This fantasy time travel book is actually a book about finding one’s self. While it seemed that it would become a romance story, it was much more than that. It was about someone learning to love themself.

Darby is a trans man who doesn’t feel like he belongs anywhere. After being let go from his job in NYC, he goes home to IL, where he definitely feels out of place. After finding himself (literally) in the bookstore where he used to work as a teen, he realizes he has a chance to give himself advice to hopefully make things easier for his future and to hopefully repair a very special friendship before it is ruined.

Though things do not go as expected, the journey helps him realize a few things. While not a romantic HEA, I think the ending was great. You will just have to read to find out.

This was a great book with plenty of LGBTQ+ representation. And while I cannot identify, I feel like I was able to understand a lot of what they go through thanks to the wonderful characterizations in this book.

Great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sending me an advanced copy of this book.

I request this book because I like Edward Underhill writing and I knew I was going to like this book, even love it. And it didn’t disappoint me at all. It’s a cute book with an interesting character (Darby, I really love you, my darling boy) and wonderful trans rep.
I totally enjoyed reading this lovely novel. The plot is a little bit a pretext, but it’s cute.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in return for an honest review!

The In-Between Bookstore follows Darby, an aimless twenty-something who detours back to his hometown of Oak Falls to help his mother move and regain some direction. Everything is eerily similar and yet so incredibly different. Stepping into In Between Books, the town’s bookstore which once employed a teenage Darby, is bizarre; suddenly Darby is faced with his younger self behind the counter, and wonders if he can help both of them with this unique convergence of past and present. Did Darby run away from something in the past, and is Darby running scared now, too?

Darby also doesn’t expect to run into Michael, his high school best friend, whom he has unfinished business with. Underhill takes a familiar premise and revitalizes it, engaging in an interesting conversation about acceptance, and queer identity. The importance of choice, and the way that our life can carry down a myriad of paths hangs over the story. Rarely does one have the opportunity to change something that’s already happened; it’s in hindsight that we often learn the lessons and know what was truly best. The ending is unexpected, not leaning into anything easy and tidy, but launching Darby into something even more necessary than history: the future, and what’s next. The past, after all, is prologue.

I had come into this really thinking that I was going to love this book. It has all the elements for things that I enjoy. But for some reason I just couldn't click with this book. I wasn't able to really sympathize or care about the main character and it affected my enjoyment of the book. While this may not have been for me, I can definitely see this being a comfort book for many others.

I went into this book blind. I just really enjoy reading and anything with “Book” in the title I will immediately grab without a second thought. This was a very easy read and it flowed well. I related, as I feel anyone could, to the struggles of finding oneself in highschool but also as an adult. I did find the main character Darby to be a little insufferable at times. I feel the author missed the mark with the time travel aspect and so much more could have been done with that. Overall I did enjoy the book.

In this aching story of what-if Darby approaches his 30th birthday out of a job and apartment in New York City, a little lost and looking for a new start. He goes back to his Midwest hometown to help his mother pack up their old home and finds everything has changed but the In Between Bookstore—in fact when he walks in the person behind the counter is the sixteen-year-old version of himself. This is a tender look at how misunderstandings and events change and create us—and how not even the closest people to us can know what’s going on in our heads—especially through those hard teenage years.

When I started this book, I was not sure if I was going to like it. A lot of books I have read will throw a trans character into the mix just for diversity's sake without fully fleshing the character out. I assumed that the MC being trans was a throwaway line without much meaning.
While the story is not fully about being trans, I was pleasantly surprised to read that the main premise was discovering yourself. I enjoyed reading Darbys inner conflict of where he belongs and how to move forward.
Darby was a likeable enough character and I resonated with his internal struggle of trying to understand who he is and who he was in the past. However, I ended up wishing the book was longer to see where Darby ended up and if he found happiness.
Either way, this book was a 4 star read for me and I recommend to those struggling to find their place in the world.
Thank you to NetGalley & Avon Harper for giving me an ARC.

The In-Between Bookstore is a captivating novel that delves into the complexities of identity, the power of second chances, and the enduring magic of books. Underhill's debut is a poignant exploration of a trans man's journey through time, offering a fresh perspective on a familiar trope.

Darby, a character both relatable and extraordinary, finds himself transported back to his teenage years, presented with the opportunity to confront his past and shape his future. As he navigates the familiar yet unfamiliar landscape of his hometown, he grapples with the challenges of adolescence and the weight of societal expectations.

Underhill's prose is both lyrical and insightful, capturing the essence of nostalgia and the bittersweet nature of time. The bookstore itself serves as a magical portal, a place where the boundaries between past, present, and future blur. Through its shelves, Darby discovers not only the power of stories but also the power of self-acceptance.

