After reading the first few pages, I had to stop and check whether the book belonged to the YA genre. I have nothing against the genre itself; I just lost interest in it somewhere along the way. In the beginning, the main character came across as too childish for someone approaching 30. It felt like reading Twitter posts, with phrases like “hangry” and “IRL” and sentences such as “I absolutely have no chill.” This was quite irksome, but I knew from the blurb that the book sounded like something I would enjoy, so I decided to keep going.

I'm glad I chose to continue reading because, as the story unfolds, I can clearly see Darby's growth.

The In-Between Bookstore l follows the journey of Darby, a nearly 30-year-old trans man who is trying to figure out what he wants to do next in life after being laid off and feeling lost in New York. Having decided to return to his small hometown in Illinois, he steps into the old bookstore where he once worked during his high school years. However, an extraordinary twist of fate occurs and he unexpectedly slips through the fabric of time, encountering his teenage self—before his transition and before his falling out with his closest friend, Michael.

This story is an emotional and heartfelt tale of self-discovery. The ending feels both happy and sad because Darby found what he wanted and also needed to make a decision to let go at the same time. I was hoping for something else the whole time, but I am also not disappointed by the outcome.

I feel conflicted because the writing style seems aimed at a younger audience, yet the overall story is definitely intended for readers like me. Regardless, I still enjoy it a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ugh I so wanted to love this…….magical realism…..bookstores……LGBTQIA main character leaves New York to head back to small town Illinois and finds that it has a whole LGBTQIA community. This sounded awesome. And not that it wasn’t an okay read, I just was disappointed at the way it went in the end. Definitely just a one time read for me. Hoping it finds a niche with another reader.
I received an ARC of this title, all opinions are my own.

The premise of this book pulled me in right away. I’m always a sucker for time travel! And overall it was a really enjoyable read!

I very much liked and connected to the voice of the protagonist and thought all the characters were unique and interesting. The relationship building was fantastic and the plot was very enticing.

I felt it addressed a lot of important topics incredibly well.

The only thing that I didn’t really enjoy with this book was at about 2/3 of the way through I started to not understand the main character’s decisions and had trouble feeling empathy for him.

That being said, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA romance, coming of age stories, and books about finding yourself.

I received a a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.

There’s a wonderful honesty and warmth to <I>The In-Between Bookstore</I>. The places in it feel like real places I might actually visit. The characters are flawed and human, like real people I might one day meet and befriend.

When I first read the concept, I braced myself for the expected drivel of “<strike>two legs</strike> city baaaad; <strike>four legs</strike>small town gooooood.” This is not at all what happens. Not only are NYC and Darby’s reasons for being fed up with it portrayed very realistically and believably - who among us hasn’t been between jobs, priced out of our shitty apartment, and sick of traffic noise? But Darby’s NYC friends, who are introduced in the very first chapter are lovable and nuanced and worth coming back to. Moreover, while most small towns as seen in (lazy) romance novels and (schlocky) women’s lit are forcibly filtered through rose-colored glasses, they still manage to come off as conformist, heteronormative Stepford hell in the light of day. Not so with Oak Falls, the dreaded small town of Darby’s childhood. Rather, Oak Falls, too, feels real. Imperfect but growing— and, I loved this part—with its own queer community. Yes, we’re everywhere, bitches. Can’t escape us.

And speaking of lovable: Darby’s mom is basically the sweetest, without coming off as cloying, anachronistically domestic, or otherwise unbelievable. Avoidant anxiety is all too real, but seriously, Darby, call her more often! And I say this as a fellow millennial with a vicious hatred of all things phone call.

Another element which had me bracing myself but turned out so much better than I expected was Darby’s relationship with Michael. Underhill writes both men with great empathy and complexity, without resorting to easy, cliche answers. Yes, their old high school conflict is rooted in a Big Misunderstanding, but that’s a lot more sympathetic coming from two awkward, lonely teens, who are both self-absorbed in their own very real pain. I do wish the crap communication hadn’t carried over into their adult years, but given that they hadn’t spoken in the interim and Darby is almost literally reliving his past, some regression is understandable. Ultimately, when they find some bittersweet closure, I’m cheering for them and finding it far more sweet than bitter.

And yes, I loved how things between them ended.

While there’s only so much I’m qualified to say, as a cis lady, I could really tell that Underhill’s portrayal of Darby’s transness came from a personal, well-explored place. I loved how fluidly Underhill tied it into all of the book’s themes, without ever hitting my ‘ugh, redundancy’ buttons. He’s neither coy nor heavy-handed with it, but rather assured and honest. It’s especially relevant to the magical realism elements of the time travel and themes of self-acceptance transmitted through time.

My only real complaints about this book are entirely matters of personal preference/pet peeves. While Darby (and Michael’s) atrocious communication are genuinely part of their characterization and written with intentionality, the fact remains that I find miscommunication extremely annoying to read. On an even pettier level, I found all the references to Buffy in the flashbacks pretty cringe, due to how poorly the show has aged in the intervening years, as well as the revelations of what a turd Joss Whedon has been all along. But I acknowledge, back in 2009 that show was important and meaningful to me as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

sadly this one was a DNF for me. I couldn't quite feel as immersed as I was hoping and I think it was more my own expectations not meeting the reality of the work.

I was given an e-ARC and am giving my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley for this opportunity!

I went into this unsure of what to expect. I honestly didn’t even know that the main character was trans until I started reading, which was a very pleasant surprise. As a transman myself, I’m always interested to read other trans people’s experiences, fiction or not, and this book in particular was incredibly immersive and different than others I’ve read. Throughout the book, the main character, Darby, is traveling into the past through a local bookstore in his home town (where he is visiting after he was laid off). He travels specifically to when he was a teenager, about to go to boarding school (and excited about it), but he was still unsure about his gender identity. There are two main objectives Darby is navigating: finding out why he and his best friend fought and then stopped talking and helping his past self to learn about what being trans is, and that it even is a thing at all. We never are in younger-Darby’s POV, although it is always in first-person. Instead, we see younger Darby through older-Darby’s eyes. Darby when he is about to turn 30 and having lived through what younger-Darby is looking forward to. Has grown into himself, realized things about himself. It was so interesting reading how older-Darby was so shocked by his younger self’s behavior and seeing things differently in hindsight. It reminded me of my childhood and how it translates to who I am today vs who I was when I was younger. It really makes me think of how far I’ve come, and was such a lovely reminder of my strength. Traveling with Darby to and from the past and how he used his time in the past to help him in the present. It was very cathartic and so well written and done.
The narrator did a fantastic job of portraying Darby’s inner monologue. They really brought the story to life in an incredible way.

I honestly had such high hopes for this book. I enjoyed Edward Underhill’s previous novels, and along with the fact that this has a trans main character and involves a seemingly magical bookstore, it seemed like the book had plenty of ingredients for success. Bookstores are inherently amazing, and I could relate to Darby’s struggle of feeling lost almost too well at times.

Unfortunately, this was a case of a good book being done in by a bad ending. The whole thing about finding out Darby was altering the past for the better in a parallel universe the whole time when readers were led to believe it was actually his own past felt gimmicky, and like the author had pulled one over on me. Don’t get me wrong; I can appreciate surprise endings, but being duped like this is not how I want that done. It kind of ruined the book for me.

THE IN-BETWEEN BOOKSTORE is a wonderfully touching and tender story about self-discovery and identity. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the advanced copy!

Unfortunately a DNF for me. I just had a hard time getting into this read. I truly do love Edward’s books but this one just wasn’t for me.

Thanks to Avon & NetGalley for the free arc!

I think overall this just might not have been the book for me. It was super slow moving for the majority of the book. The main character Darby wasn’t very likable for me, which made it hard for me to connect with his story. I thought the time travel bookstore aspect would be fun but it kinda just fell flat. I don’t feel like much happened in this book at all, which again just made it hard to push through to the end. I did have a genuine curiosity of how it would end so I didn’t DNF but I kinda wish I did cause the ending wasn’t that great either. A bit of a disappointment all around, but maybe it just wasn’t for me.

This novel kept seeming like it was just about to really get going, but just never applied the gas. For a book with an amazing concept about change and the growth of self-knowledge—unexplained time travel introduces a man to his younger self before he came out as trans—there was just so little change or self-knowledge for this character. It was amazing, in a disappointing way, how little actual growth there was between his older and younger selves, and how little change or growth happened for him at all, in any time, between the start and end of the novel.

I went into this book knowing one thing: there was time travel. And I was incredibly blown away by just how incredible this story was.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a bittersweet novel. There’s a profound love of books, a distaste for one’s past, a need to reconnect with oneself and determine where things started veering off course, and a desire to forge a new path. To fix things that might seem unfixable in reality, but with just a bit of magic, might not be that far out of reach.

What I loved about this book was the authentic portrayals. Written by a trans man about a trans man, we get a genuine depiction of life from teenage years through his twenties where he grappled with his own identity, security, and sense of belonging. It felt real and as the reader, I was walking through each moment with Darby, because while he might have felt secure in his gender representation in his own skin, he felt insecure in his life and his future. Likewise, in just what had gone on in his past to set him on this path.

