Giving this one 3 stars is generous. A whole star is added because it has good trans/queer representation.
Things that were lacking in this book are easily broken down:

1) The time travel, magical realism aspect here is redundant and irrelevant. It’s merely a mechanism for our MC to learn about himself instead of a way to move the plot forward. It’s never explained, appears to have limited rules, and very random. To say I’m not a fan of unstructured magic like this would be an understatement. I feel the same emotional growth could have been had by our MC by finding a journal he wrote but couldn’t remember much from and experiencing his own words on the page or in another format. The time travel was totally unnecessary.

2) Nothing happens. Okay that’s a lie, sex happens, once. And it’s a wasted opportunity to discuss what sex is like for a trans man, instead of having a narrative about it the sexual partner indicates he knows what to do or be aware of and nothing more is said. It could have been a great moment of education for readers, and a better understanding of a trans man who has had too surgery but not bottom. Instead it’s totally wasted. Otherwise our MC just wanders around his home town whining and acting like a teenager (even though he’s supposed to be 30!).

3) This author is better known for YA books. And in all honesty he should stick to them. The In-Between Bookstore reads like a coming of age novel; except our MC is 30 years old, whiny, annoying, and makes no sense. It was so weird for him to flip back and forth regarding who he wanted to be friends with, who he cared about, and other emotional issues.

Unfortunately this novel, while short enough, shouldn’t have hit shelves as is. It needed more direction, mature editing, and a real purpose that made more sense to the reader. It also needed some guts to really push on what gender dysphoria feels like, sex with a trans man, and the difficulty of coming out. Instead it glazes over most of these issues without really drawing the reader in. There are many better trans books to read out there (thankfully). I would leave this one on the shelf.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Review: The In-Between Bookstore 📚

Thank you @avonbooks for the #gifted copy of this thoughtful read! 🥰

Written By: Edward Underhill
Published: January 14, 2025

Darby finds himself unemployed and in need of a fresh start, so he goes back to the small town in Illinois he left behind. However, Oak Falls has changed almost as much as he has since he left. Onething that hasn’t changed much—In Between Books, the bookstore that was Darby’s refuge and high school job. When he enters the bookstore, there’s an eerie sense of deja vu…everything is exactly the same, even the newspapers are dated 2009. And, behind the register is a pre-transition, teen Darby—giving Darby the opportunity to change his present for the better, if he can figure out how before this connection to the past vanishes forever.

Talk about a powerful, thought provoking read!

The story really is all about Darby, a transgender man living in NYC going through a quarter life crisis, trying to figure out what he wants and what would make him happy. Darby ends up back in Illinois, helping his mom move into a new home because she’s downsizing. Darby transitioned after moving to NYC, so there’s so many emotions, memories, friends, and acquaintances waiting for him in Oak Falls.

The book really was so heart wrenching because you feel Darby’s emotional turmoil throughout his return home and then he goes into In Between Books, meeting his sixteen year old self. Imagine everything that’s happened to your life since sixteen and what you would say to your past, teen self to maybe change things for current you. For Darby, he figuring out his gender identity after he left Oak Falls and wonders how his life would change if his past self figured things out sooner. While I’m cisgender, I’m also gay and can’t tell you how often I think about how different my life would be now if I had come out earlier in life.

This book truly struck me, it & Darby will be with me for a while.

Verdict: Loved 😍

The In-between Bookstore by Edward Underhill is a really cool and imaginative read. It’s about this small bookstore that turns out to be way more than it seems—it's actually a gateway to other worlds. The author does a great job of creating a mysterious, almost magical vibe that pulls you in. There’s a nice balance of adventure and self-discovery, and the idea of books having this kind of power is awesome.

Brief overview:
When Darby returns home to help his mother move, he notices some strange happenings. When he walks into the bookstore he worked in as a teen, he discovers a time capsule, and ends up face to face with someone he never expected to see.

My thoughts:
Ah, yes, the bitter sting of nostalgia and regret. Darby's story will pull at your heartstrings and leave you feeling warm and cozy. I truly enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator's voice fit the character perfectly and it was a joy to listen to.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for the eAudiobook ARC! Darby is looking to start over. He's without a job, tired of the bustling New York City where the rent's too high and he can feel alone in a crowd. He has a fantastic group of friends, but even that is not enough, so Darby packs up and heads back to his hometown. But things have changed there as well. Years ago, Darby escaped small town life and its prejudices (not yet understanding his own journey as a trans man). Now, his former best friend is hanging out with his former bullies, his mo is sellling the family home, and even the stores are changed. But when Darby steps into the bookstore where he used to work, he is transported back in time. Can he help his former self at having a more successful, self-accepting future? And can he repair and rebuild his relationship with his former best friend? This is a poignant piece of finding your true place in the world and seeking out happiness.

4 stars.

What would you change if you could go back in time and see your younger self? "The In-Between Bookstore" by Edward Underhill attempts to answer that question for Darby, a trans man who sees himself back in his small-minded tiny hometown after he finds himself unemployed and burnt out with his life in the Big Apple. When he visits the bookstore where he used to work with his best friend, Michael, he soon discovers he can talk to and interact with his younger self before he came out as trans. Soon he realizes that the town he always thought of as close-minded might not have been that at all, that the place he couldn't wait to leave might have needed him all along. Darby gets the unique opportunity to see who he was in the past and perhaps correct some of the mistakes he made or change some of the things he said. It's magical realism at times, with a heavy focus on the human and growth aspects of the story. There is a lot of healing, heartbreak, and critical examination going on here. I found it to be messy and cathartic and great! There is also a heavy dose of found family, which I think is the strongest element of the book. I also enjoyed the ending. I found the pacing to be good, and I didn't find it to be overly long. You have to take the time-traveling aspect and its "rules" (??) ith a grain of salt, but that's okay with me, we believe books about aliens and dragon riders. I know that Edward Underhill is coming from the YA genre, and while I am not a huge YA fan, his vivid, impeccable writing style makes me want to go back and read his other work. I loved Shaan Dasani's audiobook narration of this story, and I think it added to my enjoyment of the book as a whole. Terrific narration work going on here. I recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Edward Underhill, HarperAudio Adult, and HarperAudio for the complimentary ALC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I wanted to stop reading this book so many times. The story is about Darby, a trans man who has spent years wondering why his friendship with his former best friend ended. After moving back to his hometown, he gets the chance to confront his younger self.

What bothered me most was the lack of attention to how talking to his past self could completely alter his current reality. It felt like a major oversight.

Darby is the only character with any real depth. Michael and Olivia felt flat, and I wish the author had explored their histories more.

I was also frustrated with how the book handled transitioning. It barely touches on it, and when surgery is mentioned, it avoids saying whether Darby had bottom surgery. Even the sex scene skips everything after their clothes come off, and he just wakes up the next morning. It felt like a missed opportunity to go deeper.

The audiobook narrator was a good fit, though. I liked his voice fit the story well.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

A soul searching story about who we are and who we become and how we get there. The magic of time travel brings a young trans man back to his younger self and gives him a look into his choices. I really enjoyed the sweet exploration of self, the found family dynamics, and the hard but important resolution.


Thank you to NetGalley for my audio copy. These opinions are my own.

This book is all vibes and feeling and very little plot. And the vibes and feeling are excellent, don’t get me wrong. But if you’re going to have a book with very little plot, you need to balance that out with complex and interesting characters. And while the main character, Darby, is very well developed, the rest of the characters felt sort of vague to me. The concept was interesting, the execution was just lacking.

I will admit that I requested to read this audiobook based on the blurb from Jodi Picoult. While she stated she had read this book in one sitting, I had not. But, I did thoroughly enjoy this book. I've already recommended it to several people, one of which is my teenage son. I loved the premise & have thought about the character development often since finishing. We all feel unwanted/unloved and as though we are aliens within our own bodies, but this story dives deeper into those insecurities. All anyone wants is to be accepted for who we are & being brave enough to be our true authentic self is difficult at best.
What would I tell my younger self? That I am enough. Our childhood doesn't determine who we grow into as an adult. Those who accept us for who we truly are, flaws & all, are our people. Everyone else doesn't have our best interests in mind.
I'm glad for this book & I hope my son loves it as much as I had.
Now, to go buy my own physical copy to share with others.

DNF at about 35% I thought the story would be something that could pull me in more then it ended up doing

When I realized that this audiobook had magical realism + queer romance + trans representation, I hit that NetGalley request button SO FAST. Spoiler alert…I loved this listening experience.

Darby’s story accurately captured that point around age 30 when life starts throwing curve balls and you need to step back to reset. But the fun thing about his experience is that he encountered teenage Darby along his path to self-discovery. The audiobook narrator, Shaan Dasani, did a wonderful job capturing this journey, weaving vulnerability, truth, humor, and love into each character.

