I really enjoyed this book. The concept of a bookstore where the main character can go in and advise or guide their younger self is so unique. Who wouldn't want to that opportunity. But rather than guidance that has a direct impact on future events - this was really Darby helping himself. Feeling adrift after losing his job and apartment it felt like he was really just looking for a sense of home and belonging. I really love that he found what he had all along and just had to change his perspective to appreciate it and where he came from.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The In Between Bookstore tells the story of an almost 30 year old Darby who is having a kind of mid-life crisis after losing his job at a start-up company. Life in New York is really weighing him down, he is tired of the subway, his expensive rent and the hustle of it all. He has no idea what he will do next, how he is going to afford rent or what job he is going to find next. After an impromptu call with his mother late one night, Darby learns that his mother has bought a condo and will be selling the family home. Sparked with the idea of going back to his small town to help his mother move and figure out if it is time to leave New York for good, Darby sets off to do some self-reflecting.

He is expecting the small town to be the same since he last visited years ago and to have a simple trip down memory lane. What he experiences instead is a queerer social group with old classmates and a literal encounter with his younger self in an old bookstore he used to work at as a teenager.

There are a lot of things I can say about the last few chapters of the in-between bookstore. I really liked that Darby was an active and persistent character. He was intuitive in his process in trying to get to the bottom of the mystery of the bookstore. The combination of losing his job and feeling lost in New York after so many years of being away from home, I empathize with his feelings of being lost and confused over what path to take.

With that said, the more I got to understand Darby as he was recalling lost memories, the more I began to feel like the issues with his past and current friendships and with his mother were actually his fault. Darby's internal conflicts blocked out so much of the world and people around him for so long that it took "going back" and interacting with his younger self to realize it.

This may be a speculation on my part, but I found that as the book progressed the more it proved just how unreliable of a source Darby's character was. I would even argue that Darby's "bookstore time travel" experiences were figments of his imagination; visceral reactions to being back in the small hometown after so long that memories of the past were resurfacing whenever he visited the bookstore.

The snapshots of his past self show readers where his anxiety started and the root of where his self doubt and self-consciousness comes from. Readers can also see the patterns that Darby has had with those in his life since high school and with his mother. Even his mother could see or tell when something was bothering Darby despite the fact that he never talked to her or let her in on the things that were bothering him. But his mother was always supportive and accepting. Like she knew her son's heart and mind were always somewhere else, meant for someplace else and not in their small little town.

**Spoiler: I think the same could be said about Darby and Michael's relationship and how they worked through their issues of the past. I was not happy about how this dynamic went in the book; in fact I was pretty disappointed.

The moral of their relationship was that Darby was looking one way and Michael the other. But if given the chance they could've had a real shot at happiness together.

**Spoiler: However, in this timeline, Michael made his pace of the small town life. And I think the longing that I felt from Michael in this book was what I was hoping would lead to a different outcome because it was clear that Darby was just not focused on or couldn't see what he had right in front of him. He did treat the town, his friends and mom like they weren't enough. This was a tough one for me because regardless of the timeline, I think Michael loved Darby either way. 😭😭

And it was like Michael was trying to constantly reach Darby but could not slow down enough to see it. On the other hand, I would not want Darby to dim his passion or light to not have PDA in his own town with his partner. At the end of the day, The In Between Bookstore highlights key moments of Darby's life of growing-up and the process of relationships we grow apart and out of.

I would recommend this book to other readers who enjoy magical realism, self reflective journeys, self-growth and found families.

4 out of 5 Stars

The In-between Bookstore by Edward Underhill was funny, engaging, and cozy read.

I enjoyed this one and I loved the narrator.

Darby grows up with her best friend Michael and works at a book store. Many years later, after doing some gender reassignment, Darby decides to come back home and helps his mom move. He runs into Michael.

Many thanks to Net Galley and HarperAudio Adult for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book explored intriguing themes! However, I had a hard time connecting with the story and that is obviously on me and not the book. I recognize that it has great potential to appeal to other readers and I encourage others to try it out! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

Darby goes home to the midwest to help his mom move into a condo and via mysterious time travel, meets his teenage self in the bookstore where he worked when he was a questioning high school girl. Thought provoking. The narrator's voice wasn't particularly pleasant but seemed perfect for Darby capturing perhaps the feeling of being trans as well sounding not like the girl he was or the masculine voice he may have wanted. Very well done.

