Disappoint Me: From the author of BELLIES | 
pickSo funny, so smart, and extremely readable. This story is about a 30-year-old trans woman named Max and her new relationship with Vincent, a cis guy who has a secret about another trans woman he dated during his gap year before university. I loved Max's voice, her wry observations, and her relationship with BFF Simone, a cis queer woman. I don't know how I feel about the ending ... I think I wanted Max to make a different decision re: Vincent...
"Some trans women serve cunt, in that they're quite rude, because when the world shits on you it's easy to be a little mean, but she sent a Negroni back for having too thin an orange slice on the rim. No amount of pain excuses that." ?
#TransBooks
pickDinan‘s second novel follows Max, a perceptive, witty trans woman on the precipice of millennial adulthood, caught between a boring law career and her stunted literary ambitions. She falls for Vincent, a charming corporate lawyer with skeletons in his closet. Max must answer questions of forgiveness, friendship, and the possibility of redemption. The real star is Dinan‘s precise and elegant prose, which sparkles with wry insight and giant empathy.
“I force a smile, concerned that inducting me into this [bridal] ceremony is her attempt at allyship. If this is trans rights, I will do some trans wrongs.”
“I wonder if what I think I know about this man is accurate, or whether ruminating, tracing the outline of him again and again, has thickened my belief in a person that simply isn‘t there. It‘s difficult to know if the qualities I see are ones that will stay, what is show and what is character. Kindness can be a veneer, stripped as soon as it‘s safe for cruelty and apathy to crawl out of the hatch.”
pickThe story of Max (trans woman) who engages in a relationship with Vincent. I was all in for them but past issues come up and health issues complicate things. A great read with vivid characters full of vulnerability, anxiety, and lots of heart.
Trigger warning: medical
pickMax and Vincent start dating and while they‘re getting to know each other so does the reader. She‘s a trans woman, he is a man with a past. Both are struggling with complex feelings and like a teenager I kept wishing them to stick together because I loved them both so much! Fantastic read!
#14Books14Weeks book 3
? Plombières, Belgium
#WeeklyForecast 24/25
I am almost finished with The Break which is sad and good. Next will be Disappoint Me, I‘ve been looking forward to that one. One Day in October is a book gifted to me by Cindy about the 7 October massacre. A very hard read which I‘ve been reading for a few months now and want to finish before I go on vacation Friday. I have a big stack of books for the 3 weeks I‘ll be sailing in Greece and will share them later this week.
Book mail!
Disappoint Me and Death of the Author from Aardvark book box
Box from Blackwells with Ocean Vuong Emperor of Gladness and Baldwin's Just Above My Head
Pango box contained John Lewis' Across That Bridge and 2 more Baldwin's Go Tell It On The Mountain and Going To Meet The Man
#WeeklyForecast 23/25
I just started Gabriele for #EuropaCollective and I think I am going to like it. I am also reading Bright Young Women bug that‘s a slow read for me. Next will be the tagged - I‘d have preferred the American cover but this edition was much cheaper 🤷🏻♀️
I am so excited Aardvark has Nicola Dinan's new book!! I was able to read an ARC of it, and absolutely loved it. She is fast becoming an auto buy author of mine.
Also thrilled that Nnedi Okorafor's book is still in stock so that I can grab it for #CampLitsy25
#AardvarkBookBox
#ReadingRoundup for April -
15 Books read
6 countries
4 Nonfiction
3 chunksters (over 500pgs)
⭐
4.5
Disappoint Me
The Strange Case of Jane O.
Swans of Harlem
4
Challenger
The Faggots and Their Friends
The Most
Agent Zo
Reservoir Bitches
Stag Dance
Kingmaker
3.5
In Every Mirror She's Black
3
Beautiful Things
His Grace, The Duke
I Capture The Castle
2.5
Apartment Women
Article from 2023.
Do you ever read a throw away line in a book and think "say what now?" I don't know anything about Bardot beyond her name and that she was an actor/model and somehow I missed that she is a god awful terrible person! This article from VF has me saying jezus multiple times. A supporter of Le Pen, Bardot encapsulates right wing bigotry and hatred.
I am glad I know now.
pick"I wonder if accepting moral complexity is a sign of my poor standards"
I am in love with Dinan. This is her sophomore novel and I cannot decide which I liked more. I do know I will be internet stalking her waiting for her next book. Her writing is wonderful, I love her morally great struggling characters, and how their daily life is never boring even if I cannot concisely articulate what exactly the plot is.
4.5/5 ⭐ I love this.
Yesterday was Trans Visibility day, and in the spirit of we should be reading trans author all year round I wanted to make a post for 6 books I intend to read this year by Trans authors!
I am SO excited for Disappoint Me, I loved her Bellies and I have the ARC I have already started, Stag Dance is up next I really enjoyed Detransition Baby and Peters latest interviews, I am impatiently waiting for Gentleman's Gentleman!
Who are you reading?
pickThis book sucked me in completely for a few days and it became the book that I thought about most about when I was not reading it. Loved the dual POVs for Max and Vincent, it was a great way to give us a more in-depth look at these 2 very complex characters. Loved, loved the ending!
This is my first time reading the author and I can‘t wait to read Bellies now.
I highly recommend this book!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #arc Pub Date: 5/27/25
My Kindle will be attached to my hand until I finish this book! #arc
I started looking at all the amazing 2025 and wow do I have a ton of books I am excited for!
Part one Jan - March
January:
Sophomore book from Trans author Nicola Dinan (Bellies) called Disappoint Me (I hope this is the cover -it is one of my favorite paintings)
and
A new adult sci-fi book from Bindi author Nnedi Okorafor: Death of the Author
