A poignant and enchanting novel about a magical bookstore that transports a trans man through time and brings him face-to-face with his teenage self, offering him the chance of a lifetime to examine his life and identity to find a new beginning.

When Darby finds himself unemployed and in need of a fresh start, he moves back to the small Illinois town he left behind. But Oak Falls has changed almost as much as he has since he left.

One thing is familiar: In Between Books, Darby’s refuge growing up and eventual high school job. When he walks into the bookstore now, Darby feels an eerie sense of déjà vu—everything is exactly the same. Even the newspapers are dated 2009. And behind the register is a teen who looks a lot like Darby did at sixteen. . . who just might give Darby the opportunity to change his own present for the better—if he can figure out how before his connection to the past vanishes forever.

The In-Between Bookstore is a stunning novel of love, self-discovery, and the choices that come with both, for anyone who has ever wondered what their life might be like if they had the chance to go back and take a bigger, braver risk.

I received an advance galley of this book courtesy of the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

One of my favorite hypothetical questions is, “If you could go back in time and tell your younger self one thing, what would that be?” Obviously, I don’t want to mess with the timeline too much so I always say that I would tell my teenage self that everything will be okay. You’ll have a rough go, but pay attention, learn the lessons, and stick with it because you’ll meet some amazing people who will lift you up and be your friends for life. I’d also probably give myself a set of winning lottery numbers that I could play once the younger me turns 35 (when I was mature enough to handle the wealth). Now, all I need is an opportunity to go back in time and make that happen.

In this book, author Edward Underhill explores this hypothetical question through the lens of 29 (almost 30) year-old Darby, a trans man who has hit a roadblock in life after losing his job. One night, Darby calls his mom, who tells him she is selling his childhood home and moving into a condo. Darby decides to rent a car, pack all of his belongings, and travel back to his hometown of Oak Falls, Illinois (much to the chagrin of his friends in NYC) to help his mother out. He feels like he needs to get away, clear his head, and decide what his future holds.

Darby doesn’t anticipate running into his former best friend, Mike – a friend with whom he had a falling out just before their senior year of high school. He also doesn’t expect to walk into the bookstore where he used to work as a teenager – back before he transitioned or even really knew he was trans – and find his younger self working there. As the days pass, and Darby reconnects with old friends, and continues to encounter his teenage self whenever he walks into the bookstore, more questions and feelings arise, but will he find the answers he is looking for?

There’s a lot to like in this book. I found the characters to be likable and engaging – I think any queer kid will see something of themself in Darby and/or Mike. I felt for Darby. I know what it’s like to grow up in a small town where you don’t fit in. I also know what it’s like to return to your hometown and feel both at home and like an outsider whenever you run into someone from your past. I also really enjoyed watching Darby discover his old self and, in a way, reconnect with who he was then. When I first started reading this book, I thought that this would be about Darby helping his younger self through a difficult time, but that’s not exactly the case. The younger version of Darby helps the future version more than vice versa.

While I enjoyed the concept and liked the characters, I felt something was missing in the novel. While reading, I often found myself thinking that the book felt almost like a young adult novel, and then once I read that the author has written several YA novels and this is their first adult novel, it made sense. Some of the conflicts felt a little juvenile – something a teenager or someone in their early 20s would get worked up over. I also felt that the author could have gone deeper into the characters and the subject matter. Figuring out who you are as a gay kid is a scary thing, and I wanted more from the scenes between the two versions of Darby. I realize that the author was obeying the laws of “don’t mess with the timeline in time travel.” but I would have liked to have seen a more emotional connection here.

Overall, this is a touching and insightful read that touches on important themes. I just wished it had dug a little deeper. That said, I did appreciate that the book didn’t go in a predictable direction. I expected it to end one way, but it went in a different, more bittersweet direction, which I appreciated. Sometimes, a happy ending comes in unexpected ways.