This book is a heartfelt, magical journey with Darby, a trans man figuring out self-acceptance and identity. After he loses his job, Darby heads back to his hometown and drops by the bookstore where he worked as a teen. Suddenly, he’s thrown back in time to meet his teenage self, giving him the chance to help his younger self find the confidence he struggled to have. But in the end, it’s Darby’s present-day self who might actually need this experience the most.

The representation feels so real and respectful, from Darby’s subtle internal struggles in the LGBT club during college to his years of denial, and eventually his coming-out journey. His social anxiety, too—the way he sometimes avoids replying to texts or wonders if he truly belongs—feels deeply relatable for anyone who’s ever felt out of place.

While not everyone may understand Darby’s choices, readers who’ve felt “in-between” or struggled with social anxiety will likely see themselves in him. The ending might surprise those who expect a typical romance conclusion, but it feels genuine and earned. Life is messy, and this story doesn’t shy away from that, making the themes of self-acceptance even stronger.

It’s an emotional, honest, and at times heart-wrenching read. For anyone interested in LGBTQ+ stories, a hint of magic, or just loves a character-driven story, this book is worth picking up. It’s one of those rare stories that leaves you thinking—and maybe even tearing up—long after the last page.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine.

I DNF'd this book at 44%. I think the problem is that I just didn't like the protagonist. He just complains so much and is confused way too often. This all happened without any significant level of introspection or reflection. I read nearly half of the book and I felt nothing really happened. I found myself skimming through it just to get to the next plot point.
I was intrigued by the premise of the novel, but just not a fan of how it was executed.

I think it’s important that readers do not go into this book expecting a romance. It would be easy to assume this based on the author’s previous books, but that is not what this book is about. What it is, instead, is a lovely reflection on friendship, family, and what it means to belong somewhere. Overall it was emotional and satisfying to read. I loved that Darby got to talk to his 17 year old self. My only criticism is that I wanted more of everything. More of Darby’s life in New York, more of Darby and Michael as teens, and more of adult Michael. This is a short read, but I would recommend it.

This was a great read! I couldn't put it down, I love the development of the characters and the language used to describe everything, Hope there is a sequel and cannot wait to add a print copy to my library.

This book just really hits home. A trans masc narrative about how things could have been and how things are. How the universe is so vast and how every decision changes so much not just in your reality but in every reality you have created from those decisions. This book truly supercedes any and all expectations I had for it, it was a truly amazing message and story.

I disagree with most of the other reviews complaing about the ending and think that the ending makes perfect sense, it was written amazingly and I think the bad reviews are mostly people who missed the main message of the book <3

This is an amazing novel about Darby, a trans man who has recently lost his job when the company he was working at folded. He decides to return to his hometown, walks into the bookstore that he worked at as a teen, and is transported back in time, meeting his teenage self.

The book does such a wonderful job with representation, like talking about how Darby was in denial for years. How he almost walked out of the LGBT club in college, but it would be obvious that he was leaving. Just little things that made it flow. So many books, the author tries to be inclusive and either falls flat or ends up being totally offensive. Nothing like here. I ended up with tears in my eyes many times. Like during his coming out story.

I know from looking at the reviews that tons of people didn't like the ending, but I actually loved it. It was different than the normal hea that you get in romance books all the time and loved it.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for this e-ARC for review. I’m quite excited to read it and will provide a review promptly.

This book took me a moment to connect with Darby and his motivations, but he becomes a more understandable character over the course of the book. It's often curious to me when I read books about characters returning to their hometown, and their former love interest is somehow still waiting for them, despite something cruel happening in the past. I loved this brief book, and I think many audiences, young and old, will connect with Darby's need to return home and re-experience what he chose to leave behind. Bonus points for some diversity and inclusivity in the cast of characters.

I really liked the concept of this book. It sounds like it'd be Sci-Fi with the talk of time travel and such, and while it does, it mostly dealt with coming to terms with who you are, with change, and finding out where you feel home is. I was hoping that the outcome would come out sort of differently, especially with how Darby tried to change how his life turned out, but ultimately, I understood the ending and what needed to come out of it.

I was very disappointed by the ending of this book. The first 2/3 was great and 5 stars. I loved how Darby interacted with Young Darby and was really though he would help Young Darby find himself sooner. As soon as the past portal started to not work, the book started going downhill. By the time the story ended, it was a 1 star. I didn't like Darby's life choice, the portal ended in a clunky way and I was generally annoyed by the way the story crash landed in the end. I hope the ending is changed by the time it is published.

It was a solid 3.5/5 for me. The book was great for the first 75% but the ending was just heartbreak after heartbreak. Why did we have to do Michael like that? He was always so kind to Darby even after what he did to him. I did love the book and it even made me cry at times, especially the melancholy end. I think the author did well showing that sometimes a hometown is NOT home but that home is where you are loved and cared about.

Mr. Underhill, I will not forgive you for poor Michael. Yes, he was probably my favorite character. It was obvious he loved Darby and just the heartbreak of them mutually admitting what they had wouldn't continue just shattered me.

always weary of a YA author making the jump to adult fiction. this was no different. there just wasn’t a purpose?
I did enjoy the book but wish it had more character growth.
I didn’t like Darby very much and my contempt did not lessen as the book went on.
I do like that this captured accurately growing up queer in a small town. There’s this strange ache of homesickness while feeling suffocated.

I originally picked this book up because it was painfully familiar to myself - queer, small town, moved away, came back and felt alone and confused. I’m realizing now that may have been a mistake and perhaps swayed my reading a little bit (?). It was good, but just didn’t hit the way I thought it was going to.

Throughout there were a bunch of little things I enjoyed like the descriptions of the surroundings and being able to picture that small Illinois town perfectly down to the literal smells. It felt like I was a child in my hometown which is probably specific to people like me from the Midwest but I just really connected to it lol. The universe jumping/time traveling within the bookstore was also really cool. I think we all wish we could have the same chance the main character got.

That being said I can’t bring myself to overlook the things I didn’t enjoy. The characters were definitely written by an author who mostly writes YA. They were supposed to be 30 but I genuinely felt like I was reading about teenagers with their personalities and inability to communicate like adults. I also DESPISED the ending but that could also mainly be from my abandonment issues and refusal to let anything go lol.

All in all, the book was good and well written but I think there were just too many factors going into it that made me disconnect pretty quick. If the overall plot is something you relate to I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance you’ll either fall in love with the book or have the same experience I did. If it’s not something you entirely relate to I’d say it’ll be a pretty enjoyable read if you like some angst and existentialism !!

This book was vastly disappointing.

It started off well enough, almost-30-year-old Darby having just lost his job, and getting completely burned out on NYC. When his mom decides to downsize his childhood home and move to a condo, Darby thinks its time to return to the small-minded small town of Oak Falls. He's hardly been back since he left for college, missing only two things: his former best friend, and the bookstore where they spent their afternoons. Darby hasn't spoken to Michael since the falling out they had in high school, long before Darby transitioned. But when he returns to the home he never quite fit into, he finds that the world changed while he was gone, and Oak Falls isn't the stifling place it once was. Not to mention, the absolutely impossible things that happen every time Darby goes into In Between Books...

This book had potential, and I'm all for contemporary magic and timey-wimey stuff. Missing the mark, this time-portal bookstore seemed to serve one single purpose, and that was to get adult Darby to talk to teenage Darby. And they barely did that until it was almost too late. Not to mention that adult Darby was an almost unbearable wet blanket almost the whole book. Miserable in NY, sure. Miserable when returning home, absolutely. But it didn't seem to be until the literal final chapter that he finally lightned up. In fact, he was a rude jerk to everyone the entire time. His reconnection with Michael was without, too, and the guy deserved way better. I hope he got closure, because I sure didn't.

While the storytelling lacked, the writing quality was good. I'd love to read a revised version of this, with Darby acting a little kinder. And maybe give us some more information on the magical bookstore?

