Reviews with content warning for Child death - Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

18 reviews

dexlud's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a fabulous book about a coffee shop where a certain seat in a coffee shop can transport the user through time. I love how much Kawaguchi explores this universe, and I find the stories so wholesome and gut-wrenchingly sad at the same time. As soon as I finished this book, I ordered the 2nd book in the series as I was so excited to read them! If anyone is thinking about reading this book, I would definitely recommend it. The world that Kawaguchi has created is so fantastical and you create a massive attachment to these characters. I adore how much information is revealed throughout each of the stories, and how each story adds new information to the info bank in your brain about the cafe.

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poppyharv's review against another edition

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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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georgiacatt's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This book is split into four different sections of short stories but they are all set in the same cafe. At first it doesn’t seem as if they have any relevance to eachother but I really liked how they were linked back in at the end. It often has a very matter of fact tone from the author in a neutral & informative voice and occasionally has more intense emotional moments. A lot is left up to the reader and there are issues and mysteries in the book which don’t get answered which is nice. As you get to know the main characters more the plot also develops further and feels more of a cohesive story. This book was really different to anything i’ve ever read and is definitely something I would recommend to people who enjoy clever fantasy books but wanted a spin on the usual storylines.

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kappafrog's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This book has an intriguing premise, and I was intrigued enough to read to the end. I liked how the author explored the way that even very rule-restricted time travel could be extremely meaningful for people. I also liked the little community of characters.

However, the writing style was off-puttingly clunky. When I found out it was originally a play, it made more sense. Much more work should have gone into making it readable as a novel. There were many repetitive descriptions pointing out the obvious.

Most of the main characters are women, but it's obvious they were written by a man. They conform too closely to stock types with emphasis on familial duty. I was most intrigued by the inscrutable waitress Kazu, but her development was very haphazard.

Still, I liked reading this book and enjoy the premise enough to check out the sequels.

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gromithorror's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.5

short and sweet! i read this book in just over a week and i enjoyed it very much, it is emotional but hopeful and i could easily recommend it to anyone :)

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