I loved this book, even though it was surprisingly melancholy at the end. Hopeful, but wistful. I love Underhill's other books, so I was excited for this ARC. It is a second chance romance featuring time travel and a bookstore which was enough to entice me. But what actually captivated me was how well it spoke to the experience of growing up queer in a small town and not knowing how to reconcile how homesick you can be for it after leaving, with how much you never felt you belonged there, no matter how much you ever wanted to. Leaving somewhere because it felt suffocating, and then missing it anyway. I'm way in my feelings after finishing this, more than I thought I would be, but I'm happy anyway.

Thank you to the publisher for my arc!


AHHHH.. this book gave me really high expectations but the ending just didn't give me that satisfactory bow to tie the entire story together. I loved this story and following Darby as he was just trying to figure out who he is and what he wants in life and seeing him navigate being trans and what happened with Michael was so heartwarming to read. I just had really high expectations for the ending but it still tied the story together really well.