Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan
The brand-new novel from the critically acclaimed author of Bellies, a funny and poignant exploration of millennial angst, race, trans panic, and the allure of bougie domesticity. Chosen as a ‘Best Book of 2025’ by Cosmopolitan, Stylist, Elle, Dazed, Vogue, AnOther, and GQ 'One of the UK’s most perceptive young novelists with her finger firmly on the pulse of contemporary behaviour' Guardian 'Riveting, funny and devastating' Shon Faye, bestselling author of The Transgender Issue Max is thirty, a published poet and grossly overpaid legal counsel for a tech company. She’s living her best life! Or is she? The debris of years of dysphoria and failed relationships rattle around in her head. When she tumbles down the stairs at a New Year’s Eve party and wakes up in hospital alone, she decides to make some changes. First things first: a stab at good old-fashioned heteronormativity. Enter Vincent, corporate lawyer and hobby baker. His trad friendship group may as well speak a different language to Max, and his Chinese parents never pictured their son dating a trans woman. It’s uncertain terrain, but Vincent cares for Max in a way she’d long given up on as a foolish fantasy. Yet Vincent is carrying his own baggage. On his gap year in Thailand a decade prior, he vies for the attention of a gorgeous traveller, Alex, with secrets of her own. Is Vincent really the new face of the Enlightened Man, or will the ghosts of his past sabotage his and Max’s happiness? Funny, moving, and poignant, Disappoint Me reckons with the pressures of living the 'right' kind of life and making peace with the past. Praise for Disappoint Me: ‘An absolute gift…I loved it’ Oisín McKenna, author of Evenings and Weekends ‘Nicola Dinan writes like some kind of demigod’ Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby ‘A riveting, hilarious and totally devastating love story… will have you gripped and sets Dinan as a literary voice to watch’ Elle, ‘Best Books of 2025’ ‘Pacy, perfectly pitched and emotionally honest: I loved every page’ Stylist, ‘Best Books of 2025’ ‘Sharply insightful, warm and heartbreaking’ Cosmopolitan, ‘Best Books of 2025’ ‘Nicola Dinan will be studied in years to come as one of the modern greats. . . The kind of writing you’ll be talking about for weeks after you’ve finished reading.’ nb Magazine
Nicola Dinan’s second book confirms to me that she is one of our most exciting writersDelving into how we fall in and out of love, Dinan knows how to write directly to the flaws we show when in love, with biting wit and laugh out loud humour. Yet the characters linger with you after you have finished. Disappoint Me is an addictive read, that I really did not want to end. * Travis Alabanza, author of None of the Above *
Nicola Dinan is able to bring an incisive wit to the big questions of modern relationships: namely, how do we know when to trust another person with our heart and how do we show our love to one another. Disappoint Me is a study in human frailty that is riveting, funny and devastating. It explores heteronormativity, friendship and getting older but, most of all, it’s about confronting the disturbing fact that we cannot ever fully know the person we are sleeping next to. It’s rare I read a book in one sitting but I was carried along by these compelling characters. * Shon Faye *
Nicola Dinan writes like some kind of demigod, her fictions make thinkable new realities for how we live, what we might expect from each other. * Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby *
Disappoint Me is a mature and assured novel. Its two intersecting stories show that the spaces people hold for each other are always in transition, and I admired Nicola Dinan’s work in elaborating the growing pains of a trans experience muddled by race, class and changing public attitudes. * Mendez, author of Rainbow Milk *
Disappoint Me is an absolute gift. Bursting with big questions about the politics of romance, family, and care, this novel navigates moral and emotional complexity with grace, nuance, and real storytelling nerve. Dinan is a savvy observer of contemporary culture; she writes with wisdom, style and brilliant comic instincts. I loved it. * Oisín McKenna, author of Evenings and Weekends *
I adored it. A delicious story of change, and a beautiful meditation on human connection. Dinan is a stunning chef of words and this is a book for greedy readers. I melted into every page like butter and didn’t want it to end. * Jodie Harsh *
Brimming with razor sharp wit and compassion, Disappoint Me is a charming, big-hearted love story unlike any I’ve read before. It’s an insightful and brilliant meditation on the existential anxiety of otherness, the intermingling of pride and shame, and forgiveness. Dinan forces us to ask ourselves: are we more than the worst thing we’ve ever done? How do we reckon with our pasts so that we can forge a future? Disappoint Me is an absolute knockout. * Marisa Crane, author of A Sharp Endless Need *
