3.75 stars

I mostly really enjoyed this book, following the lives of
three gay men in India from the 1970s up to now, maybe a little bit further in the future. Through the three men, we see the shifting attitudes towards queer men in India, from laws imposed by colonial rulers and leftover and ingrained, through to the initial repeal of Section 377, its reinstatement, renewed repeal, and today, when Vivaan is able to live *somewhat* freely and out, though there’s still plenty of stigma outside of his family.

I found Vivaan’s sections jarring in tone. He’s 17 and living in current times, maybe a bit ahead, but his voice notes are read like they’re written by someone who’s maybe never heard a 17 year old talk before. This was especially annoying because content wise, I found Vivaan’s chapters to be the most compelling. So it was a struggle between style and content there.

I preferred the storytelling style of Mambro’s sections (Vivaan’s uncle) and Sukumar’s, although some of his (Vivaan’s great uncle, we love a queer family), weren’t as compelling as Mambro’s (not his real name, Vivaan’s nickname for him). We’re with Mambro when the law deeming homosexuality illegal is repealed for the first time, when gay men feel safe enough to put their faces to their hook-up app profiles for the first time, when you can get an STD test without fear of being arrested. It’s beautifully written, and then the later section when the law is put back into place 4 years later is just as heart achingly written.

Overall it’s a solid book, moving, but just some stylistic choices that didn’t work for me.

An excellent novel about three generations of Indian men within one family - the great-uncle Mamu, the uncle Mambro, and a nephew, Vivaan. The novel is told through their lives, Mamu in the 1980s, Mambro in the 2000s, and Vivaan in current times through voice notes.
Stories with multiple timelines and characters can get confusing, especially when they go through similar experiences, but this one was written very skillfully and they had very distinctive voices, Vivaan reading very Gen-Z and contemporary. Through their lives we follow their struggles to be accepted, to fit in at times when their sexuality, thanks to Victorian laws and Section 377, still make them outlaws. Even when homosexuality is decriminalised, their safety isn't guaranteed and there are several incidents that make this very clear.
I found the insertion of AI themes in Vivaan's story a bit forced and not necessary nor interesting, but the rest of the novel was simply excellent.

I was keen to pick this up after hearing Santanu Bhattacharya talk about his work at the Surrey New Writers’ Festival, so added it to my TBR. Deviants tells the stories of three generations of gay men in and around what was once India's 'garden city' and is now its 'silicon plateau', Bengaluru, but the line of connection is through uncle-nephew rather than father-son. The structure is smart and satisfying, alternating between the perspectives of the three men. In the present day, Viviaan's first-person voice notes explore his relationship with boyfriend Zee and his discomfort with both the enforced coupledom of school prom and what Zee starts calling 'ethical non-monogamy'. In the 1980s, his uncle, whom he calls Mambro, struggles with abusive college days in a harrowing second-person narrative. In the 1960s, Mambro's uncle Sukumar's story is told in a more deliberately distant third person as he lives and dies before sex between men was legalised in India after the repeal of a British colonial law.

It took me a little while to get into each of these narratives, especially Viviaan's, which starts in full-force Generation Z cliches ('Cringe! So here's the thing about Dad. He wears the rainbow tinted glasses of a cis het liberal male... If he could write software that would automatically overlay a rainbow filter on everyone's profile pic, he'd do it right now. Also yes, he still does use Facebook, ewww!') but thankfully settles. In fact, Vivaan's story ended up being my favourite, but I appreciated the others as well, with Bhattacharya making all three protagonists into individuals rather than defaulting to the kind of characterisation-by-family role that often happens in multi-generational sagas. Maybe the uncle-nephew connection is not only refreshing in a world so fixated on inheritance via the nuclear family, but allowed Bhattacharya to think differently. And far from being a story about simple liberation, Deviants shows how each new generation of gay men face their own challenges. Viviaan's reflection at prom as he watches his peers dance ends up being a question all of the protagonists have to face: 'THIS was society in miniature, circles of men on the outside and women on the inside. The only way to survive here was to stay out of it, or watch from afar, or include ourselves and be humiliated. The question... that night was, which kind of gays were we going to be?'

'Deviants' by Santanu Bhattacharya powerfully explores the lives of three gay men from different generations of the same family in India.

Vivaan is growing up as a teenager in India's Silicon Plateau at a time when his sexuality is completely accepted by his family; while eyebrows are briefly raised about him bringing a boy to the school prom, his mother is happy to battle the principal on his behalf. That is not to say life is plain sailing for Vivaan - in his relationship with Zee, he must consider how he feels about Zee's willingness to pursue "Ethical Non-Monogamy", and later he becomes absorbed by internet pornography and a new virtual partner.

