Review - Deviants - Santanu Bhattacharya ARC provided by @netgalley @penguinfigtree I read this authors debut, One Small Voice, two years ago and still wax lyrical about it recommending it to anyone who loves to be transported to another time and place. I will now be recommending two titles by @santanu_bx as this is a phenomenal follow up. Some themes remain across both books, the experience of gay men in India, the sociopolitical landscape that shape our experience of time and place and characters that you are invested in. The novel follows three generations of gay men in the same family and has a beautiful way of using varying formats to cleverly place the character in their timeframe. Vivaan is in the here and now via voice notes in the first person, Mambo is thirty years his senior and writes his manuscript in the second person and we hear Mamu’s story via a third person narrative. Vivaan has a privileged upbringing with supportive liberal parents so in theory has the easiest ride but the introduction of malevolent AI stopped me in my tracks when considering how this technology could (or possibly is) able to connect with and manipulate/mine young people for ‘data’ around their sexual selves, creating a reliance and possible addiction. Throughout we are presented with three dimensional flawed characters but their plight and vulnerability evoke compassion and warmth. I was willing things to work out for all three protagonists even when I knew it just wouldn’t have been possible. There is a certain knack to writing and describing objects, rituals, food and festivals to a degree that makes the reader stop reading and research! I’m fairly sure there could be a sell out book reading with accompanying food experience with the dishes mentioned in this novel - just an idea @santanu_bx - I’ll be there if it happens! With Deviants being a novel that matches the debut, One Small Voice, I have found my next go to author and cannot wait for further work from Santanu Bhattacharya.

Beautifully told and framed across the lives of three men; grand uncle, uncle and nephew this tells the story of what it is to be gay in India. Both mamu and mambro grow up in the shadow of law 377, inherited from the days of colonial rule which criminalises homosexuality. The nephew, Vivaan is the product of a freer world but with that freedom still comes the hangover of shame and fear, it's just hidden but still as toxic. This is a story of hope but it is hope mixed with the clear eyed knowledge that there is still so much to be done.

Initially this book was quite difficult to get into for me personally! The switching between characters quite rapidly was harder for me especially not having known the characters thoroughly yet! But as I continued on through the story I found myself not being able to put it down!! This book really dug into the soul of these characters and to many queer people around the world it gives you the details in an almost devastating truth and doesn't leave anything out which is part of sharing your story, telling the parts that hurt. This book will make you want to reach out to your family and listen to their stories, they're not around forever and just because they are grown and seem to have thier lives together far more than you, they're still just people and they have a story to tell.