I’ve read a few other reviews that mentioned slow pacing or wishing there had been more character development, but honestly I think it was matched perfectly for the story. Slow pacing was necessary in order to convey everything this book carries with it—all of the heartache, the unease, the fear. And the character development felt incredibly genuine to someone going through this experience. This isn’t a book with a pretty wrapped bow at the end. This isn’t a romance book with a HEA. What it is is a story of self-discovery, a journey into one’s past to determine what they want for their future, and for most of us in our thirties, it felt sincere and incredibly relatable.

I recognize that this is a slower read, but it needs to be in order for us to take the time to fully absorb everything it has to offer. Likewise, this truly has to be the most authentic trans-rep, LGBTQIA+, feeling-lost-in-life story I’ve ever read. Mix in the time travel and the bookstore and I’m completely sold. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. Darby is living in New York and ends up losing his job. He goes home for a bit to help his mom move and try to figure out what he wants to do with his life. He catches up with old friends and gets the chance to change his past. He tries to right the past and learns a few lessons along the way.

can i first start by saying that i have loved both of this author’s other books, (always the almost & this day changes everything) so when i heard he had his first adult novel coming out it was an immediate must read for me.

i have been buzzing to start this since the moment it arrived, so i knew it would be a special treat to kick off the new year - and boy howdy was i right.

the characters are flawed, relatable, and easy to genuinely care for. i’m not much of a fantasy reader but the time traveling element was super well done and i liked that the book didn’t take away from the story by trying to explain the mechanics. also…..who doesn’t love a magical bookstore???????

this book is heavy on the nostalgia but still manages to not feel stale or overdone. if you’ve ever daydreamed of what it might be like to go back in time and have a conversation with your teenage self, this story is sure to pique your interest. i also loved how diverse the QUEER people within the book were. (shoutout to the gay who's wardrobe came from tractor supply 🤪🤪)

The In-Between Bookstore is a standalone queer friendly fantasy coming of age novel by Edward Underhill. Released 14th Jan 2025 HarperCollins on their Avon Books imprint, it's 272 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

The author has a good grasp on the technical aspects of writing. The scene settings, descriptive prose, and storytelling themselves are all competent and well wrought. The idea of being able to timeslip and go back and maybe change our future selves, is powerfully attractive. This is a well told story about precisely that. Darby gets the chance to go back to interact with his 16 year old self when he accidentally time-slips into 2009 in the bookstore he worked at as a teenager.

It's a wistfully told story and not always a happily-ever-after (though the denouement and resolution are fully developed). The characterizations are a trifle two dimensional and trope-y, but overall, it's a solid novel and a satisfying read.

Three and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill is a beautifully crafted story.
I truly enjoyed this read. I was delightfully surprised at how quickly I got sucked into this story.
I found myself easily engrossed in the story and not wanting to put it down.
I really loved Underhill’s previous titles and this was another one added to that list.
The characters in this book were believable and well built.

A queer time travel novel, centering around a bookstore? Say less! Darby is an almost-30 trans man living in NYC when he loses his job, prompting the big decision to move back to his midwestern hometown. This comes with a lot of trepidation, as Darby hasn’t been home since his transition. Deciding to visit the bookshop that was his refuge growing up, he realizes he’s been transported back to 2009. Faced with the chance to revisit his past, can he learn enough to improve his current life?

I really enjoyed this book! I absolutely adored Darby, but I did find myself craving more character development. It could have added a layer of depth that I felt wasn’t there. Although it reads more as a YA novel, that didn’t take away from the storyline as a whole. I appreciated that Darby decided to keep his name so that there isn’t confusion between past and present, and most importantly that he isn’t being deadnamed throughout the novel.

What I most loved was the emotions portrayed through Darby’s eyes. That homesickness and longing for a place that you left because you felt suffocated and alone… I think a lot of people can relate to that, including myself. I was incredibly moved and just wanted to wrap Darby in the biggest hug to let him know I see him.

The ending still has me thinking about it days later, and I still can’t decide whether I liked it or not. It was more gloomy with a hopeful undertone when I was expecting a HEA. Either way, this novel has stayed on my mind, and I will be recommending it to everyone!

Big thanks to NetGalley for the eARC, and to Avon and Harper Voyager for sending me the physical book!

