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Archive of Unknown Universes
From the author of There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven, a piercing debut novel following two families in alternative timelines of the Salvadoran civil war—a stunning exploration of the mechanisms of fate, the gravity of the past, and the endurance of love.
“An important voice in U.S. fiction. Ruben Reyes Jr. is a wonder.” — Héctor Tobar
Cambridge, 2018. Ana and Luis’s relationship is on the rocks, despite their many similarities, including their mothers who both fled El Salvador during the war. In her search for answers, and against her best judgement, Ana uses The Defractor, an experimental device that allows users to peek into alternate versions of their lives. What she sees leads her and Luis on a quest through Havana and San Salvador to uncover the family histories they are desperate to know, eager to learn if what might have been could fix what is.
Havana, 1978. The Salvadoran war is brewing, and Neto, a young revolutionary with a knack for forging government papers, meets Rafael at a meeting for the People's Revolutionary Army. The two form an intense and forbidden love, shedding their fake names and revealing themselves to each other inside the covert world of their activism. When their work separates them, they begin to exchange weekly letters, but soon, as the devastating war rages on, forces beyond their control threaten to pull them apart forever.
Ruben Reyes Jr.’s debut novel is an epic, genre-bending journey through inverted worlds—one where war ends with a peace treaty, and one where it ends with a decisive victory by the Salvadoran government. What unfolds is a stunning story of displacement and belonging, of loss and love. It’s both a daring imagining of what might have been and a powerful reckoning of our past.
“An important voice in U.S. fiction. Ruben Reyes Jr. is a wonder.” — Héctor Tobar
Cambridge, 2018. Ana and Luis’s relationship is on the rocks, despite their many similarities, including their mothers who both fled El Salvador during the war. In her search for answers, and against her best judgement, Ana uses The Defractor, an experimental device that allows users to peek into alternate versions of their lives. What she sees leads her and Luis on a quest through Havana and San Salvador to uncover the family histories they are desperate to know, eager to learn if what might have been could fix what is.
Havana, 1978. The Salvadoran war is brewing, and Neto, a young revolutionary with a knack for forging government papers, meets Rafael at a meeting for the People's Revolutionary Army. The two form an intense and forbidden love, shedding their fake names and revealing themselves to each other inside the covert world of their activism. When their work separates them, they begin to exchange weekly letters, but soon, as the devastating war rages on, forces beyond their control threaten to pull them apart forever.
Ruben Reyes Jr.’s debut novel is an epic, genre-bending journey through inverted worlds—one where war ends with a peace treaty, and one where it ends with a decisive victory by the Salvadoran government. What unfolds is a stunning story of displacement and belonging, of loss and love. It’s both a daring imagining of what might have been and a powerful reckoning of our past.
285 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2025
298 people are currently reading
22751 people want to read
About the author
Ruben Reyes Jr.
3 books136 followersRuben Reyes Jr. is the son of two Salvadoran immigrants and the author of the story collection, There is a Rio Grande in Heaven, which was named a finalist for The Story Prize. He holds degrees from Harvard College and the Iowa Writers' Workshop His writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, AGNI, BOMB Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, LitHub, and other publications. Originally from Southern California, he lives in Queens. Archive of Unknown Universes is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 219 reviews
February 2, 2025
This one was pretty good. (I'm biased!)
August 13, 2025
screaming crying throwing up. Amazed and moved. A brilliant story of love, displacement, alternate universes and hope: genuinely blown away by the construction of intricate love stories across a historical backdrop. The love between the two characters in the past moved me, and the ending of this broke me open. Lovely, lush language. Enjoyed this on every level.
May 29, 2025
Really disappointing. I didn't read Reyes' acclaimed short story collection (though I'd been meaning to catch up with it), but the praise that received had raised my expectations, which... were not met by this book. The writing was not impressive, to be honest, and while the concept was interesting it felt only half-executed. The idea of a novel exploring alternate timelines could be a way to explore the consequences of war and trauma (though after the past few years, I'm a bit tired of multiverse stories), but the fact that Reyes only provides two timelines here makes the premise seem underbaked. The pitch seems to promise a more experimental novel than he delivers.
But I also just wasn't that engaged with the characters. Ana and Luis are in the process of breaking up when the book begins, so it's hard to get invested in their relationship, and Neto and Rafael never felt fully developed to me, either. The book is pretty short, and has the multiple timelines, so it just never feels like we get to settle in with these characters. I was also not enchanted with the Defractor, which is like... magical AI? The book kind of condemns the machine but it also leads the characters to important revelations about their pasts, so...? Idk. The gimmick of having famous interlocutors talk to the characters through the machine also felt awkward and pointless.
This is also a historical subject I'm interested in so for multiple reasons, I was looking for more than I got in this book, but what can you do. Clearly other people responded to this book more positively, but it was a letdown for me.
But I also just wasn't that engaged with the characters. Ana and Luis are in the process of breaking up when the book begins, so it's hard to get invested in their relationship, and Neto and Rafael never felt fully developed to me, either. The book is pretty short, and has the multiple timelines, so it just never feels like we get to settle in with these characters. I was also not enchanted with the Defractor, which is like... magical AI? The book kind of condemns the machine but it also leads the characters to important revelations about their pasts, so...? Idk. The gimmick of having famous interlocutors talk to the characters through the machine also felt awkward and pointless.
This is also a historical subject I'm interested in so for multiple reasons, I was looking for more than I got in this book, but what can you do. Clearly other people responded to this book more positively, but it was a letdown for me.
August 3, 2025
DNF @ 38%
This is actually the only book this year that I have marked as read so I could write a review. I try to avoid this because it messes with my end of year stats, lol
This is awful. It is almost impossible to follow, and I had a very high interest in the premise. If you don’t know about the Cuban, El Salvadorian, and the Nicaraguan uprising, I think this is nearly impossible to read. And then you add in the alternate timelines, and I confidently state that I had no idea what the hell was going on.