The In-Between Bookstore is a heartwarming and thought-provoking read that will resonate with readers of all ages. It's a reminder that it's never too late to rewrite your story and embrace your true self.

Edward Underhill’s The In-Between Bookstore has a lot going for it—nostalgic pop culture references, themes of found family and self-discovery, and a warm exploration of second chances. If you’re into Buffy, Veronica Mars, or Television Without Pity, you’ll find delightful nods to those cultural touchstones sprinkled throughout, which I loved!

While the story unfolds with intriguing potential, I couldn’t help wishing it had focused more on Darby providing guidance to his younger self. The premise seemed ripe for a heartfelt exploration of how we might help our past selves navigate life’s challenges, but that emotional thread took a backseat to unraveling a sort of “mystery” (that didn’t really feel like a mystery) with Darby’s high school best friend.

I also found it odd that Darby, despite being nearly 30, didn’t feel like a fully-fledged adult. His mindset and behavior often felt stuck in high school, and by the end of the book, I wasn’t so sure he had truly progressed as a character.

That said, if you enjoy a good blend of found family and self-discovery with a light touch of romance, this book will likely be for you! However, if you’re looking for a deeper exploration of trans experiences, this one might leave you wanting more.

While this book didn’t work for me in some areas, it did have many charming moments!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing me with a NetGalley ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m undoubtedly a tremendous fan of this author’s previous works. There isn’t a book of his that I wouldn’t read at plain face value. I truly expected to love this move into the adult fiction space but something about it fell completely flat for me. While his previous works have a lot of heart and exuberance, this one felt misguided almost.

Our main character really just doesn’t make sense to me. Darby wants to be in New York and then doesn’t want to be there. He misses his friends and then completely disconnects from them. I completely understand reaching your thirties and wanting to find yourself, move away, broaden your horizons but that doesn’t mean everything from the past just vanishes? How does he not remember the fall out between Michael??? He mentions every couple chapters or so that he has no idea how their friendship ended but I’m not sure how that’s possible. There’s no explanation given at all.

The relationships and connection just feel frigid and detached and the time travel element is so underused. I understand that it wasn’t ever meant to be a romance and I wasn’t looking for that. I just thought that the bond between past and current self might be more pertinent to the story. It’s such a cool concept to not be taken more advantage of.

Overall though, I was glad that Darby found his way, even if I didn’t completely agree with how he went about it. The writing was great and I loved the description. It was enough to keep me vibing through it to get to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with eARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you could go back in time and talk to your younger self, what would you say? Would you try to change the path you took?

Darby is a trans man living in New York City. When he loses his job, he decides to move back to the rural town where he grew up (much to the disappointment of his big city friends). Back in the town where he felt out of place, he has to face his past and his younger self. Literally. He discovers he can travel back in time via the bookstore where he worked one summer when everything he knew fell apart. Through this discovery Darby explores if leaving home all those years ago was really the right path for him.

I really enjoyed this book. The exploration of home and family and self were all well executed. Darby undergoes some real growth and realizations when he is forced to face his past and the people he left there. The story and characters feel genuine. Darby is struggling to define himself as a trans man and where he belongs. We are given insight into the internal struggles a member of the LGBTQ community goes through living in a small town. Darby gets a chance to experience the life he could have had, and doesn’t some part of all of us wonder about that?

I also like that this book isn’t really nicely wrapped up in a bow at the end. I don’t think it should have been. It’s real life. None of us should ever stop growing or questioning.

Thank you to Harper Collins for the ARC! The In-Between Bookstore releases on January 14, 2025.

I really loved this book. It is so queer and so trans and so Midwestern. It's all about reflecting on your past and figuring out where your future is. Moments of it felt a little repetitive (a lot of Darby feeling overwhelmed and Michael giving him weird looks), but overall I absolutely recommend it.

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill is a whimsical and heartwarming tale that celebrates the magic of books and the connections they foster. With endearing characters and a touch of mystery, Underhill creates a cozy, inviting world where the boundaries between the ordinary and the extraordinary blur. A charming read for book lovers and anyone in search of a story that feels like a warm hug.

This book surprised me with its tenderness and depth. Darby’s journey—returning to his small hometown, grappling with his identity as a trans man, and literally meeting his teenage self in the bookstore he once worked at—was deeply moving. The story captures that bittersweet feeling of recontextualizing your past after growing into yourself, and it resonated in ways I didn’t expect.

While I wished for a bit more depth in some of Darby’s conversations with his younger self, the emotional impact was still powerful, and the ending felt authentic rather than overly neat. This is a thoughtful, hopeful story about self-discovery, acceptance, and the quiet magic of seeing yourself clearly. Perfect for anyone who’s ever wondered what they’d say to their younger self.

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.