Scan barcode
fkshg8465's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Definitely need more stories about the trans experience, but this story was told so poorly that I hated every minute of it. There are so few books on trans people that I felt like I had to finish it. Ordinarily, I would’ve DNFd it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
shortstackz's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
A beautifully written, bittersweet love story of the evolving experience of queerness. It's an introspective literary fiction that follows our two main characters: Tom and Ming. I cannot emphasize enough how beautiful the prose is, and how kind the perspective is to each of the characters as we explore how queer couples navigate and question one partner's transition journey.
Ming's character development across the whole book brings me so much joy for her, as she navigates her gender identity and finds her playwriter voice. I loved the added characterization of Ming being an immigrant from a country that would deny her existence, and discusses the very real inability to return to her home country (Malaysia) as herself. Ming brings up a lot of logistics of being a trans person, particularly a trans immigrant, that many cis-people (myself included) have had the privilege to not notice.
In contrast we also see Tom's perspective, which I think is really valuable to see how a cis-partner might cope with their partner transitioning during the relationship. Tom identifies as a gay man, and that complicates his relationship with Ming when she begins to transition. I found sitting in Tom's head really interesting to see how he navigates his love for Ming, and his attraction towards masculine features.
Ming and Tom love each other so much, and the bittersweet journey through Ming's transition is so beautifully complicated and heart-wrenching. At no point did I think either character wanted to deny Ming her gender identity, but love is more complicated than gender alone.
Ming's character development across the whole book brings me so much joy for her, as she navigates her gender identity and finds her playwriter voice. I loved the added characterization of Ming being an immigrant from a country that would deny her existence, and discusses the very real inability to return to her home country (Malaysia) as herself. Ming brings up a lot of logistics of being a trans person, particularly a trans immigrant, that many cis-people (myself included) have had the privilege to not notice.
In contrast we also see Tom's perspective, which I think is really valuable to see how a cis-partner might cope with their partner transitioning during the relationship. Tom identifies as a gay man, and that complicates his relationship with Ming when she begins to transition. I found sitting in Tom's head really interesting to see how he navigates his love for Ming, and his attraction towards masculine features.
Ming and Tom love each other so much, and the bittersweet journey through Ming's transition is so beautifully complicated and heart-wrenching. At no point did I think either character wanted to deny Ming her gender identity, but love is more complicated than gender alone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria
Moderate: Deadnaming and Death of parent
Minor: Deportation
alexgo's review against another edition
challenging
- 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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Death, and Grief
Minor: Eating disorder, Alcohol, Infidelity, Drug use, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic
savvylit's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
4.5
Bellies is a tender - yet messy - literary love story. Love consistently endures in this novel, despite a myriad of challenges. And it's not only romantic love that endures in this story. Bellies has some of the sweetest and most genuine moments of platonic love that I have ever experienced in literature. I loved Ming and Tom's friends for their devotion and ease with one another. In many ways, Bellies is also an ode to chosen family.
As I read, Dinan's writing reminded me quite a bit of Sally Rooney's work. Like in Rooney's novels, the relationships in Bellies are complex, the characters are vulnerable, and they're all discovering who they are and who they want to be. If you're a Rooney fan, you really cannot miss Bellies.
As I read, Dinan's writing reminded me quite a bit of Sally Rooney's work. Like in Rooney's novels, the relationships in Bellies are complex, the characters are vulnerable, and they're all discovering who they are and who they want to be. If you're a Rooney fan, you really cannot miss Bellies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Grief, and Dysphoria
joensign's review against another edition
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Dysphoria, Grief, and Transphobia
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Death
Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Car accident
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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 the story of a relationship that developed between Tom and Ming, two gay men, and the challenges it faced when Ming realised she was a woman and transitioned. I found this book to be tender, thoughtful and nuanced, with no villains and no cliched easy answers. Just two people who loved each other but struggled when the truth of who they both were no longer fitted together neatly. Beautifully done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Dysphoria, and Grief
Moderate: Death 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
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
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
sadpear's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
A gorgeously built, resonant work that speaks to the fears and anxieties about love and belonging and friendship, as well as joy of it. Wonderfully queer and modern.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Death
Minor: Eating disorder