This book hooked me from the beginning. I loved the queer representation. I loved it's warm, cozy feel. I would absolutely love the opportunity to talk to my younger self the way the main character did.

Underhill's adult debut novel is incredibly charming. After his life in New York falls apart a bit trans man Darby decides to go back to his small town home of Oak Falls after a long separation. While home he decides to visit the local bookstore he worked at in high school, only to walk in and come face to face with his teenage self. Darby sees it as an opportunity to try and fix what he can't remember broke between him and his high school best friend Michael. I loved that this was sort of a second chance coming of age journey for Darby. He's on a journey to figure out who he is and what he wants in the world and is doing it while going to the high school football games and helping his mom pack up his childhood home. Darby starts out as a bit hard to like - he's not particularly aware of the people around him as people as opposed to props in his life. And his journey to becoming a little less self centered i think is the strongest part of the novel. Though I do think that journey could have been stronger, with Darby choosing to share more with his mom or Michael, instead of continuing to try to process everything alone.
I felt like the time travel element was under utilized in the book. By the middle of the book I felt like it had stagnated and wasn't helping to move Darby forward much because he couldn't figure out what he was doing. The last interaction with his high school self was incredibly touching but because it ends up not really changing anything it feels a bit like it was all for nothing. Or maybe it's that we start to see glimmers of how it MIGHT change present Darby but don't really get to see the full extent.
Overall the book is a charming story of finding yourself, and finding your people, and the power community can have for queer people. It's about the choices we make in our life and the lasting impact they can have even if we don't realize it at the time.

This book surprised me in so many different ways. The ending was so bittersweet to me, but it was absolutely beautiful. I could recognize myself at every stage of my life somewhere here, in how well the experience with gender and more aptly the struggle with still being undiscovered to even yourself. I wish I could go back now and help the younger version of me, show them what living a proudly and happily queer life can look like. And recontexualizing your hometown once you've gotten away from it is such a relatable experience. There's something about being a teenager that makes you isolate your experiences, you are the only one who could possibly understand how your feeling, that can only be remind by walking away and coming back, and then suddenly half the town is gay. I really enjoyed this book.

This was a fun, cute story with likable characters. It was such an easy read, and I enjoyed the plot progression as well!

As I was reading Edward Underhill's first adult novel, I started noticing that the plot was moving rather slowly for a romance. Eventually I realized that "The In-Between Bookstore" is a not actually a romance. It uses small-town, second-chance romance tropes, but they're primarily employed in the service of the MC's personal journey.

Darby Madden left his small Illinois hometown for New York City as soon as he graduated from high school. Eighteen years later, New York is home. It's where he came out as trans and found a friendship group of other queers. But he's newly unemployed and at loose ends, so when his Mom tells him she is moving from their childhood home to a condo, he drives 13 hours to Oak Falls so he can help her. He'll stay long enough to make sure she's settled, while he brainstorms a new place to live and new job opportunities back in the Big Apple.

He almost immediately runs into Michael Weaver, his childhood BFF who inexplicably ghosted Darby right before their senior year. It's not surprising that Michael still lives in Oak Falls and teaches high school. But Darby is shocked to learn that Michael holds him responsible for for the demise of their friendship.

Darby's favorite place in Oak Falls was always In Between Books, where he worked and hung out with Michael. But it's more than nostalgia when he steps inside the shop and realizes that the familiar-looking salesclerk is himself - the 17 year old version of himself back in 2009 - when Darby was deep in the closet and Michael was still his bestie. Darby wonders if he's been given an opportunity to rewrite history. If he can get enough information out of "Young Darby" to figure out where it went wrong with Michael, perhaps he can change the future and preserve their friendship.

I'll try to avoid spoilers but I will say that almost none of the assumptions I made about the plot were accurate. Yes, Michael turns out to be gay and yes, Darby realizes that even a small Midwestern town can have a close-knit queer community. But if you're feeling Sweet Home Alabama crossed with 13 Going on 30 vibes, you need to stop watching so many rom-coms.

The choices Darby makes about his future feel very true to the character. Looking back at my 2023 review of Underhill's debut YA novel, "Always the Almost," I noted that the trans MC was fully developed, but the Love Interest was bland. So maybe Edward Underhill's heart really lies in exploring trans journeys, which may or may not include the romance novel version of HEA.

ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for review.

November 14, 2024 – Finished Reading

There are always questions like “what would life be life if?” And this is a book that really goes after that feeling in a newer way. The characters provide a glimpse of to the life that there is and a life that could be. This story though brings about more questions with identity and the what ifs and the ways that life could have been for Darby, a trans man, return to his home town after being laid off and discovering a younger self in the bookstore that has somehow taken him to is past.

An emotional read full of discovery with characters that you feel for and want the best for.

A easy to read writing style.

What a beautiful story about self-discovery! I love narratives that feature bookish tropes and time travel, so having both elements in one book felt like heaven for me. The protagonist, Darby, loses his job at a start-up just before his 30th birthday. Living in New York without a clear direction, he returns home to help his mother move into her new house. During this time, he begins to heal from past traumas. While there is a love interest, I wouldn't classify this as a romance.

I particularly appreciated how the book ended. Typically, stories like this conclude with a "happily ever after," but this ending offers a different perspective. You still get a sense of closure, but it’s not in the way most would expect.

This book is perfect for teens and young adults who are struggling with coming out or figuring out their identity. It is written with great sensitivity and taste.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon, and Edward Underhill for allowing me to share my honest opinion of the ARC I reviewed. My review is completely voluntary and uncoerced.

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Avon and Harper Voyager
Pub Date: 1-14-25

Thank you @netgalley, @avonbooks, and @edwardunderhill for this eARC.

"There’s this theory of the universe. It says that every time we make a decision, reality splits, like a tree branching."

A trans man, Darby never felt he fit in growing up in his hometown. A split with his best friend Michael during their last year in high school and then leaving home for college brings Darby to NYC. There he finds a queer community and friends who love and support him for who he is.

As he approaches his 30th birthday, a recently unemployed Darby decides to leave his friends in NYC to return home to Oak Hills, Illinois.

Has Oak Hills changed? Will he be accepted? When he runs into Michael can they reconnect, honestly talk about the reason for the abrupt end to their friendship, and reestablish a relationship?

Darby visits In Between Books, where he worked in high school. Oddly, Darby finds it exactly the same. When he looks at the date on the newspaper and checks out the new releases, he realizes he's gone back to 2009. Not only that, but the employee behind the counter is a young pre transition Darby.

Can Darby connect with Young Darby? How will their connection change the past and impact the future?

This time slip story really made me think. Would I want to go back in time to give my teenage self advice? Also, how can I support LGBTQ youth in my community? My daughter and her girlfriend found their people in college - and I love to read stories of found family. This one hooked me from the start and had me rooting - and a little teary - for Darby and Michael.

"Because maybe I don’t need to love everything about a place to belong there. Maybe I can choose to belong, even if occasionally pieces of me don’t quite fit, because I belong with the people I found. The people I chose."

#theinbetweenbookstore #edwardunderhill #avonbooks #netgalley

The In-Between Bookstore is a cute, relaxed fiction about self-discovery, acceptance, and the importance of community. I love a good bookstore read, huge plus if an element such as time travel is included. I had a great time following Darby on his journey to find answers. After being laid off and with his 30th birthday approaching, he decides to travel back to his small hometown from NYC in hopes of figuring out what he truly wants. When he walks into the bookstore he used to work at as a teen, he finds himself bumping into his younger self. Although the conversations weren't as deep as I would have hoped, they were still impactful enough to get Darby really thinking, particularly about his falling out with his best friend, Michael. Darby learns a lot along the way, and even though there wasn't much character growth nor a reasoning or explanation for his choice at the end, there was a lot of self-discovery made, as well as apologies and acceptance. A solid 4 star read!
Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Edward Underhill for this ARC.

The In-Between Bookstore is a beautiful book about a trans man who is laid off from his job before he turns 30. He ends up returning to his small town and revisiting the past... literally. As someone who is just over 30 and recently got laid off from their job, I was so connect with Darby from the beginning. The whole story is a wonderful story about forgiveness & healing, and I devoured it within 2 days. This is a story that will stick with me for a long time.

Thank you to Avon & Harper Voyager, Edward Underhill, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review. My opinions are my own!

The In Between Bookstore is a new novel from Edward Underhill, coming out January 14,2025. The premise is essentially a trans man (Darby) has hit some rough spots, moves back home to help his mom and ultimately face some unfinished business. Seems straightforward but the twist here is he encounters his younger self (pre transition) when he visits a bookstore. This completely drew me in and I knocked out the first half rather quickly; unfortunately I struggled with the second half. Before I continue I should say that I loved all the representation in this book; this was a great thing to see. I found Darby relatable but also frustrating at times with some of his choices. I found it odd that he didn’t remember anything about the breaking point with Michael and relied on younger Darby too much. I may be in the minority here but I’m happy this didn’t turn into a romance although it was teased. I think the intent here was to focus on Darby and his continued self discovery but I think my biggest issue is that I don’t know what Darby learned; I didn’t sense progression in the story or Darby and felt like we were just on a repetitive cycle over the past. I was kind of surprised with the ending; more so that the NYC crowd is not mentioned for majority of the book so I didn’t really sense his missing of that life or longing to return. I do not think this is a bad book, I just hoped for more exploration into certain aspects.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon books for providing me a copy of this ARC.

I binged this in one sitting. Honestly, everything about this from the trans representation, friends-to-lovers, the mid-west relatability - I just gobbled it up. It hooked me, had some beautiful character-development and a the perfect amount of romantic tension.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did, but I found myself drifting off whenever I would read it, getting distracted by just about anything around me. I appreciate the sentiments of this book, but don't think it was for me.

I do think that fans of things like The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and hometown romances will really enjoy this.

This book is a heartfelt, magical journey with Darby, a trans man figuring out self-acceptance and identity. After he loses his job, Darby heads back to his hometown and drops by the bookstore where he worked as a teen. Suddenly, he’s thrown back in time to meet his teenage self, giving him the chance to help his younger self find the confidence he struggled to have. But in the end, it’s Darby’s present-day self who might actually need this experience the most.

The representation feels so real and respectful, from Darby’s subtle internal struggles in the LGBT club during college to his years of denial, and eventually his coming-out journey. His social anxiety, too—the way he sometimes avoids replying to texts or wonders if he truly belongs—feels deeply relatable for anyone who’s ever felt out of place.

While not everyone may understand Darby’s choices, readers who’ve felt “in-between” or struggled with social anxiety will likely see themselves in him. The ending might surprise those who expect a typical romance conclusion, but it feels genuine and earned. Life is messy, and this story doesn’t shy away from that, making the themes of self-acceptance even stronger.

It’s an emotional, honest, and at times heart-wrenching read. For anyone interested in LGBTQ+ stories, a hint of magic, or just loves a character-driven story, this book is worth picking up. It’s one of those rare stories that leaves you thinking—and maybe even tearing up—long after the last page.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine.

I DNF'd this book at 44%. I think the problem is that I just didn't like the protagonist. He just complains so much and is confused way too often. This all happened without any significant level of introspection or reflection. I read nearly half of the book and I felt nothing really happened. I found myself skimming through it just to get to the next plot point.
I was intrigued by the premise of the novel, but just not a fan of how it was executed.

I think it’s important that readers do not go into this book expecting a romance. It would be easy to assume this based on the author’s previous books, but that is not what this book is about. What it is, instead, is a lovely reflection on friendship, family, and what it means to belong somewhere. Overall it was emotional and satisfying to read. I loved that Darby got to talk to his 17 year old self. My only criticism is that I wanted more of everything. More of Darby’s life in New York, more of Darby and Michael as teens, and more of adult Michael. This is a short read, but I would recommend it.

This was a great read! I couldn't put it down, I love the development of the characters and the language used to describe everything, Hope there is a sequel and cannot wait to add a print copy to my library.

This book just really hits home. A trans masc narrative about how things could have been and how things are. How the universe is so vast and how every decision changes so much not just in your reality but in every reality you have created from those decisions. This book truly supercedes any and all expectations I had for it, it was a truly amazing message and story.

I disagree with most of the other reviews complaing about the ending and think that the ending makes perfect sense, it was written amazingly and I think the bad reviews are mostly people who missed the main message of the book <3

This is an amazing novel about Darby, a trans man who has recently lost his job when the company he was working at folded. He decides to return to his hometown, walks into the bookstore that he worked at as a teen, and is transported back in time, meeting his teenage self.

The book does such a wonderful job with representation, like talking about how Darby was in denial for years. How he almost walked out of the LGBT club in college, but it would be obvious that he was leaving. Just little things that made it flow. So many books, the author tries to be inclusive and either falls flat or ends up being totally offensive. Nothing like here. I ended up with tears in my eyes many times. Like during his coming out story.

I know from looking at the reviews that tons of people didn't like the ending, but I actually loved it. It was different than the normal hea that you get in romance books all the time and loved it.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for this e-ARC for review. I’m quite excited to read it and will provide a review promptly.