The In-between Bookstore is a book that is about having to completely loose yourself in order to truly find yourself and who you are. The story centers on an almost 30 year old Darby, a trans man, who is happily proud and openly out. The story begins in media res where Darby has been let go from his job because it is shutting down. This is coupled with his rent being increased and his mom has decided to sell the family house. This sets Darby onto a journey of returning home and has him facing and coming to terms with his past, present, and future. The novel is a quick read that has dialogue that cuts right to the heart while also making laugh out loud moments. The time travel is the marketing point and what brought my interest to this novel but sadly it was not the strongest point of the story and eventually became background noise for me in the end.

Edward Underhill wrote a touching debut for Adult Fiction that will stick with me for a little while. The novel thrived in its characters and the almost slice of life vibe that it gave off. It was a great first attempt to cater to the mature audience that any queer person will be able to connect to. And for that I am thankful.

*Warning: Spoilers Below*

The Good

As I mentioned the conversations and the dialogue in this novel is superb. It truly felt grounded and real and there were moments where I felt I was reading Darby’s diary. This was done with the parenthetical commentary and it brought a tenderness and authenticity you do not always get in fiction. The writing style provided an a almost chaotic voice and that brought the story to life and made the experience very sweet and causal.

If you know my then you know on test that I give any books is to see if it will make me cry. It is not difficult to do so but I use it as a litmus test for the heart of the novel. Happily this novel/story got me to cry a few times. It was moments where Darby speaks up for himself or when he connects with his friends and they just went straight to my heart and got me to cry. In addition my gay feet were kicking with joy as I read the short but intense romance that occurred within the pages. I mean that football scene and the kiss had me screaming!

The novel has a lot of heart and it is made for the queer community. It gave a place for those that may have felt misunderstood in their youth to exist and show that they are never alone.

The last comment that I have on what was really good in this novel was Darby. I am not going to lie but Darby made me mad at certain points in the story and it was not due to horrible writing but in fact the opposite. Darby had is head stuck in his ass for a while and could not see what was happening around him and for my reactions was visceral which made me happy because it felt real the actions Darby was making. I mean Michael was being cute and Olivia was trying to reach out and Darby was just so not aware. Darby is flawed and had to grow in the story and he was trying to avoid what was going on and if that is not real life than I have no idea what is.

The Bad

Let it be known that I really liked this book and “The Bad” is not meant to detract from the achievement the book is but it is to be honest and let readers share thoughts.

Okay so my first things is there was a weird attention to details. Not always is it the details because of a over explanation but but it was odd inclusions or decisions. An example is

“Behind my Solar Plexus”

Like I know where that is, and I and I know what is being said about that but does everyone know it? Or was that just used as something so adults feel more adulty? I have no clue and I found it distracting.

Chapter and chapter breaks are a decision made by the author. A shorter chapter and make the pace quicker while longer chapters can slow things down. For this novel the chapters are rather slow, and at the beginning the chapters were abrupt and had breaks that split a scene in half, which I found odd. Towards the middle the chapters did even out and they were used to change scenes, locations, or days.

Another issue that I has was the switch in Darby and the related sex scene that for me came out of nowhere. Darby doubled down on his stubbornness and unwillingness to see around himself and it was quite shocking because at the time Darby was paying too much attention to others and what is going on. Darby had some growth but then the sex scene threw it all away. The morning after Darby was not giving Michael attention or seeing that he was vulnerable and only worried about getting back to the bookstore. I am not the hugest of romance and so I do not need a sex scene to feel happy, so when the out of nowhere quick escalation to that fade to black scene took me out of the moment. Part of me feels that was thrown in there for the adult audience and the for the genre rather than being a naturally occurring thing.

Now I know there may be an argument that the two needed to get it out of their systems so they could progress in being friends but they had not talked in 12.5 years! So to have that sudden kiss to sex transition was a lot for me. (I am not the target audience for things like this so if you like that type of thing it may be for you).

The last “bad” thing that I have to talk about is the time travel that almost felt like a hallucinations rather than actually traveling through time. I am thankful that the logistics of time travel was briefly discussed but I am not even upset with the how but more of the why time travel happened. Darby is a proud person and has a sense of who he is so going back in time did not provide that clarity since he already had it. Darby was also retrospective before getting home and was thinking about his past and life at Oak Falls so the time traveling did not help there either. Also Darby did not even learn why Michael was made at time from the traveling but because of a fight they had together. I think it was all to discuss the theory that each choice splits into multiple universes? But Darby did get something out of the traveling and I am glad for that and it did push him to truly understand where he belongs but that could have been done without seeing the younger version of himself. (Also what was going on with the phone thing, just leave it in the car)

Rating

I think book was a strong 3.5 star book. It had good laughs and touching moments. It was a rather easy read that had a decent flow to it. For me the time travel and the odd romance is what knocked it down the 1.5 stars.

Target Audience

Queer people of any identity and specifically that that have had to go home to their trauma and face their demons. It is a story for those that have lost themselves and have had to find their way back to themselves

Overall

The book has a lot of heart and it was a pleasure getting to read it. I will be keeping an eye out for Edward Underhill and see if he publishes any more adult fiction because he has the ability to write characters in ways that I do not see frequently.