The alternate dimensions thing is a fascinating idea, and has been employed very successfully in other works. Here though, it is conflated with an already very difficult to understand guerrilla warfare scenario where successful rebels from one country are going to other countries aiding in other uprisings, then it’s jumping back-and-forth between timelines where the uprisings have been successful or not successful, then we’re presented with alternate realities of each of those circumstances…..newsflash: literally no one knows enough information to be able to follow what is happening. He does an absolute piss poor job of explaining anything that would’ve given you a sense of grounding, such as what actually happened historically? What is a semblance of the normal timeline? It’s like composing a variation of a song no one has heard of, or remaking a movie no one remembers. Strange approach, and I think his audience will be limited.
Most novels that attempt to tackle something so complicated have some sort of understanding that the barrier to entry is high, and if the narrative doesn’t offer more details about the situation, it is just incomprehensible.
It’s really sad too because he’s doing something interesting with a homosexual relationship in the setting of warfare, and it’s between Hispanic men, it has all the trappings of a much needed minority, sort of investigation into what this could have been like. The details, however, the setting, the movement of characters between countries, the different political aspects of each nation presented; it’s just so complicated. I consider myself of at least average intelligence, and I simply could not figure out what was going on.
I did consider getting on Wikipedia and trying to learn what actually happened during these uprisings and try to get some sense of the timeline, but that seems like a lot of work to understand a timeline for an author that put no work into explaining it in the first place. Zero stars, I’ll likely never read his material again.
This is actually the only book this year that I have marked as read so I could write a review. I try to avoid this because it messes with my end of year stats, lol
This is awful. It is almost impossible to follow, and I had a very high interest in the premise. If you don’t know about the Cuban, El Salvadorian, and the Nicaraguan uprising, I think this is nearly impossible to read. And then you add in the alternate timelines, and I confidently state that I had no idea what the hell was going on.
The alternate dimensions thing is a fascinating idea, and has been employed very successfully in other works. Here though, it is conflated with an already very difficult to understand guerrilla warfare scenario where successful rebels from one country are going to other countries aiding in other uprisings, then it’s jumping back-and-forth between timelines where the uprisings have been successful or not successful, then we’re presented with alternate realities of each of those circumstances…..newsflash: literally no one knows enough information to be able to follow what is happening. He does an absolute piss poor job of explaining anything that would’ve given you a sense of grounding, such as what actually happened historically? What is a semblance of the normal timeline? It’s like composing a variation of a song no one has heard of, or remaking a movie no one remembers. Strange approach, and I think his audience will be limited.
Most novels that attempt to tackle something so complicated have some sort of understanding that the barrier to entry is high, and if the narrative doesn’t offer more details about the situation, it is just incomprehensible.
It’s really sad too because he’s doing something interesting with a homosexual relationship in the setting of warfare, and it’s between Hispanic men, it has all the trappings of a much needed minority, sort of investigation into what this could have been like. The details, however, the setting, the movement of characters between countries, the different political aspects of each nation presented; it’s just so complicated. I consider myself of at least average intelligence, and I simply could not figure out what was going on.
I did consider getting on Wikipedia and trying to learn what actually happened during these uprisings and try to get some sense of the timeline, but that seems like a lot of work to understand a timeline for an author that put no work into explaining it in the first place. Zero stars, I’ll likely never read his material again.
April 22, 2025
I enjoyed this book!
I’m thinking closer to 4.5 stars but rounded up.
The opening letter in the book got my intention immediately(though my interest did dip at times).
This novel explores the family histories of our main characters Ana and Luis, set against the backdrop of the Salvadoran Civil War. Our main characters are lost, trying to reckon with who they are, and searching for the answers in the past, or at times, other universes.
Neto’s letters were some of my favorite parts of the book. It was a stark contrast from his stoic and seemingly emotionless demeanor he put on for everyone- In these letters, he wasn’t afraid to be emotional, vulnerable, or romantic.
I liked this book even more than his debut- though I did enjoy that as well. I think the long form novel really pairs well with his writing and storytelling style, I’m already looking forward to his next novel after this. His work just feels new and refreshing, unlike anything I’ve read recently, and something I want to read more of.
Thanks again to NetGalley, Mariner Books and Ruben Reyes Jr for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 30, 2025
I don't see why the refractor had to be included in this story at all. it just added confusion and is frankly a stupid idea for a piece of technology. This story would have been MUCH much more interesting if it was just about the 2 couples. Over complicated plot that is barely fleshed out, it was a chore to finish this.
July 2, 2025
Ruben Reyes Jr.'s debut novel, Archive of Unknown Universes, arrives as a breathtaking fusion of historical fiction and speculative elements that challenges our understanding of fate, memory, and the weight of unspoken histories. Following his acclaimed short story collection There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven, Reyes Jr. demonstrates his evolution as a storyteller capable of weaving intimate human experiences with the broader tapestry of Central American history.
The novel operates across two primary timelines—2018 Cambridge and 1978-1980 El Salvador—connected by an experimental device called the Defractor, which allows users to glimpse alternate versions of their lives. This speculative element serves not as science fiction spectacle but as a profound metaphor for the immigrant experience of wondering "what if we had never left?"
The Architecture of Parallel Lives
The narrative centers on Ana and Luis, two Harvard students whose relationship fractures amid their search for family truths. Ana's academic pursuit of her mother Felicia's Salvadoran past intersects with Luis's discovery of love letters belonging to his great-uncle Neto, a revolutionary who disappeared during the civil war. Through the Defractor's revelations, they uncover the story of Neto and Rafael, two guerrilleros whose forbidden love unfolds against the backdrop of revolutionary struggle.
Reyes Jr.'s structural brilliance lies in how he mirrors the central couples across time periods. The contemporary relationship between Ana and Luis reflects the historical bond between Neto and Rafael, creating a literary palindrome where past and present illuminate each other. The Defractor becomes more than a plot device—it represents the diaspora's eternal question of whether love and belonging might have been easier in an unchanged homeland.
