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.

This book took me a moment to connect with Darby and his motivations, but he becomes a more understandable character over the course of the book. It's often curious to me when I read books about characters returning to their hometown, and their former love interest is somehow still waiting for them, despite something cruel happening in the past. I loved this brief book, and I think many audiences, young and old, will connect with Darby's need to return home and re-experience what he chose to leave behind. Bonus points for some diversity and inclusivity in the cast of characters.

I really liked the concept of this book. It sounds like it'd be Sci-Fi with the talk of time travel and such, and while it does, it mostly dealt with coming to terms with who you are, with change, and finding out where you feel home is. I was hoping that the outcome would come out sort of differently, especially with how Darby tried to change how his life turned out, but ultimately, I understood the ending and what needed to come out of it.

I was very disappointed by the ending of this book. The first 2/3 was great and 5 stars. I loved how Darby interacted with Young Darby and was really though he would help Young Darby find himself sooner. As soon as the past portal started to not work, the book started going downhill. By the time the story ended, it was a 1 star. I didn't like Darby's life choice, the portal ended in a clunky way and I was generally annoyed by the way the story crash landed in the end. I hope the ending is changed by the time it is published.

It was a solid 3.5/5 for me. The book was great for the first 75% but the ending was just heartbreak after heartbreak. Why did we have to do Michael like that? He was always so kind to Darby even after what he did to him. I did love the book and it even made me cry at times, especially the melancholy end. I think the author did well showing that sometimes a hometown is NOT home but that home is where you are loved and cared about.

Mr. Underhill, I will not forgive you for poor Michael. Yes, he was probably my favorite character. It was obvious he loved Darby and just the heartbreak of them mutually admitting what they had wouldn't continue just shattered me.

always weary of a YA author making the jump to adult fiction. this was no different. there just wasn’t a purpose?
I did enjoy the book but wish it had more character growth.
I didn’t like Darby very much and my contempt did not lessen as the book went on.
I do like that this captured accurately growing up queer in a small town. There’s this strange ache of homesickness while feeling suffocated.

I originally picked this book up because it was painfully familiar to myself - queer, small town, moved away, came back and felt alone and confused. I’m realizing now that may have been a mistake and perhaps swayed my reading a little bit (?). It was good, but just didn’t hit the way I thought it was going to.

Throughout there were a bunch of little things I enjoyed like the descriptions of the surroundings and being able to picture that small Illinois town perfectly down to the literal smells. It felt like I was a child in my hometown which is probably specific to people like me from the Midwest but I just really connected to it lol. The universe jumping/time traveling within the bookstore was also really cool. I think we all wish we could have the same chance the main character got.

That being said I can’t bring myself to overlook the things I didn’t enjoy. The characters were definitely written by an author who mostly writes YA. They were supposed to be 30 but I genuinely felt like I was reading about teenagers with their personalities and inability to communicate like adults. I also DESPISED the ending but that could also mainly be from my abandonment issues and refusal to let anything go lol.

All in all, the book was good and well written but I think there were just too many factors going into it that made me disconnect pretty quick. If the overall plot is something you relate to I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance you’ll either fall in love with the book or have the same experience I did. If it’s not something you entirely relate to I’d say it’ll be a pretty enjoyable read if you like some angst and existentialism !!