I really loved this book. It gave me such an inside look at the struggles that trans individuals go through that I cannot identify with as well as struggles that I can identify with. I feel a lot of the same anxieties about fitting in as Darby does and it's refreshing to hear my inner monologue in this character's perspective. The ending of the book left me wanting more but it wasn't a bad ending. I just wish there had been more resolution to some of the interpersonal relationships.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This book was a nice surprise. I don't remember actually looking at the synopsis before reading the book, but I remember thinking the book must have been about a time travelling bookstore. Turns out my idea of a time travelling bookstore was almost right. I loved the perspective of looking back on life to see what you missed in old but existing relationships even if that relationship is just with yourself. This was a good read.

I loved this book. I can't even describe how this book made me feel! It was heartbreaking and heartwarming and I will be recommending it to everyone I know. It really brought back a lot of feeling s and memories from high school. Being alone, impatient to get out of my small town. It was so easy to relate to the characters and the situation in this book.

I loved this books message about the importance of queer communities! Darby was an extremely likable lead and Michael was a great love interest. Their past was just the right level of intriguing and their present was just tame enough that leaving them apart didn’t hurt. I actually loved how it ended with them not together but it left it open for the future. What was important for them right then was that they each had a home and a community to support them. It was the perfect ending for such an introspective book.

I wanted to love The In-Between Bookstore, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get into it. The premise—time travel and a mysterious bookstore—seemed like it would be right up my alley, but the execution left me frustrated rather than enchanted.

Darby and the narrator felt equally annoying, making it hard to stay engaged with the story. Darby’s personality and interactions didn’t resonate with me, and instead of feeling invested in his journey, I found myself impatiently waiting for the book to wrap up. That said, I did appreciate the character growth throughout the story. While I may not have liked Darby much initially, I could see how he evolved, which was one of the book’s stronger points.

Another aspect that threw me off was the inclusion of romance. While I don’t mind a well-placed romantic subplot, the way it was woven into this story felt out of place. The mix of time travel and romance didn’t blend well for me, and I think I would have rather it been labeled romance instead.

Despite my hope that things would improve as the book progressed, by the time I reached the end, I was just ready to be done. While I can see how others might enjoy The In-Between Bookstore, especially if they connect more with the characters or appreciate the mix of genres, it simply wasn’t the right fit for me.

Listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration. The time travel and bookstores captured my interest. I found the author's writing style and humor appealing from the outset. The interactions between the main character and their mother were particularly amusing. I also enjoy it when a book can evoke various emotions. The time travel element of the narrative sustained the book’s momentum, rendering it a compelling, It was an interesting concept and I think some students would really enjoy this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for the audioARC to preview.

5 time-travelling stars of magnificence!

I LOVED THIS AUDIOBOOK (also, it is very well read, with great nuance and emotion).

This story is a great place to land, especially if you have ever been someone to question why you don’t fit in “like other people seem to”. Did you grow up (or even later become) the weirdo, the oddball out, even though you might not been exactly sure as to why or how, just yet? Have you ever questioned how you identify or if there are others out there who are also like you? Have you deeply questioned how you are fundamentally different from those that are catered to in mainstream society?

Spoiler alert: there are definitely others somewhere out there that TRULY understand you - whether they are the same kind of weird as you are or not - you just need to find them.

And while that journey requires vulnerability, becoming 100% honest with yourself, and trusting your gut as to who you deem safe enough to tell, it can be as freeing as it is scary.

In this story, the main character is a ~30 y.o. Trans Man who travels home from NYC to the small Illinois town where he grew up. Recently umemployed, he goes back to help his Mom downsize and move from his childhood home into a new condo. But this journey also brings him face-to-face with his teenage pre-transition self, as well as his former best friend with whom things ended really badly in high school. All the feels ensue.

This book was really heartwarming, painful, touching and glorious. I laughed and I cried. And though my own journey is different (pan-romantic ACE, cis, neurodivergent, disabled), there were so many moments that I could either see myself in these characters, or deeply empathize.

And while I am sure that many of those that haven’t had to go on this particular journey can also very much enjoy this book’s story, I hope it always finds its way to those who need it the most.

To those on the fence, because sci.fi/fantasy or time-travel aren’t really your thing, the mechanics of that honestly don’t make up too much of the story. I do regularly read those genres, but would file this one under regular fiction, myself.

Huge Gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher, HarperAudio , for an audio-ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion. I also thank the print+audio publishers for standing behind this author’s story - representation and inclusion within all kinds of media is incredibly valuable and important.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for making this ARC available. I liked the idea of this book, and I have not read many LBGTQ books in the last year, so I was really eager to listen to this title. I failed to see what the author was trying to do, and the time travel did not help me at all. Darby is going home to help his mom move and try to come to terms with how he left. The end just didn't tie up the ends for me. I did like the community Darby found in New York and his hometown. I loved seeing the dynamic between Darby and his mom. I was just hoping for something more.