The author's handling of the speculative elements demonstrates remarkable restraint. Rather than drowning in technological explanations, the Defractor serves its thematic purpose: forcing characters to confront the gap between reality and possibility, between the lives they've inherited and the ones they might have chosen.
Love as Revolutionary Act
Perhaps the novel's greatest achievement is its portrayal of love as both personal and political resistance. Neto and Rafael's relationship exists in the shadows of revolutionary activism, where their love for each other must compete with their commitment to liberation. Their correspondence, revealed through a biblical cipher, creates some of the most achingly beautiful prose in contemporary literature.
The letters themselves become artifacts of resistance—not just against political oppression, but against the erasure of queer love from historical narrative. When Neto writes, "Remember that I loved the world, even when it hurt me. Remember that I loved you, even when I hurt you and you hurt me," Reyes Jr. captures the dual nature of love as both sanctuary and vulnerability.
The contemporary thread explores love's complications in a different context. Ana and Luis struggle with the weight of inherited trauma and the question of whether their relationship can survive the discovery of family secrets. Their journey through Cuba and El Salvador becomes a pilgrimage not just for historical truth, but for understanding whether love requires courage or simply persistence.
The Weight of Inherited Silence
Reyes Jr. excels in depicting how trauma travels across generations, manifesting in protective silences that ultimately isolate family members from each other. Felicia's reluctance to discuss her past creates a gulf between mother and daughter that mirrors the broader experience of Central American families in the United States. The author avoids the trap of making trauma explanatory for all character behavior, instead showing how silence becomes its own form of inheritance.
The novel's treatment of memory and history reflects Michel-Rolph Trouillot's concept of history as "a particular bundle of silences," which serves as the book's epigraph. Through the Defractor, characters access not just alternate timelines but alternate forms of memory—versions where secrets were shared, where departures didn't happen, where love survived war.
Elena's eventual revelation about her childhood during the war demonstrates Reyes Jr.'s understanding that breaking silence requires both courage and readiness from the listener. The timing of truth-telling becomes as crucial as the truth itself.
Literary Craftsmanship and Cultural Authenticity
The novel's prose shifts skillfully between the academic precision of contemporary scenes and the lyrical intensity of historical sections. Reyes Jr.'s background as a son of Salvadoran immigrants informs every detail, from the cultural specificity of family dynamics to the political complexities of post-revolutionary El Salvador.
The author's decision to include untranslated Spanish phrases and cultural references respects his bilingual readership while never alienating monolingual English speakers. This linguistic authenticity extends to the novel's exploration of how trauma affects language itself—how certain experiences resist translation not just between languages but between generations.
The Defractor sequences are rendered with particular creativity, shifting between visual and textual presentations that mirror the technology's interface while maintaining narrative flow. These sections avoid the pitfall of becoming mere exposition, instead serving as windows into character psychology and thematic development.
Minor Flaws in an Otherwise Stellar Work
While Archive of Unknown Universes succeeds brilliantly in most aspects, it occasionally suffers from pacing issues, particularly in the middle sections where the parallel narratives don't always maintain equal momentum. Some readers may find the contemporary academic setting less compelling than the historical revolutionary context, though this imbalance serves the novel's thematic purposes.
The ending, while emotionally satisfying, resolves perhaps too neatly for a novel that has spent significant time exploring the messiness of inherited trauma and historical memory. However, this critique speaks more to the richness of the world Reyes Jr. has created than to any fundamental flaw in execution.
Final Verdict
Archive of Unknown Universes announces Ruben Reyes Jr. as a major talent capable of bridging literary traditions while creating something entirely new. The novel succeeds as both an intimate love story and a sweeping historical epic, demonstrating how personal relationships intersect with political movements across time and space. While not without minor flaws, it represents a significant achievement in contemporary literature—a book that honors the complexity of Central American experience while speaking to universal themes of love, loss, and the search for belonging.
This is essential reading for anyone interested in how literature can illuminate the spaces between official history and lived experience, between the lives we inherit and the ones we might choose to create.
The novel operates across two primary timelines—2018 Cambridge and 1978-1980 El Salvador—connected by an experimental device called the Defractor, which allows users to glimpse alternate versions of their lives. This speculative element serves not as science fiction spectacle but as a profound metaphor for the immigrant experience of wondering "what if we had never left?"
The Architecture of Parallel Lives
The narrative centers on Ana and Luis, two Harvard students whose relationship fractures amid their search for family truths. Ana's academic pursuit of her mother Felicia's Salvadoran past intersects with Luis's discovery of love letters belonging to his great-uncle Neto, a revolutionary who disappeared during the civil war. Through the Defractor's revelations, they uncover the story of Neto and Rafael, two guerrilleros whose forbidden love unfolds against the backdrop of revolutionary struggle.
Reyes Jr.'s structural brilliance lies in how he mirrors the central couples across time periods. The contemporary relationship between Ana and Luis reflects the historical bond between Neto and Rafael, creating a literary palindrome where past and present illuminate each other. The Defractor becomes more than a plot device—it represents the diaspora's eternal question of whether love and belonging might have been easier in an unchanged homeland.
The author's handling of the speculative elements demonstrates remarkable restraint. Rather than drowning in technological explanations, the Defractor serves its thematic purpose: forcing characters to confront the gap between reality and possibility, between the lives they've inherited and the ones they might have chosen.
Love as Revolutionary Act
Perhaps the novel's greatest achievement is its portrayal of love as both personal and political resistance. Neto and Rafael's relationship exists in the shadows of revolutionary activism, where their love for each other must compete with their commitment to liberation. Their correspondence, revealed through a biblical cipher, creates some of the most achingly beautiful prose in contemporary literature.
The letters themselves become artifacts of resistance—not just against political oppression, but against the erasure of queer love from historical narrative. When Neto writes, "Remember that I loved the world, even when it hurt me. Remember that I loved you, even when I hurt you and you hurt me," Reyes Jr. captures the dual nature of love as both sanctuary and vulnerability.
