Reviews with content warning for Car accident - Bellies

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.

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hi_saac's review

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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

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flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

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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

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roseltov's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

This book feels patchy, it dips in the middle, but the second part of the 3rd act is wonderful and so moving. It’s really a book about friendship that happens to involve someone who transitions. It was good to read a book about transness that wasn’t only steeped in trans pain.

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poenaestante's review

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

This book is sorta simple with a twist of transness. Like Ming's transition is kinda the only thing that makes this book interesting in the way that it kinda makes every character in the story more interesting in a way they would likely be loathe to admit. I might just be jaded because I know a lot of trans people and so this feels very quotidian to me in a way it might not for someone in Michigan or the Midlands or whatever. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn't brilliant.

Also, it might be weird to say but the most interesting part of this book was the food. Nicola should put out a companion cookbook.

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evfav's review against another edition

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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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lena_and_her_books's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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abbie_'s review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for my free eARC!

I’m reaching for a lot of queer lit this year and let me tell you, the 2023 offerings I’ve read so far this year have been 😚 chef’s kiss 😚 Bellies is a wonderfully tender and intimate portrayal of messy queer love at its finest, the title is absolutely perfect - it really does make you reflect on your own vulnerabilities, how much you show and share with those you love, the courage it takes to show your belly, expose the soft, squishy parts usually kept to ourselves.

To sum up super briefly, Ming and Tom meet at uni and quickly become boyfriends, but just as they’re about to begin their ‘real lives’ together after graduation, Ming announces her transition. Cue, all the feelings. Nicola Dinan has done an exquisite job of capturing the messy glory of life. The plot, as it were, is basically just Tom and Ming navigating their way through their twenties, amid so much professional and personal shift. Half of the book is told through Tom’s eyes, half through Ming’s, and it’s always a wonderful thing when an author can make each voice as compelling as the other. Both Ming and Tom’s flaws are laid bare, and while I definitely felt frustrated at some of their choices, I’ve also not felt such tenderness towards fictional characters in a long time. They’re young and do dumb shit while figuring out who they are and what they mean to each other, something they find themselves doing over and over again (don’t we all). Dinan tackles gender, race, sexual orientation, mental illness, grief, and so much more without it ever feeling shoe-horned in.

The supporting characters are also bloody amazing, and honestly my heart was ripped in two at one point. I had to put down my iPad and take a breather lol, it’s been a while since I had such a dramatic reaction to an event in a book 👀 This is just exactly the type of book I adore but which has evaded me for a little bit - compelling and utterly engrossing, but being driven by nothing but people living out their little lives. Love it love it love it 🥰

Out on the 29th of June in the UK!

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