Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Bellies by Nicola Dinan

25 reviews

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Death of parent

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Infidelity and Self harm

sghuerta's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia and Eating disorder

Minor: Death and Death of parent

evfav's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

4.0

I was completely engrossed in this book, I’ve never finished anything so quickly because I was always wanting to pick it up and every time I did I got lost in it’s pages for hours at a time. This story broke my heart in all the ways I expected and some more that I didn’t. Every character revealed vulnerability and depth and felt so real. The way Tom and Ming’s relationship developed felt so natural and warmed and broke my heart. This was an amazing story about self discovery, learning to love yourself, and the hardships of growing into a chaotic world, but it was always grounded in the important lasting friendships. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Car accident, Dysphoria, Grief, Transphobia, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Terminal illness

frmeden's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Homophobia, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Eating disorder

Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Infidelity

annie26's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A beautiful story about life, love, identity, grief and accepting yourself for who you are. I adore both Tom and Ming. They are fully realised people to me. I think both were brilliantly characterised and Nicola does an amazing job of writing both their journeys full of complexity and in a non judgemental way. I truly appreciate being able to see the experience of transitioning through the eyes of a trans woman. I also appreciated seeing the journey of someone watching the person that they love transition and sadly fall away from them. I loved how community and friendship is explored here. Although some parts were more engaging than others, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Nicola Dinan is a talent. Thanks to Doubleday UK for my proof copy. This fab book comes out in July.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Transphobia, and Drug use