The contemporary thread explores love's complications in a different context. Ana and Luis struggle with the weight of inherited trauma and the question of whether their relationship can survive the discovery of family secrets. Their journey through Cuba and El Salvador becomes a pilgrimage not just for historical truth, but for understanding whether love requires courage or simply persistence.
The Weight of Inherited Silence
Reyes Jr. excels in depicting how trauma travels across generations, manifesting in protective silences that ultimately isolate family members from each other. Felicia's reluctance to discuss her past creates a gulf between mother and daughter that mirrors the broader experience of Central American families in the United States. The author avoids the trap of making trauma explanatory for all character behavior, instead showing how silence becomes its own form of inheritance.
The novel's treatment of memory and history reflects Michel-Rolph Trouillot's concept of history as "a particular bundle of silences," which serves as the book's epigraph. Through the Defractor, characters access not just alternate timelines but alternate forms of memory—versions where secrets were shared, where departures didn't happen, where love survived war.
Elena's eventual revelation about her childhood during the war demonstrates Reyes Jr.'s understanding that breaking silence requires both courage and readiness from the listener. The timing of truth-telling becomes as crucial as the truth itself.
Literary Craftsmanship and Cultural Authenticity
The novel's prose shifts skillfully between the academic precision of contemporary scenes and the lyrical intensity of historical sections. Reyes Jr.'s background as a son of Salvadoran immigrants informs every detail, from the cultural specificity of family dynamics to the political complexities of post-revolutionary El Salvador.
The author's decision to include untranslated Spanish phrases and cultural references respects his bilingual readership while never alienating monolingual English speakers. This linguistic authenticity extends to the novel's exploration of how trauma affects language itself—how certain experiences resist translation not just between languages but between generations.
The Defractor sequences are rendered with particular creativity, shifting between visual and textual presentations that mirror the technology's interface while maintaining narrative flow. These sections avoid the pitfall of becoming mere exposition, instead serving as windows into character psychology and thematic development.
Minor Flaws in an Otherwise Stellar Work
While Archive of Unknown Universes succeeds brilliantly in most aspects, it occasionally suffers from pacing issues, particularly in the middle sections where the parallel narratives don't always maintain equal momentum. Some readers may find the contemporary academic setting less compelling than the historical revolutionary context, though this imbalance serves the novel's thematic purposes.
The ending, while emotionally satisfying, resolves perhaps too neatly for a novel that has spent significant time exploring the messiness of inherited trauma and historical memory. However, this critique speaks more to the richness of the world Reyes Jr. has created than to any fundamental flaw in execution.
Final Verdict
Archive of Unknown Universes announces Ruben Reyes Jr. as a major talent capable of bridging literary traditions while creating something entirely new. The novel succeeds as both an intimate love story and a sweeping historical epic, demonstrating how personal relationships intersect with political movements across time and space. While not without minor flaws, it represents a significant achievement in contemporary literature—a book that honors the complexity of Central American experience while speaking to universal themes of love, loss, and the search for belonging.
This is essential reading for anyone interested in how literature can illuminate the spaces between official history and lived experience, between the lives we inherit and the ones we might choose to create.
August 10, 2025
dnf at 52% very little character development and a meandering plot
June 30, 2025
"If there's even a chance of recovering the past, we have a moral responsibility to try, even when it means grasping for the loose threads of history."
How would you feel if you could see an alternate version of your life?
ARCHIVE follows two families in alternative timelines - Cambridge, 2018, Ana and Luis' marriage is dissolving and Ana uses the Defractor (an experimental device) to see alternate versions of their lives; Havana, 1978, two revolutionaries Neto and Rafael try to survive amidst the Salvadoran civil war.
I found the concept of Defractor interesting as the characters, like us, are tempted to pursue different truths while they dig into their shared Salvadoran heritage. Reyes allows one to learn more about this part of Salvadoran history, although I had expected further historical touch in the narrative. The relationships unravel in an impactful and tender way, as queer and familial love make the history alive, preserving the voices of those one lost to the revolution. When secrets become touchable memories, the story highlights the power of stories, not devoid of the shadows of the past, rather, the possibilities and words render glimmer of liberation against life's cruelties and attempts of erasure.
I think Reyes did a great job at building a tunnel between past and present, between resentment that shatters and longing for a different future. It's layered and it goes beyond the point of imagining what could have been. My attention shifted from Ana and Luis to later Neto and Rafael, working like an anchor to Ana and Luis, which I wish their closure were deeper and more clear. I also wish the speculative element were explored in its complexity, while initially intriguing, it felt like a plot device throughout the narrative.
ARCHIVE OF UNKNOWN UNIVERSES is a melancholic act of liberation through time and space. With compelling prose and beautiful message, I thought this was a moving novel.
[ I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - Mariner books . All opinions are my own ]
How would you feel if you could see an alternate version of your life?
ARCHIVE follows two families in alternative timelines - Cambridge, 2018, Ana and Luis' marriage is dissolving and Ana uses the Defractor (an experimental device) to see alternate versions of their lives; Havana, 1978, two revolutionaries Neto and Rafael try to survive amidst the Salvadoran civil war.
I found the concept of Defractor interesting as the characters, like us, are tempted to pursue different truths while they dig into their shared Salvadoran heritage. Reyes allows one to learn more about this part of Salvadoran history, although I had expected further historical touch in the narrative. The relationships unravel in an impactful and tender way, as queer and familial love make the history alive, preserving the voices of those one lost to the revolution. When secrets become touchable memories, the story highlights the power of stories, not devoid of the shadows of the past, rather, the possibilities and words render glimmer of liberation against life's cruelties and attempts of erasure.
I think Reyes did a great job at building a tunnel between past and present, between resentment that shatters and longing for a different future. It's layered and it goes beyond the point of imagining what could have been. My attention shifted from Ana and Luis to later Neto and Rafael, working like an anchor to Ana and Luis, which I wish their closure were deeper and more clear. I also wish the speculative element were explored in its complexity, while initially intriguing, it felt like a plot device throughout the narrative.
