A review by experimentalaudioscene
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Short in page quantity and easy to read, but very repetitive which makes the narrative feel slower. This was more than a cozy sci-fi, it was also philosophical because the cafe can be interpreted figuratively as a thought experiment. The rules, while plentiful and arbitrary, makes the parts of the process accessible to the reader themselves to project into their own past or possible future. I don’t think I read this at the right time for me (I finished it for a book club) and I would have DNFed it under different circumstances but I don’t regret reading it, I don’t plan on re-reading any time soon.
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