Disappoint Me

Nicola Dinan’s second book confirms to me that she is one of our most exciting writers. Delving 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 a wonder of a novel, hilarious and heartrending in equal measure: one that marries the prickly, delicious pleasures of its keen observational comedy with the riskiest ventures into the unavoidable messiness of true human intimacy. Dinan has created a work of profound heart and clarity, with a vision of fear, love, growth and repair that will give you hope for the future, and with lines so unforgettably funny and true you’ll be sending them to your group chat immediately. * Elaine Castillo, author of America Is Not the Heart * 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 *