ARCHIVE OF UNKNOWN UNIVERSES is a melancholic act of liberation through time and space. With compelling prose and beautiful message, I thought this was a moving novel.
[ I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - Mariner books . All opinions are my own ]
August 26, 2025
Did I finish this book? No. But am I done with this book? Absolutely.
The concept sounded amazing—multiple timelines, a device that lets you peek into alternate versions of your life… I was hooked for the first two chapters, truly. But the worldbuilding never settled into something coherent. Instead of expanding the story, it kept tripping over itself and left me more confused than curious.
And the Defractor? It felt so unnecessary. The story would have been far stronger if it had leaned into character development instead of hinging everything on a device that made things more confusing than fascinating.
I gave it six more chapters out of sheer optimism (and maybe stubbornness), but the spark never came back. Out of curiosity I skipped to the ending—only to find that even the finale felt more like a shrug than a payoff.
Somewhere, in some alternate universe, I probably loved this story. Sadly, it wasn’t this one.
The concept sounded amazing—multiple timelines, a device that lets you peek into alternate versions of your life… I was hooked for the first two chapters, truly. But the worldbuilding never settled into something coherent. Instead of expanding the story, it kept tripping over itself and left me more confused than curious.
And the Defractor? It felt so unnecessary. The story would have been far stronger if it had leaned into character development instead of hinging everything on a device that made things more confusing than fascinating.
I gave it six more chapters out of sheer optimism (and maybe stubbornness), but the spark never came back. Out of curiosity I skipped to the ending—only to find that even the finale felt more like a shrug than a payoff.
Somewhere, in some alternate universe, I probably loved this story. Sadly, it wasn’t this one.
August 15, 2025
Trying not to cry on my drive home (finished audiobook)
March 21, 2025
[Copy provided by publisher]
READ IF YOU LIKE...
• Alternate timelines
• Gay love stories
• Revolutions
I THOUGHT IT WAS...
A pretty solid, multi-layered story of heritage and love. In 2018, two college students head down to Havana and San Salvador to research family histories. In 1978, a young man meets with other revoluntaries in Havana and ends up falling in love with another man. How do these lives intersect? And how would they have intersected if the Salvadoran war had ended differently?
This novel does a lot of things I like. I thought the prose was lovely and that Reyes did an admirable job of guiding us through alternate realities without confusion. The highlight of the novel is undoubtedly the chapters about Neto and Rafael, two men involved in movements across two countries, trying to sustain a bright but forbidden love. Reyes crafts a beautiful message about love that transcends timelines, universes, and war.
The story of the two college students, Ana and Luis, on the other hand, was less compelling. Sometimes they felt more like vessels to carry out the plot than genuine, fleshed out characters. The message of their relationship is a little less clear. I also am not completely sold on the Defractor, a technology that can show you possible alternate timelines in response to a specific question. I go between feeling like Reyes did just enough with the Defractor to justify its inclusion to questioning if it was truly needed to tell this story.
Overall, I enjoyed this. I like that it highlighted complicated, human stories from often overlooked countries. Reyes is a strong writer, and I hope for more novels from him in the future!
READ IF YOU LIKE...
• Alternate timelines
• Gay love stories
• Revolutions
I THOUGHT IT WAS...
A pretty solid, multi-layered story of heritage and love. In 2018, two college students head down to Havana and San Salvador to research family histories. In 1978, a young man meets with other revoluntaries in Havana and ends up falling in love with another man. How do these lives intersect? And how would they have intersected if the Salvadoran war had ended differently?
This novel does a lot of things I like. I thought the prose was lovely and that Reyes did an admirable job of guiding us through alternate realities without confusion. The highlight of the novel is undoubtedly the chapters about Neto and Rafael, two men involved in movements across two countries, trying to sustain a bright but forbidden love. Reyes crafts a beautiful message about love that transcends timelines, universes, and war.
The story of the two college students, Ana and Luis, on the other hand, was less compelling. Sometimes they felt more like vessels to carry out the plot than genuine, fleshed out characters. The message of their relationship is a little less clear. I also am not completely sold on the Defractor, a technology that can show you possible alternate timelines in response to a specific question. I go between feeling like Reyes did just enough with the Defractor to justify its inclusion to questioning if it was truly needed to tell this story.
Overall, I enjoyed this. I like that it highlighted complicated, human stories from often overlooked countries. Reyes is a strong writer, and I hope for more novels from him in the future!
March 7, 2025
I’m very grateful to NetGalley for the ARC!
This is a beautiful, introspective book that explores what could have been. The Archive of Unknown Universes reimagines characters’ lives among the backdrop of the Salvadoran Civil War and the decades that follow. While the technology that allows characters to access alternate timelines was interesting, much of the reimagining occurs within the characters’ minds. It is a grounded story, and the “sci fi” element is minimal.
The strongest part of this novel is the relationship between Neto and Rafael. I loved how their relationship builds, and appreciated how their love ultimately affects a web of people in its wake. I wanted to learn more about the mothers of Ana and Luis - the story alluded to their war experiences, but the reader doesn’t get a direct explanation.
Looking forward to reading more from Ruben Reyes Jr. in future!
This is a beautiful, introspective book that explores what could have been. The Archive of Unknown Universes reimagines characters’ lives among the backdrop of the Salvadoran Civil War and the decades that follow. While the technology that allows characters to access alternate timelines was interesting, much of the reimagining occurs within the characters’ minds. It is a grounded story, and the “sci fi” element is minimal.
The strongest part of this novel is the relationship between Neto and Rafael. I loved how their relationship builds, and appreciated how their love ultimately affects a web of people in its wake. I wanted to learn more about the mothers of Ana and Luis - the story alluded to their war experiences, but the reader doesn’t get a direct explanation.
Looking forward to reading more from Ruben Reyes Jr. in future!
August 25, 2025
DNF at 17% because I'm not sure when boring, dry prose became the norm but it needs to stop. invisible, MFA prose that's been butchered and absent of any personality or texture will never work for me because prose is literally the only thing you have when you're crafting a novel.
August 13, 2025
I didn’t have enough brain power to comprehend this book. The parts I did comprehend I thought were good. Bookmark ✔️
August 8, 2025
A piece of technology gives access to the different lives played out in the background of a historical revolution.
Couple of problems here:
-I am not knowledgeable enough on these historical moments to move through it comfortably. So something would happen and I didn’t know if it actually had happened, or if this was one of the hypotheticals the author was playing with. I quickly learned not to care.
-The science fiction element was confusing and arguably unnecessary. You could have done something similar without this odd element added to the plot. The science behind it wasn’t explained enough, nor properly introduced to the setting. The odd voices the machine used just made it more confusing and it gave the whole book an odd timber that didn’t add to the plot.
-There was no one to cheer for. One couple was breaking up from the moment you met them, the other was destined to fail. So it all seemed a little pointless to me. Which was maybe the point? But if it was, I was never on board to learn whatever lesson the author was so heavy handily trying to teach.
-The overlapping timelines were extremely confusing. I would keep them strait for the first third of the book. After that? I gave up. A genuinely interesting concept but very poorly executed. I ended up not caring about any of the characters and just sluggishly moved through the entire story.
Couple of problems here:
-I am not knowledgeable enough on these historical moments to move through it comfortably. So something would happen and I didn’t know if it actually had happened, or if this was one of the hypotheticals the author was playing with. I quickly learned not to care.
-The science fiction element was confusing and arguably unnecessary. You could have done something similar without this odd element added to the plot. The science behind it wasn’t explained enough, nor properly introduced to the setting. The odd voices the machine used just made it more confusing and it gave the whole book an odd timber that didn’t add to the plot.
-There was no one to cheer for. One couple was breaking up from the moment you met them, the other was destined to fail. So it all seemed a little pointless to me. Which was maybe the point? But if it was, I was never on board to learn whatever lesson the author was so heavy handily trying to teach.
-The overlapping timelines were extremely confusing. I would keep them strait for the first third of the book. After that? I gave up. A genuinely interesting concept but very poorly executed. I ended up not caring about any of the characters and just sluggishly moved through the entire story.
August 21, 2025
my first ever dnf at 52% Atrocious. God help me I'm in a horrendous slump.
July 16, 2025
I think this book was ultimately fine, but I didn't personally get what I wanted to from it. The premise sounded good, but the execution left a lot to be desired for me.
The future timeline was the least interesting, especially considering their relationship is on the rocks for the entire story. I also didn't really care for the Defractor and the alt timelines it presented. It just made things confusing and took me away from the story that I actually cared about which was Rafael & Nato and their love story. Honestly, I wish this had been an actual historical fiction about them navigating being gay and having to navigate that during the war. It was a short read though so I'm not too broken up about not loving it completely.
Overall, I mean...this has made me want to know about that war and that time period in El Salvador, but I think this was at its best when it was focused on the actual historical timeline and not the speculative one.
The future timeline was the least interesting, especially considering their relationship is on the rocks for the entire story. I also didn't really care for the Defractor and the alt timelines it presented. It just made things confusing and took me away from the story that I actually cared about which was Rafael & Nato and their love story. Honestly, I wish this had been an actual historical fiction about them navigating being gay and having to navigate that during the war. It was a short read though so I'm not too broken up about not loving it completely.
Overall, I mean...this has made me want to know about that war and that time period in El Salvador, but I think this was at its best when it was focused on the actual historical timeline and not the speculative one.
March 31, 2025
It’s emotional in both of the timelines and I was invested in each as a result. That’s rare for me. I usually prefer one timeline to the other. Dod I have a preference, yes. But neither timeline worked without the other which is so important. This book was really good!! Powerful, redemptive, emotional, gut-wrenching.
I think it could have benefitted from a family tree and a bit extra explanation on how the Defractor piece works, but if you can track characters and catch onto the plot device quick, you’ll be fine!
I think it could have benefitted from a family tree and a bit extra explanation on how the Defractor piece works, but if you can track characters and catch onto the plot device quick, you’ll be fine!
August 15, 2025
4.5 stars! Tbh this is more divisive in goodreads than I expected - I don’t know why so many readers are complaining about the alternate timelines and not understanding the guerrilla warfare/revolutionary cause… that might be on you babe because I knew exactly where we were the whole time. And yeah Ana and Luis weren’t the best but people contain multitudes! They’re young and going through a major life transition! And I related so hard to the visceral building of resentment! Was I more interested in my guerrilleros fighting for love amidst wartime via letters and scandal and yearning? Of course!
What an ending 🥹 a little disappointed that by 20% we knew all the info that we would know from the entire narrative. We knew where Neto and Rafael stood, we figured out the relationship between Ana x Luis x Anabel x Domingo x Neto x Rafael early on (although that kinda fell off/what happened to Domingo?) and everything that happened after establishing the initial premise was watching our main characters digest this same information. And you might say, Alexia, “isn’t that just what a book is?” and I’d sort of agree, but beyond having a cool “what if” parallel timeline where things always seem to be marginally better — ok fine some novelty — I don’t know if this book achieved much more than a short story could (from a short story author).
And I don’t want to box the author into this by any means, because I did LOVE the prose and the concept, and I did find it to be beautifully executed, but I’m not sure that it reached a developed narrative arch or successfully built any suspense/plot tension. Short story writers often have to face the challenge of establishing a TON of biographical and baseline story information very early into their narrative, unless it’s purposefully cage-y. I think for that reason, this felt front-loaded with the pertinent information the reader needed (or wanted).
So there was a novel impact, the story is admirable, needed, and valuable, and there’s value in learning more about this history (especially Neto x Rafael’s timeline w their families). I found the information/context/story engrossing, but it was all immediately offered to the reader once the cast and plot were established. All that to say — very very enjoyable read with a positive impact, unique framing/lens, and good intentions, but I was never dying to read it. It lacked narrative tension and ultimately felt more like a record/archive - which don’t get me wrong, I adore (I was legitimately Ana for a solid year in college).
The only thing I was holding out for was Neto’s letters, and I’m so happy we got them, but still… predictable. But damn do they pull the heart strings.
Happy I read it, excited for book club, would recommend it.
What an ending 🥹 a little disappointed that by 20% we knew all the info that we would know from the entire narrative. We knew where Neto and Rafael stood, we figured out the relationship between Ana x Luis x Anabel x Domingo x Neto x Rafael early on (although that kinda fell off/what happened to Domingo?) and everything that happened after establishing the initial premise was watching our main characters digest this same information. And you might say, Alexia, “isn’t that just what a book is?” and I’d sort of agree, but beyond having a cool “what if” parallel timeline where things always seem to be marginally better — ok fine some novelty — I don’t know if this book achieved much more than a short story could (from a short story author).
And I don’t want to box the author into this by any means, because I did LOVE the prose and the concept, and I did find it to be beautifully executed, but I’m not sure that it reached a developed narrative arch or successfully built any suspense/plot tension. Short story writers often have to face the challenge of establishing a TON of biographical and baseline story information very early into their narrative, unless it’s purposefully cage-y. I think for that reason, this felt front-loaded with the pertinent information the reader needed (or wanted).
So there was a novel impact, the story is admirable, needed, and valuable, and there’s value in learning more about this history (especially Neto x Rafael’s timeline w their families). I found the information/context/story engrossing, but it was all immediately offered to the reader once the cast and plot were established. All that to say — very very enjoyable read with a positive impact, unique framing/lens, and good intentions, but I was never dying to read it. It lacked narrative tension and ultimately felt more like a record/archive - which don’t get me wrong, I adore (I was legitimately Ana for a solid year in college).
The only thing I was holding out for was Neto’s letters, and I’m so happy we got them, but still… predictable. But damn do they pull the heart strings.
Happy I read it, excited for book club, would recommend it.
July 28, 2025
*3.75
I really enjoyed this story at its core. The strongest, most compelling part of the story are Neto and Rafael navigating their relationship during the tumultuous time of the revolutionary war in El Salvador. It was an interesting introspection on love, time, and self-autonomy. I liked the discussion of when I relationship isn’t working at what point do we become complacent because of love or do we keep fighting for it. The characters are what really drive this story and they have interesting perspectives. Characters like Esperanza, Felecia, and Elena have interesting backstories that I wish were fleshed out a little more vividly.
I think this book has good bones but there were some things that didn’t quite work for me or didn’t make sense. Namely, the mechanism for the alternate universes. That didn’t really work for me because I didn’t understand how it could generate multiple realities without intimately knowing it’s subject. It seems a bit like AI but also had the capability to generate past images autonomously without human prompting. That whole mechanism of the Defractor just didn’t click for me. (Spoiler) also of the narratives in this book does show our characters in an alternate reality, but it doesn’t feel like it really connects with the rest of the story or serves much purpose in the overall plot. It’s a bit of wish fulfillment to me and I wish it connected better. Ana and Luis relationship was also one of the weaker arch’s in the story. I liked how the trajectory of their relationship was described and the terms they came to in the end, but their sections in the story just weren’t as compelling. While these elements don’t quite click for me, they spark questions that I’d love to ask the author about.
With all that said I did enjoy this book. This book has a lot of themes and structures that I like in stories. How familial and personal narratives fit into historical contexts, multigenerational families navigating family traumas and uncovering secrets. It’s told in multiple time periods. All those elements I love and it reminds me a lot of the book Zeal by Morgan Jerkins which also came out this year. There’s something to be said about people’s desire to connect to their pasts by honoring their families which is why these stories resonate with me. I definitely think people should give this book a read.
I really enjoyed this story at its core. The strongest, most compelling part of the story are Neto and Rafael navigating their relationship during the tumultuous time of the revolutionary war in El Salvador. It was an interesting introspection on love, time, and self-autonomy. I liked the discussion of when I relationship isn’t working at what point do we become complacent because of love or do we keep fighting for it. The characters are what really drive this story and they have interesting perspectives. Characters like Esperanza, Felecia, and Elena have interesting backstories that I wish were fleshed out a little more vividly.
I think this book has good bones but there were some things that didn’t quite work for me or didn’t make sense. Namely, the mechanism for the alternate universes. That didn’t really work for me because I didn’t understand how it could generate multiple realities without intimately knowing it’s subject. It seems a bit like AI but also had the capability to generate past images autonomously without human prompting. That whole mechanism of the Defractor just didn’t click for me. (Spoiler) also of the narratives in this book does show our characters in an alternate reality, but it doesn’t feel like it really connects with the rest of the story or serves much purpose in the overall plot. It’s a bit of wish fulfillment to me and I wish it connected better. Ana and Luis relationship was also one of the weaker arch’s in the story. I liked how the trajectory of their relationship was described and the terms they came to in the end, but their sections in the story just weren’t as compelling. While these elements don’t quite click for me, they spark questions that I’d love to ask the author about.
With all that said I did enjoy this book. This book has a lot of themes and structures that I like in stories. How familial and personal narratives fit into historical contexts, multigenerational families navigating family traumas and uncovering secrets. It’s told in multiple time periods. All those elements I love and it reminds me a lot of the book Zeal by Morgan Jerkins which also came out this year. There’s something to be said about people’s desire to connect to their pasts by honoring their families which is why these stories resonate with me. I definitely think people should give this book a read.
July 9, 2025
It is hard to imagine a story more deftly engaged with the political themes of our time than Archive of Unknown Universes. In his debut novel, Salvadoran American author Ruben Reyes Jr. sends his characters on an adventure through a quasi-multiverse to explore alternate outcomes of El Salvador’s 1972-92 civil war—a conflict that had implications for the entire Western Hemisphere.