If you could go back and tell your younger self anything, what would it be? A great sci-fi, time travel story told from a FTM transgender perspective. Darby finds himself back in his hometown, but when he enters the bookstore he worked in as a teen, he sees his younger self behind the counter. What is happening, why is he here? His journey leads to a moment when he helps his teen self find solace by sharing a book written by a transgender person. It's a powerful message about the importance of windows and mirrors in story-telling.

I keep waffling between a 3.5 rounded up and a 3.5 rounded down. I'm landing on rounded down for now, because I feel like the main character didn't learn anything. The plot of this book didn't really move us anywhere.

This story is about a transgender man, who had a falling out with his high school best friend, and he can't remember what went wrong between them. When he returns to his hometown, and enters the bookstore where he used to work, he see's his old self working the register. He decides to befriend his younger self, in an effort to piece together what happened and maybe change the course of events.

When it comes to books that include time-travel and the possible changing of events, usually the MC is either successful in righting their wrong or they learn a valuable lesson and make changes to the present. I feel like this book had a little bit of both, which ultimately resulted in a little bit of neither. I'll explain, but spoilers ahead.

[The big mistake the MC made as a teenager was thinking that he didn't have any allies in his hometown and thinking he had to move to a big city to start over and feel accepted. Then, we see that he isn't actually happy in the big city, so he comes home, only to find out his community has more to offer him than he realized. That's fine, but everything past that is where this book lost me. Instead of learning from his past mistakes, he continues to push aside his friends. Instead of focusing on the present, he's too consumed with correcting the past. We also learn the MC was too consumed with his own problems to see that his friend also had problems of their own. Yet again, he has multiple opportunities to fix this with his present day friend, but he's too consumed with fixing the past to see that. At the end of the day, helping his younger self does nothing for him other than ease his own mind. It doesn't change what happened. And then, you think the moral of the story is that his small, midwestern town actually has the community he wanted all along... only sike, he moves back to New York... So, what did the character learn and what changed? Essentially nothing. He got his friend back, but he didn't need to travel to the past to do that, he just needed to talk to him. Which was essentially the point all along, that I don't think the MC ever realizes. (hide spoiler)]

Other than that, I loved this. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

For fans of:
- New Adult

This is a soft, quiet story of a transman looking to reconnect with his past in order to understand his future. Darby is turning 30 and feels like he has nothing to show for it. The startup were he worked has gone under. He's getting priced out of his apartment, and he can't remember the last time he spoke to his mom. In a panicked moment, he decides to pack up all his belongings and buy a one way ticket home (metaphorically because he actually drives) to his small hometown in rural Illinois. There he discovered many things are just as broken and dysfunctional as they were when he left, but he wonders if there is more to this small town than meets the eye.

This book includes:
- old friends reuniting
- LGBT characters and the best queer friend group you've ever seen
- hometown nostalgia
- a chance to fix the past
- melancholy

I enjoyed this book, it was quiet and peaceful and led me to some reflection on my own life and home town. Darby is stressful, but honest, and I appreciated the very human storyline in this book. It does not have the typical HEA and - as much as I would prefer that HAE - I liked it. I loved Darby's mom and her role in the story, and of course, Mr. Grumpy was the ultimate Diva. There are many lessons to be learned in these pages, and I could see this book being mind altering for many LGBT 20-somethings struggling with their identities.

I received this audiobook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Edward Underhill, and HarperAudio Adult for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted across my socials under the username @tinynightingales, check out my GoodReads profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863
my bookstagram account https://www.instagram.com/tinynightingales/
and booktok https://www.tiktok.com/@tinynightingales?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

I spent today listening to The In-Between Bookstore, and I absolutely loved it. Such a wonderfully bittersweet book. This book definitely tugged on my emotions in so many ways.

I thoroughly enjoyed the representation and POV included in this book. Just wanted to give Darby a big hug (and Michael too!). It felt like a coming of age/YA novel although they are in their early 30s? The use of the time travel trope was interesting but never came together as to how or why and the end was melancholy but overall still an interesting read. As someone who went to HS in a small town and couldn’t wait to leave, that part resonated with me, especially the description of the football game.

The narrator did a good job but I think I would have preferred this one in print.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for early access to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.