I won’t go into detail about the sliding-doors element, but let’s just say I was satisfied. Do I wish there had been more heartfelt bookstore moments? Yes…but I’m a sucker for magical anything, so I’ll always want more!

Darby’s transgender identity was a central part of the narrative, and it’s obvious that Edward Underhill put his heart, soul, and self on the page. This is an important book, now more than ever, and I felt so much joy seeing family members and friends represented.

Another highlight was how realistic the ending was, especially concerning the romance. As a fan of bittersweet outcomes, I thought Darby’s overall arc was 100% believable, with a beautiful emphasis on chosen family. By the final page, there were tears in my eyes and that’s always a good sign!

After being laid off from his job, Darby decided to get a fresh start and move back home to Oak Falls, Illinois. When he walks into In Between Bookstore where Darby worked as a teen, he is shocked to see everything is the same from High School. The new releases and newspapers are all dated from 2009, and the cashier is a teen who looks exactly like Darby did at 16. Darby is given the opportunity to talk to his younger self and possibly change his present situation for the better.

I loved listening about Darby's journey back home to Oak Falls and the time travel aspect of In Between Bookstore. I enjoyed the different timelines with Darby trying to reconnect with his high school best friend, Michael and discovering what is next in his life in the present while talking with his teenage self in the past at the bookstore. The conversations between Darby and his teenage self were some of my favorite parts of this book. Although the ending was not what I expected, I was happy with the conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for the opportunity to review The In-Between Bookstore. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book promised so much with its intriguing premise of time travel, second-chance romance, and LGBTQIA+ representation, but honestly, it fell short for me and I wanted to DNF multiple times.

However I did appreciate the inclusion of a trans main character (female to male) and a strong presence of supportive LGBTQIA+ friends was refreshing and well-handled. Representation in books like this is important, and this was a clear strength of the story.

UNFORTUNATELY, the rest of the book was a mess. The main character was insufferable, lacking self-awareness and basic communication skills. They expected their friends to check in on them but failed to reciprocate or reach out. One of the MANY glaring double standard that made them hard to root for.

The time-travel element was a super cool concept, but it was poorly executed. The protagonist was so focused on fixing the past that they neglected their present relationships. Even being mid conversation fixing a relationship and choosing to go back in time to fix it as well. Like…what? Why? You were already doing that??

The writing style gave me whiplash, memories being unannounced in current time line scenes, the time travel, it was just messy and poorly done.

I also got so annoyed with how many plot holes there were present and the super annoying ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for a digital review copy of "The In-Between Bookstore" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Darby is unemployed and in New York, not the best combination! He is feeling burnt out from all of the struggle and people and sounds around him, and even with his excellent queer crew of friends at his back, he needs a change. Soooooooo, he goes back home to small town Oak Falls, his mother, and his favorite bookstore. Oh, did I mention his ex-best-friend?

When Darby steps into In-Between Books, he is transported back in time to when he worked there before he transitioned and before the best friend break up. He is welcomed back into Michael’s friendship circle who all turn out to be a queer family in small town mid west glory, and he has the chance to mend relationships not only with Michael, but also his young self!

This book was fun and beautiful and narrated with incredible charm and emotion! 💚

Many thanks to HarperAudio and NetGalley for an Advanced Listener copy of this story (even if I'm a few days late). I think this is a story that had some things I really enjoyed, and a fair bit I wanted more from, but I'm rounding up from about 3-3.5 to a 4/5 in particular for the audiobook, as Shaan Dasani did a fantastic job, and I'm really happy the publishers were able to secure a trans actor to portray Darby's story. I want to say that Shaan did a fantastic job at pacing and making us hear and feel Darby's emotions and story. The only few things I didn't love were the first few scenes and his voice for Olivia's gf (whose name I'm blanking on), as it was kind of nails on a chalkboard. But the production was great, the distinction in chapters was clear, and it is an audiobook that I was able to immerse myself into.
What is this book even about? In short, his story is about turning 30 and having your current life (in NYC with his cast of queer friends) somewhat upended by a job loss, and returning to the small town you never wanted to go back to and creating a bridge between who you were and who you are now. Throw in some magical time wormhole or something and trying to both heal your younger self without ruining the present and space/time continuum, and you've got the In-Between Bookstore.
My favorite thing about the book/story itself is how it's sort of a love letter to both those who stay in their small town and those who felt trapped and left. And as a queer person who just turned 30 and has the chance to move close to home and a small town, there were moments I could really relate.
However, my hesitation and why I'd give the story itself closer to a 3/3.5 is that I feel like Darby wasn't trying to grow from what happened to him when he was still in high school and trying to figure out why he was "weird and messed up", even while he was trying to understand what happened with his friend Michael. He was able to recognize his part in their fallout, but I still feel like he was hiding so much from all of his friends at the end, so did he learn from it? Anywhoo, the story alone gets about a 3/3.5 but I enjoyed the audiobook so I'm lifting it to a solid 4/5 stars!