Dinan’s gift as a writer is her ability to make us feel – when her characters cry, we cry; when they laugh, we laugh * Irish Times *
Bellies announces Nicola Dinan as a genuine literary talent, a gimlet-eyed cartographer of the human heart. I'm a huge fan and I'll read anything she writes * Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti *
I can't wait to see what Nicola Dinan does next * Ceclie Pin, author of Wandering Souls *
Dinan is a huge talent and I'll read everything she writes * Annie Lord, author of Notes on Heartbreak *
Nicola is a beautiful, beautiful writer * Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of Us *
Dinan’s prose is heartfelt and endlessly readable. She explores her characters with sympathy and patience, never casting villains, only complicated humans who are trying their best * Reader’s Digest *
A very, very talented writer * Liv Little, author of Rosewater *
Nicola Dinan is able to bring an incisive wit to the big questions of modern relationships: namely, how do we know when to trust another person with our heart and how do we show our love to one another. Disappoint Me is a study in human frailty that is riveting, funny and devastating. It explores heteronormativity, friendship and getting older but, most of all, it’s about confronting the disturbing fact that we cannot ever fully know the person we are sleeping next to. It’s rare I read a book in one sitting but I was carried along by these compelling characters. * Shon Faye *
Nicola Dinan writes like some kind of demigod, her fictions make thinkable new realities for how we live, what we might expect from each other. * Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby *
Disappoint Me is a mature and assured novel. Its two intersecting stories show that the spaces people hold for each other are always in transition, and I admired Nicola Dinan’s work in elaborating the growing pains of a trans experience muddled by race, class and changing public attitudes. * Mendez, author of Rainbow Milk *
Disappoint Me is an absolute gift. Bursting with big questions about the politics of romance, family, and care, this novel navigates moral and emotional complexity with grace, nuance, and real storytelling nerve. Dinan is a savvy observer of contemporary culture; she writes with wisdom, style and brilliant comic instincts. I loved it. * Oisín McKenna, author of Evenings and Weekends *
I adored it. A delicious story of change, and a beautiful meditation on human connection. Dinan is a stunning chef of words and this is a book for greedy readers. I melted into every page like butter and didn’t want it to end. * Jodie Harsh *
Brimming with razor sharp wit and compassion, Disappoint Me is a charming, big-hearted love story unlike any I’ve read before. It’s an insightful and brilliant meditation on the existential anxiety of otherness, the intermingling of pride and shame, and forgiveness. Dinan forces us to ask ourselves: are we more than the worst thing we’ve ever done? How do we reckon with our pasts so that we can forge a future? Disappoint Me is an absolute knockout. * Marisa Crane, author of A Sharp Endless Need *
Dinan’s gift as a writer is her ability to make us feel – when her characters cry, we cry; when they laugh, we laugh * Irish Times *
Bellies announces Nicola Dinan as a genuine literary talent, a gimlet-eyed cartographer of the human heart. I'm a huge fan and I'll read anything she writes * Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti *
I can't wait to see what Nicola Dinan does next * Ceclie Pin, author of Wandering Souls *
Dinan is a huge talent and I'll read everything she writes * Annie Lord, author of Notes on Heartbreak *
Nicola is a beautiful, beautiful writer * Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of Us *
Dinan’s prose is heartfelt and endlessly readable. She explores her characters with sympathy and patience, never casting villains, only complicated humans who are trying their best * Reader’s Digest *
A very, very talented writer * Liv Little, author of Rosewater *
Nicola Dinan grew up in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur and now lives in London. Bellies, her debut, was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize, shortlisted for the Mo Siewcharran Prize, Polari First Book Prize and the Diverse Book Awards, and a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. Her second novel, Disappoint Me, releases in 2025.
| SKU | NGR9781529930627 |
| ISBN 13 | 9781529930627 |
| ISBN 10 | 1529930626 |
| Title | Disappoint Me |
| Author | Nicola Dinan |
| Condition | New |
| Publisher | Transworld Publishers Ltd |
| Year published | 2025-01-23 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | This is a new book - be the first to read this copy. With untouched pages and a perfect binding, your brand new copy is ready to be opened for the first time |
