Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Before the Coffee Gets Cold

i’m sure this reads better in Japanese, but the English translation felt clunky and awkward. the stories were also a bit predictable and as compelling as i wanted them to be.

Content Warnings

michachi's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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? No

3.5

I really enjoyed the story of this book. It was wholesome, warm and cosy. The captured the atmosphere of a small coffee shop very well and I enjoyed the setting based story with common characters coming and going. The writing style wasn’t entirely to my taste, but after learning that the author was a playwrite first it makes a lot of sense. I would definitely recommend this book!

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ayphyx's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This shit made me cry every section

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julierambaeck's review

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

3.5

I thought this would be more sad - it was, but at the same time hopeful. A melancholic read about regret, love and time.

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abicaro17's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Sweet and fun sci-fi book. Is it all that groundbreaking? No. Is it a cool short read? Yeah. The characters are very flat and undeveloped and the whole book is short but its fun and definitely different.

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glyza's review

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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? It's complicated

4.5

Never thought i’d cry my eyes out while reading this, looking forward to crying some more with the rest of this series :,]

Content Warnings

snipinfool's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

A small underground coffee shop in Tokyo had a rumored ability to allow patrons to travel in time. The cafe had many people visit in hopes of attempting to go to a specific time, but once they realized the specific requirements of the trip, few made the choice to give it a try. The rules, while simple, were very specific. One, the person had to sit in a certain seat. That seat was rarely vacant. Two, once you went to your intended point in time, you could not leave your seat or you would return to the present. Third, the visit lasted as long as it took to drink a cup of coffee. The time traveler had to finish the coffee before it grew cold or there was a penalty. Four, the person they wanted to see had to be in the café at the specific time they wanted to go to or they risked not seeing them on the trip. Finally, the traveler could not change the present by returning back in time. One summer, four people made the decision to take a turn in the special seat and go to a specific point in time.

This was a quick read. I liked the premise of people taking a brief trip in time to an important point in their life. Most of the stories tugged at your heart. I wished the stories were longer as we learned very little about most of the people outside of what happened in the café. I can see this being expanded and made into a movie. The book was originally written as a play in 2010 and later published as a novel. I think it works better as a play, but I did enjoy the short stores of each time traveler.

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