Reviews with content warning for Abortion - Before the Coffee Gets Cold

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Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

120 reviews

caitlinteresa's review against another edition

3.75

3.75/5 rounded up

In Tokyo, there is a cafeé that allows you to travel in time. The catch to this is that there are several rules-- one of which is that you only have until your cup of coffee gets cold to return to the present.

This book was a short, quick read. I found it to be a good blend of emotional and uplifting. I loved the characters and employees of the café. I enjoyed the way each chapter was set up to focus on a different character, but I did find myself longing for some substance. The emotional scenes would have hit a little harder had we had a chance to get to know the characters more through a plot-- even a small subplot!

A different reviewer had mentioned that this would have worked well as a play versus a book. I have to agree. I feel this would do well on a stage, but did not quite perform as a novel.

Overall, I enjoyed this, and I'm glad I explored a different type of novel than I tend to read.

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kyriannaj's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I think a lot was lost in translation when it comes to the emotional pull of this book. The plot beats were emotional, but the writing and words used were very blunt and to the point. The world building around time travel was incredibly well done and drew me in. Although this is commonly talked about like a short story collection, it’s much more a novel with recurring characters, a singular setting, and plot points building on one another throughout. Apparently the author first wrote this as a play, and thinking about it like that makes perfect sense.

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laurakfinnegan's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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kathi_90's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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? No

3.75

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basil_touche's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

1.5

I think the only reason I finished this was because I listened to the audiobook. At least I was able to get some chores done while this was playing, otherwise I would have struggled to get through this. This is just a painfully boring book that doesn't flesh out it characters, which in turn made me not care about their stories.

These stories could have worked but very little is actually dedicated to making the characters feel like actual people or, if it couldn't do that, even just entertaining to read about.

It also lacks any subtly, preferring to explain to the reader every reason a character did anything, to the point that it repeats what it just said constantly. It makes it a very awkward reading experience.

Didn't help that for two of the stories characters either made really weird choices or were pressured/guilt tripped by others into doing things they didn't want

(Hirai being pressured into taking over a family business she didn't want and treated as though she's in the wrong by the narrative and Kei choosing to give birth knowing it would kill her)

which irritated me instead of getting me engaged.

It gets a little credit for the creative coffee time travel method and short length, but I will not be reading the rest of the series.

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