Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

240 reviews

julieyael's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

Delicate and full of melancholy. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kjm19's review

Go to review page

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

1.75

Before the coffee gets cold - is a cool idea for a book. Customers at the cafe can go either to the past or the future but must come back before the coffee gets cold (otherwise they end up like the woman in the white dress who remains a mystery from beginning to end). The cafe is timeless, always cool, and mysterious in many ways. It’s described too many times but I do like its description. An unorthodox, small place that seems to find the people who need it. 

Characters were, unfortunately, pretty one dimensional and stereotypical. Also no cat???

The plot would start moving somewhere and then the author would jump into a deep dive about something vaguely relating to the current focus character. These deep dives would take you out of the natural flow of the story and was frustrating at times. E.g. when Kei, the pregnant owner of the restaurant, is about to go to the future to meet her unborn child there is a deep dive into Kazu, the current waitress, and her university art course. 

I love the part where the woman in the white dress closes her book after the first section when a woman goes to the past to see her ex partner and it’s named ‘the lovers’. But this sort of thing is never replicated for future time travellers. 

I wonder how much of an impact the translation has made on my impression of the book. I feel that it’s been clumsily written and oversimplified in its vocabulary and descriptions. Is it totally true to the original? Is it translated more to show a word for word meaning instead of implied meanings? I am intrigued. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

readingoverbreathing's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

This is one of those that I'd just heard so much about that I knew I had to try it for myself. The premise itself was an instant draw for me — I love a bit of time travel, and invoking the cozy setting of a cafe seemed full of warm possibilities.

However, this has been translated from Japanese, which gives it a slightly stiffer tone than I think most English-speaking readers, myself included, are really used to. I do wonder if some of it was the translation, but I also read in the author's bio on the back flap that this was originally a play which the author converted into a novel, which honestly makes so much sense. The comings and goings of the characters, the vignette structure, the slightly artificial feel to the dialogue, the chime of the door's bell, the static setting of the cafe, all would make much more sense in a stage setting. Personally, I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more as a play than I did in this form.

Again, the concept was brilliant and I enjoyed seeing the possibilities and limitations Kawaguchi imposed on the idea of time travelling. The situation in each vignette was slightly different, and slowly allowed you to get to know each of the cafe's regulars and workers and their emotional development, whatever the circumstances they faced — and there were certainly some heavy ones.

I can see why a lot of other readers found this to be a cozy read, but honestly, for me, it wasn't quite that. I think some of that is just how I pictured the cafe in my head — once it was mentioned it was in the basement, I just kept envisioning a rather dark, empty, sparsely decorated space that did not at all invoke a sense of coziness.

I am glad I read this and did enjoy it in the sense that it was so vastly different from anything else I've really read, but I can't say I'm interested enough to read any of the other books in this series. I feel like I got to see enough of the possibilities that 'that chair' was able to offer, and I certainly don't feel a strong enough emotional pull to get invested beyond this first book.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

caleb_makes's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing 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

4.5

Slice of life plus low-stakes time travel. Really wholesome. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

drybay's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

serena_hien's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-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? No

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ahanky's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful reflective sad slow-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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

vbarsi's review

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

3.25

Enjoyable to read, just a little cliche for my taste 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

strewnsunlight's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

chaotic_tumbleweed's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing fast-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

4.75

I enjoyed this book. It was a little rushed in the end in my opinion. I can't wait to read the other books in the series.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings