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.

This was a unique speculative romance exploring the small-town past and lost friendship-turned-love of a trans man—I particularly loved the exploration of bookstores as a refuge and point of connection.

I was able to get my hands on a physical copy of this one and I liked it okay just don't think I was in the right reading mind set for a slower paced novel at the time. I do see the appeal of it and know many readers will enjoy it very much.

I went into this without reading the synopsis and wasn’t sure what to expect… I really liked the story of a trans teen finding himself in the big apple and a small town in the Midwest. Darby runs away to New York and begins his journey as a trans man in a place where there are more people to relate to. Growing up in a small town he doesn’t know who he is and doesn’t feel safe outing himself even to his best friend. When he goes back to his hometown to help his mom move, he reconnects with his old friends and revisits the bookstore he worked in as a teen. The bookstore is a time warp that takes him back to his past where he meets his young self. Now he must figure out who he is, how to relate to his friends and how to help young Darby in the process. The book was well written and a fast read and overall I enjoyed the read but I had a hard time connecting with the characters who lacked depth and were never really fully developed. Thank you NetGalley for the digital copy! All opinions are my own. 3 1/2 ⭐️

When Darby loses his job in NYC he decides he needs reset. Heads back to his Midwest, small town, childhood home and find everything is changing there also. This is where the magical, timeline jumping bookstore he worked at as a teen comes into play. While I enjoyed the premise of the story and the character development, I honestly found Darby’s stubbornness and whining annoying. I also hated the ending.

SPOILERS:


His mom is awesome and the fact that he doesn’t even stay longer to spend more time with his mom or even help her unpack her new condo pissed me off. Also allllllll those years of regret over how things were left with his best friend and crush and he finally got what he wanted and then was just like sike, thanks for last night but I’m leaving anyways. *eyeroll* So yea while I loved the premise of the story and really enjoyed the time traveling bookstore I just couldn’t bring myself to like Darby at all.

I am a bit late in my review of The In-between bookstore. Darby a transgender male living in New York City going to hang out with her queer friends. Is holding things in, just getting laid off and about to turn thirty. Darby calls his mom to see if he can stay with her for a bit to figure things out. When the thought of his former best friend Michael comes to mind. Why did they lose contact that one semester in senior year? When Darby comes home weird unpacked things come to play when he stops in his old highschool work place. The in between book store. There he spots his former self, the girl verison of him. What the time travel is happening. Did he bump his head? Anyways, coming back home gives his the answers he needs and the closure he needed to figure out. That he needed to trust his friends and mother. That running away doesn’t solve it and finding accepting people could be found anywhere even in Illinois.

I wished that Darby and Michael found a way to go forward with their friendship/relationship. Maybe they could love one another that way? Anyways this was a great read.

The In-Between Bookstore is a cute, mostly sweet and wholesome book where an unexpected job loss prompts a nearly-thirty trans man to leave New York where he has his chosen family to visit his small hometown in Illinois.

The positives: I mostly really enjoyed this novel. It was light, but also serious in terms of depicting this struggle with questioning your purpose, your place, juggling between loved ones in different places, rebuilding neglected relationships, starting again where you are. I enjoyed the chosen family component, as a trans man with an English degree who often questions his life trajectory I loved those traits in the main character.

The negatives: the ending fell flat for me. I don’t feel like the bookshop time travel was explained well enough in consideration to how much of the novel is dedicated to it. And I really don’t like how the relationships pan out. It’s all painted as going well for Darby, but I feel like his problems in life aren’t resolved in the least and I’d rather the character end in a more secure place than just beginning another start after exorcising his “unfinished business” from his hometown.

The novel is pretty sweet and I enjoyed Darby’s mom and her relationship with him, I enjoyed Michael and his relationship to Darby, and I enjoyed the small town energy and queer found families but overall I feel like I needed more in the third act.

Once again, we are exploring another bookstore and revisiting different points of time for our main character. However, the title and cover were huge factors that made me stop and want to read this book. But I think this tagline is the main reason.

‘The In-Between Bookstore is a stunning novel of love, self-discovery, and the choices that come with both, for anyone who has ever wondered what their life might be like if they had the chance to go back and take a bigger, braver risk.‘

I appreciate how the story gently pulls you into Darby’s life and explores the reasons behind his feelings of not belonging. Even surrounded by friends, he had unresolved things in his past and present that prevented him from finding meaning in his present.

The use of flashbacks is a great touch; even when certain details come up again, they reveal new layers that help us understand Darby’s thoughts and emotions in a different light. I may not relate to Darby’s experiences in the same way, but especially when you’re young and the world feels so heavy, it is easy not to see the whole picture. Or to be blind when others are struggling, too. I was rooting for him throughout the book. Every time he revisited his younger self, I was excited to see what new things he would learn about himself.

I was so invested in Darby’s search for what was missing in his life. This book got me thinking about my life and what it means to belong. The concept that everything consists of choices and that each decision creates a branch of possible outcomes lingers long after you turn the last page.

The publisher provided my arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really cute book about a trans man who returns to his small hometown from New York City and meets his younger self at the bookstore he used to work at. I think the writing is incredible and the story is one that should be in every library across the country. Everyone should read this book, no matter what your gender expression is. I love it.

I loved the premise and the well-drawn trans character. I wished for a more concrete conclusion but agree that how it worked out was tidiest.

I really enjoyed the writing of this book, the concept about the bookstore, the trans/queer representation and so many little details. However, I didn’t enjoy that Darby didn’t seem to grow very much from teenage Darby to adult (in his late 20s). I did see some growth there, but continuing to not open up and shut out friends was a part I didn’t love and wish he grew more in that way. For that reason, I bumped it down to about 3.75 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for the free e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

A light yet thought-provoking adult debut where a trans man approaching 30 goes back to his small hometown and has to confront his younger self in a bookstore time loop where the year is 2009. I've read Underhill's YA debut, Always the Almost and loved it. Needless to say, I was excited to read his adult debut and it delivered.

As a trans man myself, I loved how it made me reflect on what I would do if I were in Darby's shoes. What would I say to my high school self? I loved seeing Darby learning to appreciate his small town and seeing that queer people do exist there.

The time travel aspect was light and did it's job. I didn't think it was too cheesy or over the top. This was quite a page turner and had me on the edge of my sea eagerly awaiting the next time we got to visit Young Darby.

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a light, reflecting read about small towns, childhood, adulthood and transness.

A stunning piece of magical realism. Often painful but ultimately hopeful, this is Underhill all grown up. His stories have a way of reaching into you and tugging out a truth you didn’t know you were ready to hear. But like Darby, The In-Between Bookstore found me when I needed it.

People who are roughly 30 think their lives are so hard because of miscommunication that happened 12 years before. Also a queer guy from a small town being surprised that there are queer quys in small towns.

This was fine, but not spectacular. I'll probably forget it soon.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

The In-between bookstore was an interested read but I was so frustrated by the lack of communication between the characters

I can connect to the themes of grieving what could have been, wishing you could redo moments, and feeling lost in who you are, and I know that there are plenty of other people who might feel the same.

This was just an enjoyable story. A time travel book that felt refreshing. Darby returns to his hometown to help his mother move. He also happens to be going through a bit of a personal crisis. When he walks into his hometown bookstore, he goes back in time and comes face to face with his high school self.

I really liked how Darby is trying to figure out the purpose of him being able to go back in time, but in the process learns more about his present. I liked how he also discovered more about his hometown and the people who live there.

This was just cozy and fun and heartwarming.

The In-Between Bookstore was a pleasant surprise to read. Did some of the book feel juvenile, yes, but was seeing Darby, a trans man, struggle to forgive his inner child and rehash high school drama during a rough period in his life intriguing, also yes. I really liked the ending of this story and have found myself going back to it and thinking of all the what ifs in my own world; wondering if in another universe I would be happy where I am. I feel like thats all a part of the human experience, it’s messy but beautiful at the same time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I always approach adult novels from YA authors a bit cautiously, but for this one the slight in-betweenness of the genres ended up working great. Underhill was great at capturing the return to a childhood small town and all the various ways a town and the person who has moved away can change. The contrasts between the expectations and the reality were done really well and there is quite a lot of charm and nostalgia in the bookstore along with a lot of hope, acceptance and a sense of community.

As far as the story goes, miscommunication is central to the plot in some ways and I was a bit exasperated about that. I do think there was a time in my life where figuring out what went wrong was more important to me and that’s sort of why I think this might work better for the YA audience.

I think there is a lot of insight for someone who is just figuring out who they are here. While there is a bittersweet tone to the ending, I think Underhill does an important job of reminding us that there is hope, there will be heartbreak and joy and that one will find their place in life.