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A review by nickartrip102
Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan
4.0
I was provided with an eARC of Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan via NetGalley. I haven’t read Dinan’s other book, Bellies, so this is my first time exploring her work, but after reading the blurb I was quite excited. Max is a thirty year old trans poet with a lifetime of dysphoria and disappointment behind her, who finds herself bogged down in dissatisfaction with the way her life has turned out. Following an accident at a part, Max decides it’s time to make some changes in her life. Her answer? A dose of some old fashioned heteronormativity. Max thinks she’s found the answer in Vincent, a corporate lawyer whose own life and friend group are worlds apart from her own. Despite her misgivings, Vincent cares about Max in a way she’s always craved, but he’s carrying around baggage of his own.
I identified with Max’s character quite quickly. She has such a wonderful, biting sense of humor and although I’m not a transwoman and can’t speak from that experience, her “dilemma” that propels the story definitely resonated with me. Would my life be much simpler if I could just be a tradwife?* Ensconced in some lovely heteronormative relationship with a man who enjoys John Wick films and naming our children things like Bentley and Braxton and Paxton and Traxton? I’d give fantastic Carol Brady realness (if I had an Alice, I’m not doing all that cooking) Straight (and cisgender) folk often get to have their lives settled in this very normative way that many queer people don’t (or weren’t afforded the opportunity to.) Being trans surely only complicates things further, so it made Max an entrancing and sympathetic protagonist to share space with. Dinan also explores a really complex dynamic with Max and her family that added greater depth to an already
*Absolutely not, easy to ask this from the seat of my male privilege, but I do get the sentiment.
Disappoint Me is told from dual perspectives, with Vincent’s chapters taking place around ten years in the past. I enjoyed this aspect of the story, because it really allowed me to get to know his character, and these chapters do eventually have consequences that affect the rest of the story. Although I didn’t connect as well with Vincent, I absolutely understood the appeal and found him to be completely endearing from nearly his first moment on the page I thought these chapters were excellent and there were several moments where I actually found myself frustrated when the story cut to present. I’m impatient and I wanted answers! But, this added an element of suspense to the novel and really added some necessary tension that later explodes in an unforgettable fashion.
This is a novel about forgiveness, guilt, confronting the past, and acknowledging that love — no matter the type of relationship — takes real and hard work. In Disappointed Me, Dinan creates these wonderfully nuanced characters that are so incredibly interesting to follow. This is especially true of Max and Vincent, but the supporting cast (Simone, Fred, Aisha) are equally well-defined wishing I could peer more into their lives as well. The humorous bits of the novel are really well done, as are the tender moments. Even the more unsettling scenes depicted in the work are engrossing. I loved this novel as a whole, but the third was exceptional. There’s something special about this novel, almost like the spirit of an angsty romantic drama, that made it difficult to put down. I can’t wait to see how others respond to this book!
I identified with Max’s character quite quickly. She has such a wonderful, biting sense of humor and although I’m not a transwoman and can’t speak from that experience, her “dilemma” that propels the story definitely resonated with me. Would my life be much simpler if I could just be a tradwife?* Ensconced in some lovely heteronormative relationship with a man who enjoys John Wick films and naming our children things like Bentley and Braxton and Paxton and Traxton? I’d give fantastic Carol Brady realness (if I had an Alice, I’m not doing all that cooking) Straight (and cisgender) folk often get to have their lives settled in this very normative way that many queer people don’t (or weren’t afforded the opportunity to.) Being trans surely only complicates things further, so it made Max an entrancing and sympathetic protagonist to share space with. Dinan also explores a really complex dynamic with Max and her family that added greater depth to an already
*Absolutely not, easy to ask this from the seat of my male privilege, but I do get the sentiment.
Disappoint Me is told from dual perspectives, with Vincent’s chapters taking place around ten years in the past. I enjoyed this aspect of the story, because it really allowed me to get to know his character, and these chapters do eventually have consequences that affect the rest of the story. Although I didn’t connect as well with Vincent, I absolutely understood the appeal and found him to be completely endearing from nearly his first moment on the page I thought these chapters were excellent and there were several moments where I actually found myself frustrated when the story cut to present. I’m impatient and I wanted answers! But, this added an element of suspense to the novel and really added some necessary tension that later explodes in an unforgettable fashion.
This is a novel about forgiveness, guilt, confronting the past, and acknowledging that love — no matter the type of relationship — takes real and hard work. In Disappointed Me, Dinan creates these wonderfully nuanced characters that are so incredibly interesting to follow. This is especially true of Max and Vincent, but the supporting cast (Simone, Fred, Aisha) are equally well-defined wishing I could peer more into their lives as well. The humorous bits of the novel are really well done, as are the tender moments. Even the more unsettling scenes depicted in the work are engrossing. I loved this novel as a whole, but the third was exceptional. There’s something special about this novel, almost like the spirit of an angsty romantic drama, that made it difficult to put down. I can’t wait to see how others respond to this book!