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[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!