DEVIANTS by Santanu Bhattacharya

Some books demand attention.

Some books earn admiration.

And then there are books like Deviants; books that feel like they sit beside you, speaking quietly, intimately, refusing to let you walk away unchanged.

Santanu Bhattacharya crafts a breathtaking, multi-generational narrative that follows three gay men from one family across three distinct eras in India; each carrying the burden and beauty of love in very different social worlds. 

This is not merely a story about identity; it is a story about inheritance. About how courage, longing, silence, and hope travel through generations, often without words.

Vivaan’s Voice Notes: Youthful, Electric, Addictively Real

Vivaan’s sections were an absolute delight.

His voice notes feel alive (spontaneous, chaotic, funny, occasionally messy) exactly like real teenage thought. The first-person narration instantly pulls you in, creating a sense of intimacy that feels almost conversational, as though you’re listening to a friend confessing everything without filters.

What makes this voice so compelling is the contrast:

• playful yet vulnerable

• witty yet emotionally raw

• modern yet deeply searching

The casual tone, slang, humour, and honesty give the story energy and immediacy. Beneath the lightness lies an emotional urgency; a young person navigating identity, desire, and digital intimacy in a world that feels both freer and more complicated than ever before.

I was hooked from the first few pages.

Vivaan doesn’t just narrate; he performs, questions, and experiences everything out loud, making his sections vibrant and deeply memorable.

Grand-Mamu’s Story: Quiet, Beautiful, and Devastating

If Vivaan brings energy, Sukumar (Grand-Mamu) brings depth.

This timeline slowed my breathing in the best possible way. The writing becomes more lyrical, restrained, and tender, reflecting a period where love had to survive quietly; hidden beneath tradition and expectation.

His story is:

• poignant

• reflective

• melancholic

• achingly delicate

• emotionally devastating

You constantly want to know more. Every small gesture feels loaded with meaning. Every moment carries the weight of things left unsaid.

And the ending…

A genuine tear-jerker.

It reminds you how many stories from earlier generations were never fully lived, and how much silent courage existed behind closed doors.

Mambro’s Manuscript: The Bridge Between Two Worlds

Mambro’s sections felt deeply personal, almost familiar.

Perhaps because they occupy that transitional space: neither entirely hidden nor fully free. His story feels reflective, self-aware, and emotionally grounded; the voice of someone who has lived through change and understands its cost.

I kept wanting to return to Mambro.

There is something deeply relatable about his narrative; the way memory and desire blend, the way the past feels close enough to touch. For many readers, this timeline will feel like a mirror; a bridge between the quiet pain of earlier generations and the openness of the present.

Three Eras: One Emotional Continuum

One of the most brilliant aspects of Deviants is how distinctly each era feels written.

The voices are not just different stylistically; they carry completely different emotional landscapes:

• one generation hides love

• one generation negotiates love

• one generation speaks love out loud

And yet, they belong to the same emotional lineage.

Reading the book feels like moving through time; watching society shift, laws change, and language evolve , while realizing that the essential need to love and be seen remains constant. Bhattacharya doesn’t dramatize suffering; he allows it to unfold naturally, which makes the emotional impact even stronger.

It felt like three separate novels woven seamlessly into one.

And somehow; it just works perfectly.

The prose shifts beautifully across generations.

Vivaan’s language is sharp and contemporary.

Sukumar’s world feels poetic and restrained.

Mambro’s narrative carries nostalgia and quiet introspection.

This stylistic variation is not just clever; it is purposeful. It makes you feel the passage of time without ever being told explicitly.

Final Thoughts

I read Deviants in one sitting, and that rarely happens anymore.

It felt like listening to three hearts beating across decades. Three lives connected by longing, love, and resilience. Three eras speaking to each other through memory.

Verdict: 5 / 5 What a book.

This book is:

• intimate

• tender

• bold

• thought-provoking

• emotionally shattering

• deeply human

Above all, it is unforgettable.

AMAZON