Reviews tagging Medical content

Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

32 reviews

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Title: Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Series: コーヒーが冷めないうちに #1
Genre: Magical Realism
Rating: 3.0
Pub Date: September 19, 2019

T H R E E • W O R D S

Peculiar • Intriguing • Fragmented

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Funiculi Funicula Café in Tokyo has been serving coffee for more than a hundred years. But this coffee shop is a little different, offering its customers the opportunity to travel back in time. This opportunity doesn't come without risks, and has some rules, most notedly that they must return before the coffee gets cold.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Written in four parts, Before the Coffee Gets Cold combines four interwoven stories, each following a different character who travels back in time. The subject matter was so appealing, unfortunately the execution didn't work for me. It felt overly repetitive, and I'd have liked the stories to be more interconnected. After learning that this was originally written as a screenplay, it explains a lot. I also think some things were lost in translation.

Overall, the concept could have been great, as this is a reflective book exploring relationships, love and why you'd want to travel to the past knowing you cannot change the present. But it reads more like a play than anything else.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the time travel trope

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"At the end of the day, whether one returns to the past or travels to the future, the present doesn't change."

"Water flows from high places to low places. That is the nature of gravity." 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Pregnancy, Car accident, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Medical content, Abortion, and Suicide

jazhandz's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Car accident, and Medical content

_gabi_'s review

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Chronic illness, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Death

shushkeepitdown's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

A good short read about a magical chair which lets you go to the past for a specific period of time. It's very sweet and leaves you feeling hopeful for the future. The characters are pretty plain but the story makes up for it. Definitely recommend picking it up.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Death, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Grief

neptunereign's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Dementia, Death, and Abandonment

Minor: Mental illness, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, and Medical content

sandrabooks's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Car accident, Medical content, Death, and Death of parent

sammibreads's review

emotional hopeful relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.25

I did cry while reading this book, once in bed and once on the X61. The first story was a bit meh but gave important set up of the characters so it is forgiven. Actually really liked it, especially appreciated it’s brevity, it knew when to develop and when to stop. I think the female characters were pretty thin, like not so much nuance but it was kind of fine because there enough of them to each be a bit different from each other and it was so short that I wasn’t expecting it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Pregnancy

arthur_ant18's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Dementia, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Medical content, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

aisclaradm's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Gorgeous book that is so easy to read and so beautifully written. Being adapted from a play, it is very play-like in the setting and the way it reads, which made it all the ore interesting. I loved the characters and I loved the way that the different stories overlapped slightly. Really really enjoyed this.

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Abortion, Abandonment, Medical content, and Miscarriage

marae216's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy and Medical content

Minor: Abortion