Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC and the publisher for the gifted physical ARC! This book was published in the US by Avon and Harper Voyager on January 14th, 2025.

Edward Underhill’s The In-Between Bookstore is a heartfelt meditation on queerness, homecoming, and the ghosts of our past selves. It follows Darby, a trans man freshly laid off from his New York City startup job, as he returns to his hometown of Oak Falls to help his mother pack up his childhood home. What begins as an escape from his perceived failures quickly turns surreal when Darby finds himself slipping through time—encountering his pre-transition teenage self working at the local bookstore where he once found refuge.

The novel’s greatest strength is its portrayal of queerness in the American Midwest. Darby arrives in Oak Falls expecting to feel as alienated as he did in his youth, only to find that the town—and the people in it—are more nuanced than he remembered. His former best friend, Michael, who once drifted away from him, is now openly gay and surrounded by a group of queer friends. These revelations force Darby to confront not just his assumptions about Oak Falls but also the ways his younger self internalized its limitations.

The time-travel element adds an emotional depth to Darby’s journey. Watching teenage Darby interact with teenage Michael, not yet aware of the fracture that will come between them, makes their estrangement even more poignant. The novel delicately explores how misunderstandings—especially around identity—can wound, as Michael once mistook Darby’s struggles with gender for distaste for his own budding queerness. In revisiting these moments, Darby gains clarity and, ultimately, closure. The book resists the easy narrative of a hometown romance as the answer to Darby’s journey; instead, it allows him to embrace both his past and his chosen future in New York.

While nothing about the novel particularly stood out to me, it was undeniably cozy and compelling in its exploration of self-acceptance. The In-Between Bookstore is a quiet, introspective read—perfect for those who love books that gently untangle identity and belonging through the lens of time, memory, and queer community.

📖 Read this if you love: Cozy, introspective queer fiction, time-travel narratives, and stories of self-discovery; and small-town dynamics and nuanced portrayals of queerness in rural settings.

🔑 Key Themes: Queerness in the Midwest, Self-Acceptance and Identity, Time Travel and Memory, Love and Friendship, Healing from the Past.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Drug Use (minor), Sexual Content (minor).

Thank you so much to Avon for the complimentary copy of this!

This book is out now!

I read Edward's debut back in 2023 and really liked his writing. After reading this one, I now want to go back and read Everything Has Changed before his next book comes out.

I'll be honest I was a little apprehensive starting this because I had seen mixed reviews and I really don't know why. I thought this was really enjoyable! I was invested pretty much right from the start. Darby is at this crossroad in their life where he is about to turn 30 with no job, no love interests and in an apt that is small & costly (yay New York). So what does one do when they just want to reset their life - go back home to Oak Falls, IL. Luckily for Darby, using the excuse to help his mom back up his childhood home was the perfect excuse. What he didn't expect was running into his former best friend whom he did not know was still in the area. Darby isn't sure if New York City is still for him but also not sure if being in Oak Falls is where he should be either.

I thought Edward did such a great job with creating this backstory for Darby in New York. We got to meet his friends and see how they interacted with one another. And how he truly has this group of people in New York that has become his family. As much as Michael tried to include Darby in with his life and into his world with former classmates, Darby just felt so out of place. I think between the house party and the football game, I had this sinking feeling that IL was not for Darby.

As someone who is edging closer to 40, I could still relate to Darby's feeling of not being one way or another. And even though they may have been secure with themselves, there were still aspects of his life where he thought he would be further along in. The incorporation of the bookstore and seeing himself as a teenager has to be SO trippy! Especially when he was still a female, before he even realized that he was trans. I love Darby's relationship with his mom. She was so supportive and sweet. I found myself chuckling a few times at their dynamic.

"Don't assume you're too much or too weird or too new. I know not everybody is safe, but...but sometimes it's worth taking the risk. You'll know when it's worth taking the risk, and then...And then you have to, because the only alternative is to be alone, and that's so much worse."


I was advised early on that this book was not a romance but that didn't stop me from rooting for Darby and Michael to be a thing. I loved their relationship and that they were able to reconnect again as adults. I know the miscommunication trope is not well liked but I felt like it does make things a bit more believable. Because humans and even adults have a hard time communicating especially when it comes to feelings. I was glad that they were able to resolve their tension and Darby was able to get closure on what had happened.

We don't get any reason as to why the bookstore is magical or if Darby's interference causes any sort of ripple effect. I was okay with that because there were just so many other things happening. I am more curious if this occurs to anyone else in the town at their prior work place.

Overall I just really enjoyed this and recommend this if you are looking for something light but with a lot of heart.

A beautiful exploration of identity and self, The In-Between Bookstore had all of the elements for a 5 star book, but just didn’t fully deliver on the “travel” aspect.

This is a sweet and romantic story that is NOT a romance! Darby is feeling over living in NYC. He's been laid off, he has to move out of his studio because the rent is too high, and he's about to turn 30. So he bails on all of his friends to help his mom move out of his childhood home and to visit the bookstore where he worked as a teen. What he finds in small town Illinois is that there are queer people there and that the bookstore is a portal to his high school age self. Throughout the story, Darby gets a chance to help his younger self avoid some real pain, reconnect with his high school best friend (he's queer now!), get closer with his mom, and decide what he really wants his life to be. I was honestly shocked that this book didn't end as a romance because it feels set up for that, but I also wasn't disappointed by the ending. This is a great read when you are feeling a little lost and want to feel like that's okay. Drink this book: grab a grocery story bottle of pinot grigio and drink it on a porch or in a park while you read.

Darby returns to his small home town after losing his job and faces with the rising rates of rent in New York City. When he stumbles into the local bookstore he used to work at as a teen, and finds his younger self, he’s forced to confront old choices, lost moments, and who he’s become now.

I liked this liminal bookstore where Darby interacts with himself before he’s come to terms with his identity. It really brings to mind those “what would you tell your younger self” posts on social media, and we get to see Darby give his younger self what he needed.

But almost nothing else happens in this book. We time travel to Darby’s past, where he can’t figure out if he’s supposed to change anything or even if he can, and a blossoming romance and rebuilding his lost relationships. It was poignant to see him examine how his life would be different if he made different choices. Good characters, interesting relationships, but so slow with very little that actually happens.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager Publishing!

Thank you Avon Books for the ARC!

I soft-DNFed this about 40% in. I normally love mystical time-travelesque stories but this is one of those times where the execution doesn’t quite do the concept justice. I want to give it another chance at some point because it does have good trans/queer representation so I’d like to see how the story pans out.

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I really loved the premise of this book. I loved the message of trust, found family and friendships, self-exploration and self-identity, and love.
I could feel Darby's struggles with learning who he was and accepting that being trans did not make him a broken weird-o. I could feel his fear to let anyone get too close to avoid rejection.

Overall I did enjoy the story, but I don't think the time-traveling bookstore element was needed, or at least not utilized in the way I think it should have been. I think had Darby been able to witness his mistakes with Michael and use them to improve his relationship in present-day it may have been different, but his returning to the past never felt fruitful in that we never saw any kind of resolutions.

With that being said, I think the message and story is still an important one to be shared and I appreciate Edward Underhill for telling it.

Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Edward Underhill for the ARC.
All opinions expressed in this review are mine and have not been influenced by anyone or anything.

Many of us have blips in our timelines that we desperately want to fix, but given that time travel isn't yet possible, we remain stuck in our minds, dwelling on what could have been if we'd wandered down a different path. In "The In-Between Bookstore" Edward Underhill examines this very thing; the idea that any time we make a decision, there is an alternate version of us that made a different decision, and because of that the timeline then split off into another branch. For Darby, this phenomenon happens right as he returns home to Illinois and walks into In Between Books, where he's faced with the teenage version of himself when the bookstore is suddenly a portal to his past.

But can adult Darby convince the teenage version of himself to do things differently so that the painful present he lives in might become better? Or will Darby find out that much of his past is doomed to repeat itself no matter what he does?

Edward Underhill's debut adult novel was full of ups and downs, as there is in real life, but I did find myself feeling as though not a lot actually happened during the course of the book. I was left feeling a little unsatisfied with the ending, wanting more to happen for Darby over the course of the novel, and yet the ending felt a little lackluster. I do feel that I've enjoyed Underhill's YA novels more, but this one had promise that just felt like it fell a little flat in the end.

The In-Between Bookstore is an introspective yet lighthearted novel about rectifying the decisions your younger self has made for you.

Darby, a soon-to-be-thirty, recently jobless, trans man struggling to make ends meet in NYC, is clearly in the midst of having his quarter-life crisis. Through a Wizard Of Oz-esque journey back to his midwestern hometown he evolves over the book’s three week span from an abrasive but lovable twenty-something into a very nearly self-actualized adult. The story is quick paced and LGBTQIA+ insightful with well developed, endearing characters. Definitely an exceptionally relatable read for ANYONE who is struggling, or has struggled, coming to terms with their post-teen years. Very recommended!

Much appreciation goes out to author, Edward Underhill, and Avon Books (HarperCollins) for the opportunity to experience The In-Between Bookstore in advance of its January, 14th 2025 release.

If you could visit your younger self, would you? Darby doesn't really have that choice but it happens anyway. Torn between wondering went wrong with his best friend and dealing with the emotions and struggles of an almost 30 year old, whose whole life seems on hold, Darby is a relatable main character. Some of the big questions here is "what is home", "who am I (especially in relation to the past, present, future)" and "how do you make decisions when you're stuck?" I loved that Darby, as a trans man, thinks and wrestles with these questions and that I found so much to relate to (as a 47 year old cis woman). So read this book......well done.

*I was given a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review"



CW: talks of coming out, transitioning, and gender dysphoria, transphobia/homophobia

Super cute right from the jump. The dialogue, the narrative, the way the author just writes it, it’s so much nicer than the book I’d just finished before this (at the time of writing this review, that was The Empress, a review which I’ve posted).



Edward Underhill is a really engaging author, to start, and Darby, his protagonist, is such a breath of fresh air. You can tell he’s written by an Own Voice because he’s complex and multi-layered. Additionally, Underhill also subverts how a lot of male authors (in my experience) write queer women and non-men in general, Olivia and Joan in particular. They’re also complex and allowed to be these full beings with good relationships. The book also feels genuine in that the author writes for the age group he’s a part of, sure, some of it is a bit sappy and cringy, but in a realistic way. Real friend groups are like that, real narratives are like that. The problem with some of these narratives when there’s a generation gap between author and character is that it feels disingenuous, very “hello fellow kids” when the author could easily write characters who are their own age and not have to copy-and-paste from urban dictionary. Underhill doesn’t try-hard, his dialogue feels real and natural. It’s not trying to be punchy or lyrical or overly whimsical or purple-prose-y. It’s just…real.



Darby himself is relatable, it doesn’t feel forced, or performative, his struggles feel genuine and immersive and it doesn’t feel like a “poor millennial” schtick that keeps cropping up in books and TV. He feels like a real person with realistic struggles. Darby’s identity struggles never leave him, his identity is present in both his joy and his struggles. When someone like Underhill is writing, a transman writing a transman, complexity is allowed in a way that cisgendered and straight writers don’t always comprehend. He’s proud and happy in his body, but geography matters to his sense of safety.



We see the value of an own voice again in how the people around Darby view his identity. There’s a misconception that it’s either all love or all hate from individuals. Everyone falls in a more fluctuating place. Darby’s mom is realistic too, but their interactions are still so healing.

The concept itself is a fun twist on a common premise, rather than a character entering a time warp in a town, doing a day over and over again, or entering through some magical place and transporting back in time, Darby’s time warp is limited to the titular bookstore. Which I thought was super brilliant, and for the bookstore to be connected to Darby and an integral part of his identity was refreshing too.



I think Darby’s emotional journey was done really well too. He has a pretty realistic reaction to what happens-entering a bookstore that is stuck in 2009. He has this crisis of community, his identity is pretty set for him (his journey there in flash backs was really nice to see too). But it’s his friendships and relationships with other queer people that is what he struggles with. And he sees that in his younger self too.



I also liked Michael and Darby’s relationship development, it actually felt realistic and healthy, I’ll admit, I tend to only read MLM books written by men or nonbinary people, just as I only read sapphic books from women or nonbinary people, I make exceptions of course, and I go in warily. But Underhill’s writing is an explanation why, queer men write more authentic stories about queer men, they don’t infantilize or fetishize queer men, they give complexity to development of character and relationships, and their characters don’t come off as cartoonish. Darby’s feelings for Michael are realistic and organic, and the way their identities interact with each other feels authentic.



Underhill manages to make side characters that are not only fleshed out, but likable while being flawed. The abundant ratio of queer women and queer non binary folks to straight characters within the cast of characters is so refreshing. He writes them in healthy relationships, avoids stereotypes about bisexual women, and puts time into the descriptions of gender expression for his non-binary characters. It doesn’t come off like he just threw in identities to check something off.



I will acknowledge that both main characters are white, and the characters of color are all secondary. And I really can’t speak to the portrayal of queer women of color, as a queer white woman. So I did shave some of a star for that.



I also felt like Michael came off a bit annoying at times, he’s a great love interest, but he definitely gets to be a bit annoying at times. I like him enough, but he definitely had his moments where I wanted to strangle him for how he treats Darby at times. I don’t know if I’d forgive Michael like Darby forgives Michael.



In addition, I also thought Darby could’ve been less weird about he interacted with his younger self. I genuinely see the weirdness that Younger!Darby feels about it. I didn't really enjoy the ending much either. Overall, I think this book did really well with what it had, but there were some ways it fell short.

I spent today listening to The In-Between Bookstore, and I absolutely loved it. Such a wonderfully bittersweet book. This book definitely tugged on my emotions in so many ways.

beautiful and romantic and timely . read this if you were a fan of the lost story which came out late last year.

This was an amazing take on the question "What would you tell your teenage self?" The characters and setting were charming and this is a great read for anyone who cherishes the magic that is books - I'm a sucker for a bookstore setting.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I struggle to try to read this. It just never really grabbed and I didn’t want to keep going. Writing was a little challenging to get through I almost just put it down but I wanted to be able to write a solid review not my go to this year.

When I originally got the ARC of this book I wasn’t sure what I was getting in to. While there was a bit of fantasy with some time traveling, this was very different than the type of stuff I usually pick up. And after finishing I realize that I really liked getting out of my comfort zone.

Our main character, Darby, is an almost 30 year old trans man who is feeling more than a little lost and directionless. So of course he goes back to his hometown where everyone last knew him as a kind of awkward teenage girl. He runs into old friends and learns a lot about being vulnerable and opening up to those around him, and through the coolest bookstore ever has the opportunity to try and figure out what caused the falling out with his high school best friend.

I loved Darby. He was relatable and raw in his emotions. But his mom was my favorite. Her absolute acceptance of Darby was something I wish every trans kid could experience. She was fantastic.

I also had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook, and the narration made me feel like I was sitting with Darby having coffee. I did have to speed it up, so I think I would have struggled a bit at regular speed.

All in all this was a beautifully written story about acceptance, found family, and learning to navigate through a messy, complicated world.

I was given an advance reader copy of this book by the publisher exchange for an honest review. I loved the premise of this book but the execution fell a bit short for me as the writing was just mediocre.

This novel follows Darby, a trans man, as he gets the chance to reconnect with his younger self when he returns to the small town he is from. It uses time travel to explore the feelings he was going through as a teenager and to face the friendship he let fall apart.

The writing made it easy to read, so I read it in a few hours. I enjoyed the characters and friendships in the book, but many of them felt flat or not fleshed out enough for me to connect with them.

I don't have any serious issues with the novel, but I think I wanted more from it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC! I feel so lucky to have read it.

What I initially thought would be a quirky novel about time travel proved to be so much more. What I read was a beautiful story about self-acceptance, forgiving your past self, and learning to love the person our choices have made us.

I found myself eager to turn the next page, ready to see what was happening next. This book captured a magic similar to the one I felt while reading The Seven Year Split by Ashley Poston - which is an all-time favorite for me.

I fully expected a different ending, but I have to say I loved this one. It makes my heart swell to imagine the life Darby will create after the end of this book, and how his life will be different after resolving so many past hurts and traumas that had been haunting without him knowing it.

The In-Between Bookstore follows the story of Darby, a 30-year-old trans man who loses his job and moves back to his small town. One day, he walks into a bookstore where he used to work as a teenager and encounters his younger self. I really enjoy time travel stories, and this one is written in a unique way. I found Darby's story to be incredibly emotional. The story’s message is also important. I highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.