Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
11 reviews
ariajb's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.25
I really wanted to like this,, but I just couldn’t. which sucks because I love the premise it sounded right up my alley. I liked the story as a whole well enough I guess I just couldn’t get on board with the characters.
it started off poorly the first character, Fumiko, to travel through time is literally the most annoying character with the worst reason for wanting to do it so I think she kinda took me out of it right at the beginning.It just seemed so much like a girl who was embarrassingly down bad for her ex who didn’t care about her, I know it had only been a week but,,, get over it. also it seemed she only wanted to marry him bc she was the last single one in her family not bc she loved him. This whole book felt like it was lacking love. I didn’t feel any between any of the couples. It seemed like Kohtake loved her husband even though he was just… there. he seemed very closed off, easily offended/uncomfortable, and kinda mean. The moment when she finally got the letter probably would’ve been emotional if I liked him but I just wanted her to mourn the relationship and divorce him frankly.
I guess I believed Hirai loved her sister even tho she avoided her for years. their story almost reminded me of it’s A Wonderful Life but without any of the happy parts. Especially since she had a successful business and built a life for herself that she enjoyed and had a lot of friends. but yet she ended up leaving her life and moving back home to run the inn that she never wanted
Kei’s was definitely the one with the most heart and saved the book for me. I wish some time was shaved off of the other stories to give hers more time especially since she owns the café and is there all the time I thought she deserved a little more. her story is also the saddest, having a heart condition and being in and out of the hospital her whole childhood, meeting her husband when she was 17 and he was 20 and the only guy she ever dated then getting pregnant and not even getting to raise her child. A lot of that sadness was undercut by the new manager, Goro being an idiot who misses context clues. but it had a bittersweet ending with their short, but heartfelt mother daughter conversation
it started off poorly the first character, Fumiko, to travel through time is literally the most annoying character with the worst reason for wanting to do it so I think she kinda took me out of it right at the beginning.
I guess I believed Hirai loved her sister even tho she avoided her for years. their story almost reminded me of it’s A Wonderful Life but without any of the happy parts. Especially since she had a successful business and built a life for herself that she enjoyed and had a lot of friends. but yet she ended up leaving her life and moving back home to run the inn that she never wanted
Kei’s was definitely the one with the most heart and saved the book for me. I wish some time was shaved off of the other stories to give hers more time especially since she owns the café and is there all the time I thought she deserved a little more. her story is also the saddest, having a heart condition and being in and out of the hospital her whole childhood, meeting her husband when she was 17 and he was 20 and the only guy she ever dated then getting pregnant and not even getting to raise her child. A lot of that sadness was undercut by the new manager, Goro being an idiot who misses context clues. but it had a bittersweet ending with their short, but heartfelt mother daughter conversation
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Dementia, and Car accident
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
vaykay'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a wonderful and enjoyable read... until the last section. Usually emotional and inspiring, I felt blindsided by the terrible understanding of female anatomy or pregnancy as well as what I perceived as multiple grammatical errors by the translator. I actually found the way they regarded Kei's pregnancy and coordinated death (to save her and Nagere's baby) to be absolutely ridiculous and the sort of fictitious bullshit that only a male author would dream of writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Car accident and Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Abortion, and Alcohol
ghostsversion's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
Re-read: Honestly I probably should have read this sooner but oh well. Anyways, I had forgotten just how simple and nice this first book was. While I do appreciate a good old web of interconnected characters and stories, it is good to see just a plain old story about people wanting to meet their loved ones. Also, the fact thatThe Woman in White deliberately got up from the chair because a lost small part of her saw herself and her motherly love for Kazu in Kei is just 🥹.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
nick_thebucket's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
I'm sure everyone hates the rule about not being able to change the future, but I think it's actually what makes this such a good depiction of grief.
I'm grieving someone right now; and it's hard. There is so much I would give to go back and to be able to at least say a proper goodbye, to let them know once more how much they meant to me, even if I never get to see them again. I think a lot of people forget how important closure is because they're so focused on what they lost. Like yes, I would much rather have them back in my life, but that's not how the world works, so at the very least I want to be able to make peace with my goodbye.
The book is really just a reminder to tell your loved ones how you feel, even if it's difficult or awkward and to say what you really mean, before it's too late.
I think the way so many of the people who time travel get choked up is pretty annoying and frustrating, but it's accurate. When the moment finally arrives, when you can finally let the words you've been dying to say out, your emotions clog your throat.
I'm grieving someone right now; and it's hard. There is so much I would give to go back and to be able to at least say a proper goodbye, to let them know once more how much they meant to me, even if I never get to see them again. I think a lot of people forget how important closure is because they're so focused on what they lost. Like yes, I would much rather have them back in my life, but that's not how the world works, so at the very least I want to be able to make peace with my goodbye.
The book is really just a reminder to tell your loved ones how you feel, even if it's difficult or awkward and to say what you really mean, before it's too late.
I think the way so many of the people who time travel get choked up is pretty annoying and frustrating, but it's accurate. When the moment finally arrives, when you can finally let the words you've been dying to say out, your emotions clog your throat.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
httponyo's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
A heart wrenching book about the relationships between people. My big problem is the age difference ( 17 to 20 ) between the couple owning the cafe when they started dating makes me uncomfortable so take that into consideration.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent
cturn's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Death of parent
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence and Abortion
hayleyvem's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Car accident
Moderate: Death of parent and Pregnancy
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
kappafrog's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Car accident, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child death, Death, Infertility, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Abortion
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol
rosegoes3's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I didn’t DISLIKE it, necessarily, but it was so sad. It took me a while to understand that each chapter is about a different person’s journey in the chair and not four separate stories.
It was sad. and kind of reflective? But I still feel like I missed the point of it because either way it wasn’t real? The last story is the saddest.
One of those books where you don’t get the middle until you get to the end.
The tone of it is very straightforward and to-the-point, which may be a translation thing, but made it hard for me to get attached to the book.
It was sad. and kind of reflective? But I still feel like I missed the point of it because either way it wasn’t real? The last story is the saddest.
One of those books where you don’t get the middle until you get to the end.
The tone of it is very straightforward and to-the-point, which may be a translation thing, but made it hard for me to get attached to the book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, and Abortion