Thank you to HarperAudio and NetGalley for the ALC of The In-Between Bookstore!

This one took me by surprise! Yet, at the same time was a teensy, teensy bit disappointing. Any time I see the word "book" in a title, I just expect things. I expect lots of cozy book and bookstore content. Other than the bookstore serving as a conduit for the main character, Darby, slipping back and forth between the present and her younger self timeline, there wasn't much going on in the bookstore. Sadly.

Darby was very much on a mission to find her place in the world. He's a trans young person, newly released from his job, and finding everything about New York a little overwhelming. So Darby takes himself back to his midwest Illinois small town with no real plan in mind. What we get is a journey of self-realization, reflection on the impact of past choices and the importance of family and family roots.

I LOVED how this book ends. It ends in a way that most authors are afraid to take. It was refreshing and endearing and made my time with Darby all the more meaningful. I love when a character comes full circle and makes real self-discoveries. I'm going to use the word "refreshing" again, but it is so refreshing when an author makes the best choice for the character and not the easy choice that the reader might be expecting. The ending was completely perfect and I will be looking for more books from Edward Underhill just for that fact alone!!! I can't stress it enough! Way to go!

Initially, I did not like the narrating by Shaan Dasani. The narrator has a very nongender sounding voice. HOWEVER, whether intentional or not, the voice began to make more sense to me and actually fit very well (in my mind) with the storyline. The way that Dasani voiced Darby's mother's voice was very perfect.

First and foremost I would like to thank Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for sending me an audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn to read The In-Between Bookstore because I love the concept of being able to go back to a time where a younger version of oneself is struggling and helping to reassure them that things will be okay. I am happy to say that Edward Underhill took a great concept and turned it into something wonderful. I really enjoyed my reading experience with this one.
I was quickly drawn into the story. Darby is instantly likable and a bit complicated. His mind is always going a mile a minute simultaneously looking back and analyzing why things are the way they are in his life and being vigilant of the ways things could fall apart. I think the personality traits that Darby possesses gave the author a lot of room to explore the kinds of experiences that could lead to someone developing these traits.
I love that we followed a lost in life Darby exploring what it is they want in life moving forward in a magical realism setting with the time traveling bookshop back to where young Darby is working, also during a crossroads moment in his life. It allows the reader to consider how Darby feels about himself both in the present day and back in high school.
The formatting of pov paired with time jumps was well crafted. I never thought to myself that the magical realism elements weren’t believable or impactful. I was always looking forward to young and older Darcy’s interactions because the self empathy for Darcy’s younger self was impactful and so sweet to witness.

The audio narration for this book was incredible. I really appreciate the fact that a trans narrator was used for this. There’s a decent sized cast in this book and there was enough differentiation between characterizations.

This title has a unique storyline with relatable characters and steady pacing. Readers will find themselves within the story and root for the main character as they navigate their feelings about past and present.

The In Between Bookstore is the story of Darby, a young transgender man who goes home to help his mother move. While there he visits the bookstore he worked in while in high school only to go back into time and meeting his younger self. He runs into his estranged best friend while in town meeting Michael's friends and realizing that his town is not as close minded as he once thought.

It was a fun concept into looking back into one's past and reflecting how situations could have been handled differently, I really enjoyed the lighthearted approach to informing the reader on what it is like to live life as transgender. That gender does not define a person, but is only a part of who they are. It was very informative into the mind of how one transgender man dealt with life and the changes by exploring the reactions of those who knew them before, who knew their deadname. It was a sweet love story. A love story of long time friends, the love we have for ourselves, and the place we grew up. A rekindled love of place, family, and friends. I found this heartening as someone who moved around so much and does not have a sense of place.

I listened to the book and really enjoyed the narrator. The voice matched the character and I appreciated that.