hi_saac's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Death, Eating disorder, and Car accident
flashandoutbreak's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Grief, Alcohol, Mental illness, Car accident, Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Dysphoria
thelarsvolta's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Eating disorder and Drug use
rhii_reading's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Bellies is a queer coming of age story but it also takes the time to really explore all aspects of the challenges young people face when growing up and exploring your identity, and so it becomes much more than this in the best way possible. Dinan puts such care into exploring so many different threads for various characters that never feel forgotten or undeveloped by the end of the novel: Ming’s relationship to Malaysia and his family; the role of food in creating a cultural identity; masculinity and working to Tom’s sense of his political identity and the conflict with his job. Ming is not only trans but she is also Malaysian and the book doesn’t shy away from the specific complexities that brings.
It was really great to have a trans character that was fully fleshed out and had actual flaws, which is not always the case. At the same time, is impossible to ever really dislike Ming or Tom as Dinan always does a great job of rationalising their decisions when writing from their perspectives.
The only issue was that I felt like the catalyst that happens towards the end of the novel could have happened a little earlier. Based of the description of the book I thought that there were be a more substantial amount of time spent on Ming and Tom’s interactions and relationship post Thin Frames.
Overall, this was a wonderful read that captures both the highs and the lows of exploring and discovering your gender identity and the trans experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Eating disorder, Death, and Dysphoria
kmburba's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
jamie_macdonald's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
If it hadnt been a book club read Bellies would have ended up in a dnf pile. A mixture of stunted, awkward prose and predictable, YA-style melodrama made this a really difficult book for me to get through.
I know that a lot of readers love this book and usually that's enough for me to find something to be excited about. In the case of Bellies, though, reading was nothing short of a chore. Boring, ill-realised characters; clumsy prose; weird sexual moralising; and tell dont show therapy speak dialogue make for a tough read.
Ultimately this is a book that just isn't for me. That's ok. Bellies is a sort of queer repackage of the Sally Rooney thing. There are queer characters and relationships sure; but that's really where the queerness stops. When a book is described as irresistibly queer on the cover, I expect/want that queerness to spread at least somewhat to form and style. Instead Bellies is just a pretty standard post-YA romance novel. You might love this book if you're into that, but it really isn't for me. Between that and kind of shoddy writing, it earns its one-star rating :(
I know that a lot of readers love this book and usually that's enough for me to find something to be excited about. In the case of Bellies, though, reading was nothing short of a chore. Boring, ill-realised characters; clumsy prose; weird sexual moralising; and tell dont show therapy speak dialogue make for a tough read.
Ultimately this is a book that just isn't for me. That's ok. Bellies is a sort of queer repackage of the Sally Rooney thing. There are queer characters and relationships sure; but that's really where the queerness stops. When a book is described as irresistibly queer on the cover, I expect/want that queerness to spread at least somewhat to form and style. Instead Bellies is just a pretty standard post-YA romance novel. You might love this book if you're into that, but it really isn't for me. Between that and kind of shoddy writing, it earns its one-star rating :(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria and Transphobia
Moderate: Racism and Eating disorder
amandalorianxo's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this debut. I know characters being likable shouldn’t steer my opinion about a novel but I truly couldn’t find anyone to sympathize / connect with. The anxiety and tumultuous feelings Ming felt before her transition made me sympathetic. Idk for a book about being vulnerable / showing your belly … there was more selfishness and general prick like behavior (aka Tom) The abrupt past / present shifts was a tad confusing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Sexual content
Minor: Transphobia
monty_mo's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Transphobia
northernbiblio's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Mental illness
leoniepeonie's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A wonderful book. I loved Tom and Ming's story, and found it achingly real and beautiful, dealing so well with anxiety and vulnerability and complicated emotions. I struggled a bit with the audiobook and am not sure I'd recommend reading it in that form - I found the way the actor playing Ming ended every third sentence or so as though it was a question very distracting, and the mispronunciation of multiple words and bits of Malaysian speech made things feel less believable. I'm glad I carried on though, because the story was a really special one, and brought me to tears at times. I'd without a doubt read other works by Nicola Dinan.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Death of parent
Moderate: Eating disorder
Minor: Infidelity and Self harm