Because I have committed the cardinal reader sin of "I've bought this book... I'll read it one day I promise!" with Edward Underhill's other books, The In-Between Bookstore is actually the first of his I read, and his first foray into non-YA books. It's a short, tight piece at just under 300 pages with not really many excess threads to snip in its 'big life change, big self-introspection, also teenage me is here somehow?' journey.

A lot of people treat turning 30 as a bigger milestone than 20 or 40 and so it was very realistic that on the cusp of his 30th birthday, on the eve of job loss, Darby would just have no idea what to do with his life-- and his mom is selling his childhood home? That's a lot to deal with all at once, mentally, and then throw in a 12+ hour road trip after a friend family fight and just running into yourself, but younger, in your old place of work like a portal to a place in time? Truly too much.

What I really loved about this book actually (and weirdly enough I could have done without the time portal aspect? I know it was a vehicle for part of Darby's self-discovery/self-acceptance in this big crossroads) but I actually would have enjoyed this book just the same without it) was that it was very realistic in depicting the sort of prejudices and negative thoughts we have about those who are like us, but we assume are not because of their background (as in, 'what do you mean there's more queer people in my tiny Midwest town, wasn't I so alone I needed to get out immediately???) and what they look like. There's always a big conversation in queers spaces (and even outside but that doesn't count here) about "looking" queer enough, "looking" trans or non-binary, "looking" gay, lesbian, and every subsect therein, and honestly, we are all just people even if there's not easy Tells to heterosexual folks or cis folks or even each other sometimes. I'm human enough to admit I've been surprised finding out a coworker or acquaintance is on the same side of the road as I am because I was by-default judging them as not being so due to what they talked about and how they presented themselves. (I think too it comes from a place where we in the LGBTQIA+ community do not always know who is safe without obvious tells and it leaves us warier than we really should be- thanks society!)

The teenage memories felt really raw and understandable (even though I had queer friends as a teen they sure were loaded up with certain biases and by 'queer' I mean, at the time, cis and bi/gay) and that sort of constant questioning the world around you is definitely something I can relate to. Love the descriptors of the old bookshop vs the new, and the overall sense of melancholy that comes with Big Life Changes, Big Introspection, and trying to connect with things that maybe you could have all along if only you, yourself, and uh.. you again, I guess, weren't in the way.

Thank you to Avon (HarperVoyager) and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for review!

***Thank you to Netgalley & Avon for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review!

This story is ultimately about Darby's journey of self-discovery after losing his job in NYC and deciding to "move back" to their midwestern hometown at the age of 30 in order to help his mother downsize from their family home into a brand new condo.

When Darby is back in his hometown, he decides to visit his old safehaven/job, The In-Between Bookstore. However, he realizes that the bookstore is magically stuck in the past whenever he walks inside. When leaving the bookstore, Darby runs into his childhood best friend, Michael. Michael and Darby have not spoken since their senior year of high school. There was a big falling out but Darby is having a hard time remembering/understanding why.
Darby spends their time in their hometown trying to piece together what happened between himself and Michael all of those years back & ultimately where Darby feels he belongs.


The time travel element in this book was fun to explore (even though it was never thoroughly explained how it worked).
Darby is a young trans man and I loved the discussions of transitioning and being your true self, no matter what.
I also very much enjoyed Darby's relationship with his mother.

This book is overall very...melancholy. I hoped for more at the end of the story but I also understand why the author took the route they did.
3.5/5 stars, rounded up!

this book is entirety beautiful in every possible way. it is a love letter to oneself, in all our maddening and unique layers of growth over time. it’s a reflection on choices made and consequences thereof. it’s a promise of love and acceptance to all people regardless of background and experience, not always with the ones we think it will be with, but the ones we deserve to have.

the idea of going back to your younger self, to a pivotal moment in your life when you are realizing who you are and what you want, being able to talk to them, promise them it’s ok. it won’t all work out perfectly but you are ok. Darby brings us on a journey of learning you may never feel like you fully understand yourself or where you belong, but that’s ok, nobody does! it matters how you live your life, the choices you make, the people you keep close. of all the different branches of time that can exist from our choices, the ones you make lead you to where you are meant to be with the people you are meant to be with. trust yourself, trust your people. it will be ok.

reading this book, it left me feeling so raw and vulnerable and loved and loving. like I could better love and forgive my former self & my current, still-growing self. it left me better loving other people on a life’s journey so different than my own, onesI desperately want to respect & uplift in joy but don’t always know how best to do so. as always after reading an Edward Underhill book, I am left feeling like I can better love others and myself, like there’s more love in the world. it’s why I will always read & encourage others to read these stories. they make our scary, unpredictable world a better place.

thank you so much for the arc!