Archive of Unknown Universes begins in 2018. Its protagonists are Ana and Luis, two Salvadoran American students at Harvard University who are dating. Despite trouble in their relationship, Luis travels with Ana to Havana, where she is due to conduct archival research on the Salvadoran Civil War. (The Cuban government aided El Salvador’s leftist rebels.) Ana is “after dignity for a tiny country, a forgotten country, a country conveniently erased from the map.” Luis has a “suspicion that the trip was a last-ditch attempt to save a relationship on the rocks.”
Although she is a diligent researcher, Ana is enamored by a fictional device known as the Defractor, which allows users to render different versions of their lives. The Defractor is experimental technology... [[READ THE REST IN FP: https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/04/...]]
Archive of Unknown Universes begins in 2018. Its protagonists are Ana and Luis, two Salvadoran American students at Harvard University who are dating. Despite trouble in their relationship, Luis travels with Ana to Havana, where she is due to conduct archival research on the Salvadoran Civil War. (The Cuban government aided El Salvador’s leftist rebels.) Ana is “after dignity for a tiny country, a forgotten country, a country conveniently erased from the map.” Luis has a “suspicion that the trip was a last-ditch attempt to save a relationship on the rocks.”
Although she is a diligent researcher, Ana is enamored by a fictional device known as the Defractor, which allows users to render different versions of their lives. The Defractor is experimental technology... [[READ THE REST IN FP: https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/04/...]]
Read
July 31, 2025In the first 40 or so pages, we manage to get an pop culture AI spitting poetry, two characters introduced in a no context sex scene, and then another breakup sex scene, which felt quite busy and shallow. I didn’t feel any depth to the characters or that any concept felt particularly fleshed out, which was disappointing since the premise seemed so interesting. Ultimately, the entire premise of the “alternate timelines” seemingly doesn’t matter at all and it’s just a few disconnected narratives imo
So little happens in the book that you can’t really get a feel for what any character is except from internal monologues, which are seemingly by design unclear or literally missing. The ending actually contains the phrase “so this is how it happened”, which I feel like only works for heist movies. Good enough for me to have finished it, and I’d read the next book by the author if it got strong reviews
So little happens in the book that you can’t really get a feel for what any character is except from internal monologues, which are seemingly by design unclear or literally missing. The ending actually contains the phrase “so this is how it happened”, which I feel like only works for heist movies. Good enough for me to have finished it, and I’d read the next book by the author if it got strong reviews
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2025
Honestly if this whole story was purely about Neto and Raphael it would've been an easy five star read for me. Their revolution for El Selvador was very interesting. Their love for each other and the love letters between them was touching, tragic. But I couldn't care less about Ana and Luis' story, and the Defractors that show alternate versions of themselves and how their lives could've been.
Ultimately this is a very interesting read in some of the history of El Salvador and a worthwhile read, it just wasn't what I had maybe wanted from it (which is either more fantasy, or none at all.)
Ultimately this is a very interesting read in some of the history of El Salvador and a worthwhile read, it just wasn't what I had maybe wanted from it (which is either more fantasy, or none at all.)
September 3, 2025
3.5 but round up—very interesting premise but I think in the end doing a little too much to keep track of frankly. Enjoyed overall.
August 14, 2025
This book is impossible to follow if you're not an expert on the history of Cuba and El Salvador. The story (if there is one) disappears amid all the different timelines and snippets of history - or "history". The characters are quite bland, and there's just no real character development. Everyone is constantly keeping secrets and refusing to communicate. The Defractor device is also not properly explained. What is the technology here? HOW does it know all these alternate versions of events? Such a cool premise for a book, and the cover art is gorgeous! But sadly, this book is just awful.
August 7, 2025
In 1978, during the Salvadoran civil war, a romance kindles between Neto, a young Salvadoran revolutionary, and Rafael, a Nicaraguan sympathiser who works forging documents. In our timeline, the US intervenes in the conflict and the Salvadoran resistance is crushed. But in an alternate timeline, the US stays out and a communist government reshapes El Salvador's history. Neto and Rafael, too, have radically different fates that are tied to the destiny of their country, although they always struggle with their homosexuality. In 2018, Ana, a Salvadoran American student at Harvard, uses a device called a Defractor to glimpse these different timelines, which shakes her relationship with boyfriend Luis, Neto's great-nephew, as well as shedding light on his family history. Archive of Unknown Universes, Ruben Reyes Jr.'s debut novel, has such a rich concept; there are so many possibilities in tying together the story of a single love affair with the geopolitical consequences of El Salvador's war. But the best way I can describe it is underbaked. I just couldn't invest in any of the characters, and I was sad that Reyes ended up having so little to say about... El Salvador. The focus is much more on romantic angst. The prose is really wobbly, with awkward dialogue and lots of telling. And the Defractor is such a weird addition to the narrative; its quirkiness feels like it belongs in a much more playful multiverse novel like Kaliane Bradley's
The Ministry of Time,
and its existence poses too many questions that Reyes clearly doesn't want to answer. Honestly, I didn't think the SF trappings were necessary here, as we could have explored alternate universes without this McGuffin. So disappointing.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
August 2, 2025
DNF 70%
I tried so hard but this book never hooked me. I liked parts of this book but the Defractor part was distracting and unnecessary. I think I would have liked the book without the Defractor because the themes and some of the characters were interesting.
I tried so hard but this book never hooked me. I liked parts of this book but the Defractor part was distracting and unnecessary. I think I would have liked the book without the Defractor because the themes and some of the characters were interesting.
August 17, 2025
A debut novel with another homosexual couple, convoluted story lines, multiple time lines, incomprehensible fictional history/ historical facts and a healthy disdain for the Bible? No thanks.
Maybe if I write this enough it will come true: come to an end, come to an end, come to an end, come to an end.
Maybe if I write this enough it will come true: come to an end, come to an end, come to an end, come to an end.
July 21, 2025
One of those quiet, unassuming novels that sneaks up on you and hits you in the feels.
I think some different formatting choices could have been made to make it less confusing, but overall it’s a beautifully written story that makes you sit back and reflect
I think some different formatting choices could have been made to make it less confusing, but overall it’s a beautifully written story that makes you sit back and reflect
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