Vivaan benefits from the mentorship of his uncle (or 'Mambro') who is also gay and in turn had a gay uncle of his own, Sukumar. Through these three characters' lives and experiences, we are able to see the shifting patterns of gay life in India over the last fifty years, including the decriminalisation and recriminalisation of homosexuality. To varying degrees, Sukumar and Mambro must keep their sexuality hidden and face different challenges including bullying, social stigma and shame, and the longing for children and family life which can never be theirs.

Santanu Bhattacharya deftly interweaves the three stories - Sukumar's told in the third person, Mambro's in the second person and Vivaan's as a recorded voice note. Harrowing at times, this is a moving and insightful novel - many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

3.5 rounded up

Deviants tells the stories of three gay men over three generations in India; the present day told in the style in the form of a recorded monologue, his uncle, pitched as a manuscript of a memoir, and his uncle, as a story told after the fact.
Telling parallel stories of the gay experience at different points in history in India, contrasting social structures and attitudes are laid out through each generation and through hidden or open love.

I was (and kind of still am?) unsure about the tone of the narration. I found Vivaan’s sections truly infuriating, due to both the davt that he reads exactly like the cringiest of modern youth but also found a lot of his chapters slightly inept and rudimentary, which may have been the intention, but it wasn’t for me. However I found the other perspectives much more engaging and became invested in the developing narrative. These sections are beautifully written and are thick with the brutality of queerness in these timelines.
All narratives are rich with social politics, queer fear, queer joy, and culture. Deviants is definitely going to wow some readers, but unfortunately for me, a third of the narrative lessened it for me.

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.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a beautiful book exploring three generations of gay men in India. The contrast between each of the perspectives and their experiences with relationships and family were woven together masterfully and I particularly loved the contrast between Sukumar and Vivaan’s accounts to highlight how much has changed in society in 60 years.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

This was a gorgeous book. Telling the stories of three generations of gay man in India, it is a rich exploration of how things have changed- and stayed the same- over the last 60 years.

The narratives were all very distinct and it was easy to keep track of each individual story. They had similarities, which were mostly heart warming, but we varied enough that it never felt like the book was repeating itself, treading over old ground, or beating you over the head with its message.

I really, really hope this book does well and I’m looking forward to its release so I can influence everyone to read it. I really, really enjoyed it and I’m super thankful for the ARC!

Crying my eyes out at 4 am. Powerfully emotive, this novel immerses you in the culture of India through the last fifty years. It's bright, vibrant, and heart-wrenchingly sad, but drawing to a cathartic and hopeful conclusion.

A really moving book, heartbreaking at times but also joyful at others. I really enjoyed reading this exploration of queerness and the experiences of gay men in India. Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for my ARC.

Deviants tells the stories of three gay men over three generations in India; the present day told in realistically infuriating youth style in the form of a recorded monologue, his uncle, pitched as a manuscript of a memoir, and his uncle, effectively as a story extrapolated and told after the fact.
Telling parallel stories of the gay experience at different times in India; predominantly when illegal, the contrasting social mores are laid bare through wild sexual exploits or restrained fumbles, and through first hidden or open love.

I was initially unsure by the tone of the narration, but was first won over by the other perspectives, and then swiftly became fully engaged in the developing narrative. Rich in social politics, in desire, in sheer physical joy, but also drawing freely on the lonelier aspects of finding one’s way through life. Deviants is a marvellous and moving work.

Deviants is a novel about three generations of gay men in India and the ways in which people are shaped by the time they live. Vivaan is a gay teenager in India's Silicon Plateau, and whilst his parents are supportive, they don't know about the online life he leads, in which sex and love aren't simple. His uncle Mambro's experience of being gay is very different, having grown up during a period when a colonial-era law prosecuting homosexuality was constantly being wielded, even as people in India fought to repeal it. And Mambro's uncle, Sukumar, was born in a time when he had no option, and his love for another man must be hidden, as he struggled to find a place for himself without hurting others.

This is a cleverly structured novel that is very powerful, with each chapter moving between the three stories and each narrative told with a different voice. Through this structure, it is easy to become immersed in all three stories and their connections and differences, which isn't always possible with a novel telling three parallel stories. Vivaan's voice notes are confessional, whereas Mambro's story is at a second-person remove, and Sukumar's is told in third person narration, and al of these suit the characters and their stories as well as serving to make them distinctive from each other. The three characters struggle with many of the same things, but also specific issues to their time, and particularly Vivaan's story takes a more futuristic approach to what intimacy might mean in new ways, that offer opportunity and peril.

Deviants is sad and humorous at once, balancing the three characters well to create a powerful exploration of being gay in India over the past decades.