2.5 stars

I got this book as an ARC and I am happy I read it. It's a pretty quick read and flows well. I enjoyed the authors voice for Darby.

The book FELT like it was leading up to something more than just personal discovery. Don't get me wrong, I was fine with how it went and ended but it had potential to be more. I can't really say much without spoiling up but the time "traveling" bookstore didn't really do much besides help the main characters personal reflection.

I wouldn't read this book again but I did like it. It isn't a book I am going to shout about to my friends or talk about in the future. it was emotional to me as someone who moved away from a "small town" to discover myself but I wanted more.

This is the story of Darby, a trans man who left his hometown never to come back so he could create the life he wanted with found family in NYC. As a result of several overlapping circumstances, he ends up having to go back home.

As walks through the doors of the bookstore where he used to work, he sees his teenager self behind the counter. Caught in between the now and then, Darby puts both the past and present puzzle pieces of his life together and works towards healing some of his trauma as he revisits his journey.

I loved every moment I spent with this touching and lovely book.

with gratitude to netgalley and Avon for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

A trans man returns to the small town he was raised in after being laid off from his job in New York. The small town that always felt too small, too closed minded, and too old fashioned to welcome change. New York had felt like a safe place for Darby, who made friends like him and transitioned with their love and support.

When Darby returns to his hometown, he learns that his childhood best friend Michael has come out as gay during Darby’s time away. Darby and Michael had a falling out before Darby left for boarding school - a falling out that has always confused Darby, who never stopped caring about Michael.

Also in his hometown is the independent bookstore he worked in during high school. To his complete surprise, the store is unchanged. It smells the same. It looks the same. Darby cannot believe the condition of the store; it feels like he just left yesterday. Then he notices the lack of new releases, and the girl behind the counter that has his eyes. The girl that, impossibly, is pre-transition Darby. Somehow the bookstore has transported Darby back to 2009, where it is days before he and Michael had a fight that changed their friendship forever.

This book felt like a hug. It was warm and healing. My only complaint is the ending - it felt lackluster. But lovely, lovely story.

A little too on the disillusioned and melancholic side for me. I understand the author's previous works were YA so I was a little thrown by the malaise inherent in the story, even though the character landscape and dialogues were very vivid and engaging. The magical realism of this leaned too far from the whimsy of magic and more towards the realism, which in itself isn't a bad thing. But I guess I was hoping for more...wonder, given the bookstore and second chances vibes.

This is a deeply personal book to me, first of all I have to thank the author for writing a trans guy that is not in their teenage years. It is not often I see people my age in books that have a trans MC so I appreciated that a lot.

Darby was very relatable, specially at the beginning of the story. Having left his small town for a big city where he felt accepted is something I can relate to. At the beginning of the story we find he has just lost his job and decides for a change of scenery and go back to his small town to help his mom move while running into his childhood friend who he had a falling out with.

There he also finds that the bookstore he use to work at makes him travel back in time and come face to face with his younger self. It was sweet and it was a story I read surprisingly fast because I wanted to know what happened next.

After the 70% is when I start losing a bit of my likeability for Darby, I feel like he's almost there with a good come to Jesus moment and then he doesn't reach that moment. It was frustrating to read as I wanted him to realize that his issues could be solved if he talked to people in his life (his friends, Michael, his mother). At the end I felt he was a little bit of a selfish character though he complained often inwardly about the selfish thoughts he had.

I understand what the author wanted to do with the ending but it felt bitter sweet and that maybe we went through this journey for not a lot of payoff. But that's life sometimes so in that way I suppose to book was very real to what the human experience is like.

I initially was drawn in by the mention of a bookstore, in the title, and then, it just got more gravitational from there. We've got a sort of time traveling bookstore, BUT, it doesn't completely send you back in time. As soon as you exit, you return to the present. Exploring paths not taken, regrets, family (both found and genetic), and where your people are were all phenomenally done. If anyone finds themselves wishing the book ended differently, just remember, in another lifetime it did.