Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

249 reviews

bookishevy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? No

4.75

If you could time travel, who would you meet? This is a question that I think all of us have thought of at least once, but four characters in this book actually get the opportunity to make this journey.

More than coffee is being served at an old back alley café in Tokyo. Local legend says customers get a chance to travel through time, but many of them don't go through with it after learning all of the rules, the most important one being they have to return to the present before their coffee gets cold. 

I timed my coffee yesterday to see how long it would take to get to room temperature and it took around 25 minutes, which isn't a lot of time to make amends. But these four characters are up to the challenge, and I was very stressed over them making it back in time. 

This quirky read warmed my heart as it explores missed opportunities and regret. My biggest takeaway is to live in the moment and let the people you love know how you feel while they're still here.

There are four long chapters, each focusing on a different character. The writing is a bit melancholy, but the stories move quickly despite dealing with heavy themes. 

This is book one of a series. There are currently four books, and I think a fifth is on the way. I'm a sucka for anything dealing with time travel, so I'll be collecting them all.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Death

frostedpetals's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

Minor: Pregnancy, Suicide, and Death of parent

adamparrishlover's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Chronic illness

mmarquis1158's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

5.0

This book felt like a warm hug. It was a perfect rainy day read. There was just something so cozy about it that made it feel ok to be sad and empathize with the characters. I love how the 4 stories all tied together at the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Chronic illness, and Car accident

Minor: Pregnancy

leaonaxreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This was exactly what I was looking for. I’m in a reflective and transitional period in my life and I’m very much a mood reader so this fit the bill. I  was recommended this because I enjoyed The Midnight Library. 

Something to keep in mind is that this is translated from Japanese I believe, so the prose is not perfect , but the message is perfectly clear. It follows a few different characters wanting to visit different periods in time directly related to events that took place in their lives. Reading it left me wanting to live my life more purposeful and with more meaning; say the things I want to say, and do the things I want to do because time is a precious gift. 

There are some sad topics covered here, but such is life

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Grief, and Death

readingduckling's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

I liked the book very much, and I liked almost all of the characters just two gave me a very weird vibe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Death

xoemax's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Car accident, Abortion, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Medical content, Fatphobia, and Misogyny

vaekay'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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Dementia, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Car accident and Abandonment

Minor: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Vomit

hjb_128's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Pregnancy

seubecca's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Death, Chronic illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Abortion, Car accident, and Death of parent