Nicola Dinan's well-received debut, BELLIES, traced the evolution of a romantic relationship in which one of the characters comes to acknowledge her gender identity and begin the process of transitioning into life as a woman. Her second novel, DISAPPOINT ME, also features a protagonist who is a trans woman. But in this case, Max had completed the transition process years earlier. The characters here reckon with queerness and traditional relationships and if the two can ever coexist.

Max works a soul-deadening writing job for an AI legal app. She published a collection of poetry years earlier but struggles to define herself as an artist (let alone write anything new). She is surrounded by good friends but is still bruised by her last serious relationship with a fellow writer; their breakup alienated her from many of their shared acquaintances in the literary world. After experiencing a bad fall at a New Year's Eve party, Max, in search of stability, decides to dip her toe into dating again. She is almost surprised to find herself hitting it off with Vincent, a fellow lawyer she matches with on a dating app.

"[A]ll readers will recognize the characters' struggles to both acknowledge youthful mistakes and decide whether or not to forgive them in oneself or in others. Dinan's second novel is dramatic in scope but is often quietly introspective."

The two share some things in common. They've spent significant time abroad, and Max, who's half-Chinese, knows that her mom will be thrilled that Vincent's parents are Chinese. As Max prepares to be a bridesmaid in a friend's upcoming wedding, and navigates the delicate dance of introducing Vincent to her dearest friends and family (and vice versa), she finds herself increasingly needing to confront if this seemingly heteronormative relationship she's embarking on is offering her safety, stability and love --- or just a temporary escape.

Interspersed with chapters tracing Max and Vincent's developing relationship are others from Vincent's point of view, set during a pivotal few weeks during his gap year between high school and university. That was the only other time that Vincent had a romantic encounter with a trans woman. However, the interaction was decidedly different and was truly devastating for the woman in question.

Readers will see Vincent differently after absorbing these flashbacks, and so does Max after the same events are recounted to her. Particularly when Max receives a frightening medical diagnosis, she wonders if she can trust Vincent to be her person --- and if, as a trans woman, she should ever let herself trust anyone so wholeheartedly.

It is possible that DISAPPOINT ME will resonate most with queer readers, who might relate to Max wondering if this on-the-surface traditional relationship with Vincent is what she really wants or needs. But all readers will recognize the characters' struggles to both acknowledge youthful mistakes and decide whether or not to forgive them in oneself or in others. Dinan's second novel is dramatic in scope but is often quietly introspective. Max is a character who interrogates both herself and others with clarity and depth, proving --- perhaps in spite of herself --- that she bears the heart of a poet after all.