Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

382 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.

Content Warnings

frostedpetals's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

mmarquis1158's review against another edition

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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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pianokeys's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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astrofeldy's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

2.75

An easy read, with a familiar format for fans of Midnight Diner, BTCGC is a collection of four interwoven character arcs as they each explore the meaning of life’s trajectory through time. While a nice concept, the repetitive, episodic nature of the stories (where unnecessary context and same-same world building with each episode, repeat) makes the pace feel unnecessarily slow. The English version is also let down by clunky, direct translations of dialogue and description, where interpretation and more nuanced focus on meaning would have helped make this a more enjoyable read. Would make a lovely tv show, but the book just didn’t nail it for me.

Content Warnings

leaonaxreads's review against another edition

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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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