Book Summary and Reviews of In Case You Read This by Edward Underhill

In Case You Read This by Edward Underhill

In Case You Read This

by Edward Underhill

  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Published:
  • May 2025, 368 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

From acclaimed author Edward Underhill comes a trans rom-com about serendipity, chance encounter, and the ultimate missed connection. This joyful celebration of queer love and found family is perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli, Emery Lee, and Julian Winters.

Arden isn't excited about moving. Los Angeles was an easy place to fit in and find a supportive queer community. But Winifred, Michigan? That sounds like a much more difficult place to exist.

Pasadena, California, is the perfect city for Gabe's reinvention. Everyone knew everything about him in small-town Shelby, Illinois. Gabe, who wants to be out and proud, can't wait to relocate.

When Arden and Gabe randomly meet in the lobby of a motel in Nebraska, it feels like fate. Both are trans, but more importantly, both are huge fans of the band Damaged Pixie Dream Boi. Clearly, the universe is trying to tell them something. Right?

But after an incredible evening of hanging out, the pair part ways only knowing the other's first name. And as both boys struggle to adjust to their new homes, their thoughts keep being drawn back to their time together. Is one perfect night enough to bring Arden and Gabe back to each other, or will the boys need some help to find each other again?

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"An exploration and the validation of a wide spectrum of queer experience. This is a timely promise that community is still there for transgender teens to find." —Booklist (starred review)

"A sweet, idealistic romance with a refreshing lack of transphobia that will serve as a pleasantly escapist read. A satisfying balance of angst and heart." —Kirkus Reviews

"A well-worn message to seize the day and embrace the current moment without striving for perfection plays out here to great effect. Queer and trans teens also going through turbulence of an uncertain future may find solace in the way Arden and Gabe embrace life's imperfections and the daunting, unknown years that come after high school." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

This information about In Case You Read This was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Edward Underhill

Edward Underhill grew up in the suburbs of Wisconsin, where he could not walk to anything, so he had to make up his own adventures. He studied music in college, spent several years living in very small apartments in New York, and currently resides in California with his partner and a talkative black cat. He is the author of two young adult novels, Always the Almost and This Day Changes Everything, and a book for adults, The In-Between Bookstore. Visit him on Instagram @edwardunderhill.

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