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

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

3.0

“No matter what difficulties people face they will always have the strength to overcome them, it just takes heart. And if the chair can change someone’s heart, it clearly has its purpose” 

‘Before the coffee gets cold’ is a series of interlinked short stories based in the cafe Funiculi Funicula where if a number of conditions are met one can travel back in time and meet someone who had once visited the cafe, just they have to return before their coffee gets cold. I was expecting a more coherent narrative but rather the four tales told are interlinked by the cafe and its staff. 

It is a very quaint tale that explores human emotion, relationships, child brith, illness and grief but does this in a very cosy and manageable manner, at no point is this upsetting or distressing but rather very open to being accepting of it and making the best of it. ‘Before the coffee gets cold’ was by no means revolutionary, and no character arcs are particularly major due to the nature of the shifting perspectives in each of the four tales and a lot of the mechanics of the time travel are unexplained and justified as just ‘the rules’. I would’ve loved to hear more about the mysterious ghost figure that remains present throughout the whole novel but always in the background, and maybe this will be a topic of one of the sequels. It just remains a quiet novel about an overlooked little cafe. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings