Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

38 reviews

aleilvandrea's review against another edition

emotional inspiring lighthearted sad fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

Moderate: Car accident and Pregnancy

sk_09's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

It was my first time reading a Japanese book, and I found this one really comforting. The vibe of the cafe was described well. The pace was a bit slow, but as you become invested in the characters and their life stories it becomes more interesting. I especially loved the last two stories instead of the first two. The language was a bit too simple, I guess it's because of the translation, but it served it's didactic purpose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Mental illness

timeforproblems's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Dementia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage, Car accident, and Abortion

esalan's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, and Pregnancy

blewballoon's review against another edition

emotional reflective relaxing slow-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? No

3.0

I was really looking forward to this, but I ended up disappointed. I listened to this on audiobook and I don't think that helped. The translated prose is extremely redundant and clunky.

We had to hear the rules about time travel at least 5 times, but it felt like 50.

For an already short book, it feels like it could have been so much shorter. The characters felt like one-dimensional cliches and 

each trip to the past resulted in the most predictable outcome. I don't mind things being predictable in general, but there was so little substance to make it worth reading.

I love the idea of the premise, but it felt like a drag the entire time.

Mildly disappointed there is no cat in the book despite there being one on the cover.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Mental illness

mikaylawood's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Mental illness, and Car accident

madisone's review against another edition

emotional 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

Though the first story was my least favourite, it introduced a very important set of characters. As the stories progressed, I fell more and more in love with them and their lives and I knew that the end of the book would bring me an immense amount of devastation. I wasn’t wrong. The book delves into the lives of such interesting characters and I had to hold back tears multiple times, especially towards the end of the book. Truly a beautiful story, with different themes, but mostly the different ways grief can present itself. The translation was amazing and flowed beautifully, so I take my hat off to Geoffrey Trousselot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Mental illness

travellingbibliomaniac's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Grief

Minor: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Car accident, and Pregnancy

nojerama's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment