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A review by analenegrace
The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thanks so much to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book!
While Underhill's YAs are well-written, this was a next-level exploration of identity, place, family, and queerness that I read all in one sitting because I just couldn't put it down.
Underhill captures the age-old question for queer people in small towns, who stays and who leaves? His MC, Darby, chose to leave to go to boarding school and then to NYU and to stay in New York City, while his best friend Michael chose to stay in small-town Illinois and has built a life full of other queer people in town. This, tied with the magical realism of the time-traveling bookstore, made this absolute perfection.
This book grabs your attention, makes you think, and makes you fall in love with the characters, even when they're messy and frustrating.
Being able to talk to your past self sounds incredibly stressful to ME (and it clearly was for Darby), but Underhill did it perfectly, especially with the ending, which I won't spoil but made me cry bittersweetly!
Check this one out when it releases on January 25th 2025!
While Underhill's YAs are well-written, this was a next-level exploration of identity, place, family, and queerness that I read all in one sitting because I just couldn't put it down.
Underhill captures the age-old question for queer people in small towns, who stays and who leaves? His MC, Darby, chose to leave to go to boarding school and then to NYU and to stay in New York City, while his best friend Michael chose to stay in small-town Illinois and has built a life full of other queer people in town. This, tied with the magical realism of the time-traveling bookstore, made this absolute perfection.
This book grabs your attention, makes you think, and makes you fall in love with the characters, even when they're messy and frustrating.
Being able to talk to your past self sounds incredibly stressful to ME (and it clearly was for Darby), but Underhill did it perfectly, especially with the ending, which I won't spoil but made me cry bittersweetly!
Check this one out when it releases on January 25th 2025!