If you’re looking for a tender and emotional story about examining our own past, this is it. The In-Between Bookstore is charming, whimsical, and emotional from front to back. It’s about exploring our own past, the images we had of our future, and what we might change if we could. Keep reading this book review of The In-Between Bookstore for my full thoughts.
Summary
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.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The In-Between Bookstore begins feeling alone and needing a jolt to the system. Sometimes something happens in our life that makes us have to re-evaluate where we’re going. And sometimes to do that, we have to look backwards. We have to be reminded of why we left and what we were running towards. I deeply connected to Darby at the beginning. He’s feeling adrift, unsure if he wants to stay in NYC, and feeling like he doesn’t belong anywhere. The In-Between Bookstore forces Darby to confront the past. The memories haunting us.
At the core, it also explores whether or not we should change the past. And if we could, what would we do. Yet at the same time, The In-Between Bookstore allows us to see Darby at these different points of his life. Of seeing him yearn to know more queer folks, about questioning his identity. We see these snapshots of his life and there’s a real sense of vulnerability in his confronting the past. The old regrets and experiences, paths not taken, and mistakes which have become aches. Seeing present Darby observe past Darby, we see everything we missed.
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The In-Between Bookstore is my first five star read of 2025. It’s this tender story about the past, but also the future. About not shutting the people in our lives out and about realizing we can love a place and still need to leave it. That when we try so desperately to escape, we don’t have to leave behind everything. Find The In-Between Bookstore on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.