(#gifted @andotherpics) I travelled to Cuba and the Dominican Republic in just a few short pages, courtesy of this gritty little novel from And Other Stories. Although I wasn't blown away by it, there is a lot that I liked in Made in Saturn, including an insightful look at addiction, art and corruption.

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The main character Argenis Luna is one that seems unlikeable (rich father, privileged position in a rehab centre for his heroin addiction recovery), but actually I ended up sympathising with him quite a bit. He has his flaws, but he also reminded me of a lost lamb, desperately trying to make sense of life through the blurry haze of his addiction. He has to come to terms with the fact that his father, a prominent player in the communist revolution, is now a high-and-mighty member of the ruling elite and frankly doesn't give a shit about his junkie son, except for the points it scores him among his peers.

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Set partly in Cuba and partly in the Dominican Republic, Indiana paints a bold portrait of these two countries, bringing to life the sights and sounds and smells of the cities Argenis finds himself in. I liked her style, the bold and up-front prose well translated by Sydney Hutchinson.

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I think the main reason I felt a bit disappointed was that Rita Indiana is a queer author whose work is often praised for its exploration of sexual identity, but that was largely missing from this book. I was looking forward to reading one of the first Dominican authors to address non-conforming sexuality, but Argenis is a heterosexual male. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it, and now I look forward to reading Tentacle, which promises more of what I was looking for in this book!