Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Antes que o café arrefeça by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

286 reviews

verinvaldez's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-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

2.0

This isn't really a novel, it's more of a collection of disjointed stories that take place in the same coffee shop.

There's definitely sexist undertones, just read this quote:

'Don't go!' she would have screamed. Of course, they would have been crocodile tears. Tears are a woman's weapon.

Outside of that, the prose is very basic and wooden, I expected more depth. The characters felt mostly one-dimensional and the stories are bogged down by copy-pasted explanations of things such as Alzheimer's disease, rather than being integrated well into the story.

The last story did end up being emotional at least, but I only finished this book because it was so short and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Deeply disappointing, there are better written books about grief, but I guess the book was readable.

Note: Cat on the cover, but no cat in the story. Another layer of disappointment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy and Death

jackiie's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Sexism, Grief, and Misogyny

Moderate: Car accident and Pregnancy

princessdeia's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy

erisouls's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Loved this book but the blurb on the front is misleading. The whole shtick is that you can’t change anything by sitting in the chair. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Dementia

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Death, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abortion, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury

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.

reading_rhi's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Car accident and Pregnancy

melissalaura's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

This is a beautiful read that had me hypnotized from the beginning.  Each of the four stories pulled at my heart strings, particularly the last one where I ugly cried to the end!  I love the underlying message of accepting the past and valuing relationships, it really is relatable.  I usually enjoy a happy ending but it somehow wouldn't have been appropriate, the end was perfectly emotional.  This book is definitely up there as one of my favourite books of all time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, and Death

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

Minor: Miscarriage

lolamelie's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia

Moderate: Chronic illness and Grief

Minor: Medical content, Abortion, Blood, Car accident, Death, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

ppp's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Pregnancy

alclvdl's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Pregnancy, and Dementia