Description

A funny, moving and poignant exploration of modern romance and the allure of domesticity from the Polari-prize-winning author of Bellies

Chosen as a ‘Best Book of 2025’ by Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, 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 didn’t mean to fall for Vincent – a corporate lawyer and hobby baker whose trad friendship group are a world away from her life as a trans woman. But after years of bad dates and dysphoria he’s a breath of fresh air. Their connection seems genuine, his care feels real.

But 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?

Disappoint Me is an incisive reckoning with forgiveness and the complexity of modern relationships, told with Nicola Dinan’s trademark wit and heart.

Praise for Disappoint Me:
‘An absolute gift…I loved it’ Oisin 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

Publisher Review

Sharply insightful, warm and heartbreaking * Cosmopolitan * A very modern love story and Dinan is very much the woman to write it * GQ * 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 * Dinan has such a deep understanding of people and why they do what they do, how they arrive where they are, she brings the world to us so completely, all the pain, love, joy and mess of it, I feel completely winded by the wholeness of it. Her writing is so beautiful, so affecting it left a lump in my throat * Annie Lord, author of Notes on Heartbreak * 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 * Reading Nicola Dinan’s writing feels like reading the inner workings of your mind on a page. So perceptive and honest about failure and love, and how inextricably linked they are. Disappoint Me is clear evidence of the skill and talent of a writer who does not know how to disappoint, whose prose is vivid, emotive, powerful and funny, and whose ability to make us feel only grows stronger with every story she tells. * Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of US * 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. * Oisin McKenna, author of Evenings and Weekends *