Book Review: "The In-Between Bookstore" by Edward Underhill

Darby moved to NYC to go to college and put some distance between him and Oak Falls, his small Illinois hometown. As a trans man, getting a fresh start was exactly what he needed, away from those who looked down on him.

Now, as he nears 30, he’s just lost his job, his rent is increasing, and he’s feeling rudderless. It feels like all of his best friends are making progress in their lives, while he’s not. When he learns that his mother is planning to sell his childhood home and move into a new condo, he decides to move back to Oak Falls.

So much has changed in Oak Falls since Darby left. But one thing hasn’t: In Between Books, the store where he worked in high school. In fact, when he goes into the store, the new releases and the newspapers are all from 2009. And the kid behind the counter seems so much like Darby at 16…could it be Darby?

As Darby tries to connect with his teenage self, he also tries to figure out where his life went off track, and how to fix it. He also encounters Michael, his best friend while growing up, whom he hasn’t seen since their friendship ended dramatically before Darby left Oak Falls.

I love time travel and time loops, and how characters learn from the past. But this book never really took off for me. I didn’t really feel like Darby learned much, and I felt like everything in the book was left fairly unresolved.

Edward Underhill has written three YA books that I’ve enjoyed, so I was looking forward to his adult debut. I like the way he writes, so hopefully his next book will have more of a spark for me.