hanaem 's review for:

Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan

3.75

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Love Nicola Dinan’s writing and adored Bellies, so I had high hopes for Disappoint Me that weren’t all met. Dinan is wonderful at writing nuanced characters with thoughts and behaviours and choices that feel grounded in their realities (for better or for worse), and for the most part I loved Max. Even when I didn’t, I still felt strongly for her, which is great character work on Dinan’s part. Sadly didn’t feel as connected to Vincent despite the empathy and care with which he was written. Not to compare too much with Bellies, but there was a clear distinction between Ming and Tom’s voices that just isn’t as apparent with Max and Vincent, which made the latter’s POV and the dual narrative as a whole fall somewhat flat for me. 

There’s lots to explore here; the low grade panic that sets in when you hit 30 and suddenly everyone around you is married or starting to settle into domesticity, questions of identity and how to perform it accordingly, being granted access to traditional spheres of heteronormativity and whether being granted that access is something to strive for at all. Some of the conversations around these themes are pretty on the nose and repetitive at times, but mostly well written. 

At its core, this is a book about forgiveness and what it means to give it, both to yourself and to others. Max tries her best to do both throughout the narrative, but I particularly loved reading her ruminations on forgiving the people in her life. Still thinking about the conversation between Max and her father, and will probably keep thinking about it for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence