Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

31 reviews

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I will say the start of this book is slow, and I did have to tough it out a bit but I am so glad I did. This is an excellent story about owning your place in the world and the decisions you make. It very much reads like a play (which makes sense given the author's background) and I love it. If it's caught your eye it's certainly worth a try. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Pregnancy, Car accident, and Dementia

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Cursing

clare072's review against another edition

emotional hopeful relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Chronic illness, and Alcohol

booknerdz28's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Medical content, Alcohol, Dementia, and Death

vixenreader's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

A meditative novel on how we reflect on the past and future, there is a humanity and empathy that resides in the pages of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

If you have gone through a break-up, the death of a loved one, watching someone lose their memories, and/or know that they were going to die, be prepared to feel those emotions intensely while reading this book.

poppyharv's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Car accident, Child death, and Chronic illness

singalana's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book broke my heart. I didn't expect to feel so deeply and find philosophical meaning in this work. In Tokyo, there's a café that can allow you to travel in time to meet someone who has visited that café, but you only have time until the coffee gets cold. At first, I wasn't sure whether I was going to like it or not. In the beginning of the book we get to know how the process of going back works, and I was sceptical whether it will be executed believably. 

In this book, we follow four different storylines. Even though all of them were touching in their own way, the second one was really heartbreaking, and made me bawl my eyes out. 

The book still feels like it sort of keeps the reader at an arm's length, something I find that many japanese authors do, it manages to pack a punch, and make the reader ponder on philosophical questions. It does that by gently leading the reader to think on their own. 

If the purpose of art is to make people feel something, then this book certainly delivers. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Pregnancy

wmalinn's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure about this book at first. the pacing was a little slow for my taste and it took me some time to get into the story. but I decided to approach it with an open mind and kept reading, only to discover a heartbreaking story about love, loss, and the difficulty of navigating relationships. this book and it’s characters have really grown on me and I did end up loving it in the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Dementia, Car accident, Death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

serendipity421's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, Chronic illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

timeforproblems's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Abortion, Car accident, and Miscarriage

bronzeageholly's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Death, Grief, Car accident, Abandonment, and Chronic illness

Minor: Alcohol