Bellies

A Novel

De: Nicola Dinan

Narrado por: Nathaniel Curtis, Octavia Nyombi

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR FROM BOOKRIOT AND BOOKPAGE

I wore a dress on the night I first met Ming.

It begins as your typical boy meets boy. While out with friends at their local university drag night, Tom buys Ming a drink. Confident and witty, a magnetic young playwright, Ming is the perfect antidote to Tom’s awkward energy, and their connection is instant. Tom finds himself deeply and desperately drawn into Ming’s orbit, and on the cusp of graduation, he’s already mapped out their future together. But shortly after they move to London to start their next chapter, Ming announces her intention to transition.

From London to Kuala Lumpur, New York to Cologne, we follow Tom and Ming as they face tectonic shifts in their relationship and friend circle in the wake of Ming’s transition. Through a spiral of unforeseen crises—some personal, some professional, some life-altering—Tom and Ming are forced to confront the vastly different shapes their lives have taken since graduating, and each must answer the essential question: Is it worth losing a part of yourself to become who you are?

Buoyed by a voice as tender, effervescent and wryly funny as the cast of characters it centers, Bellies is an unforgettable story of youth, intimacy, hunger and heartbreak, at once boldly original yet fiercely familiar, which unabashedly holds a mirror up to our most vulnerable selves and desires.

A story about vulnerability and finding yourself

I liked different narrators for the two main characters/viewpoints. The story was good but felt stale during the middle portion. My favorite aspect of this book is the way the author describes how the characters interact with the world. All of the subtle descriptors made this book stand out and the experiences and characters feel very authentic and believable.

Great

This was the first story of its kind I was reading and I truly enjoyed the depth of it. I imagine transitioning from one gender to another is extremely challenging and writing about it even more difficult.

4.5/5 Stars

The audio performances were stellar! Both were immersive and did a great job with the characters!

Surprisingly Sexiest

Interesting, well-written. Off-putting that the character action singled out as ‘gross’ and the individual needing treatment was Cass’s struggle with bulimia. This condition affects women three times as much as men.