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

Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

82 reviews

inkshadows's review against another edition

mysterious 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

4.5

This book is beautiful in the way it weaves together stories of loss and friendship. It shows how interconnected our lives are and the deeper impact of our actions. I enjoyed the callbacks to earlier moments as I read through the not-so-stand-alone short stories. Just as the novel plays with concept of time, so does the stories within it.

I found myself feeling reflective, sad, amused, and hopeful while I read. I found this title to lean towards being thought-provoking and lighthearted. It was a medium to fast pace, and easy to read. I think it would make a great book for anyone, even a casual reader.

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maddykes13's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-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? No

4.25

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stwriter92's review

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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? Yes

5.0

I have been meaning to read this book for months (added it to my TBR last December!) and finally got my hands on it while on layover at Heathrow!

The story centers on a small, windowless cafe in Tokyo that claims that it has the power of sending people back in time. However, there are some rules that each person must follow:

They must sit in a specific seat, which they cannot leave at any point.
They cannot change the past and anything they do will not change the present.
They can only meet people who have been to the cafe.
They MUST come back before their coffee gets cold.

The book itself is divided into four parts, each one focusing on a customer that travels through time for some reason. While the novel itself didn’t seem to be a lot of people’s cup of tea (going by the reviews), I still believe it was really good. It did not follow the usual western story telling structure. Instead, it gave us windows into the lives of each of the customers. At its core, it’s a story that shows that all of us crave connection. It displays the bittersweetness of life in the same way it serves its coffee: quietly, subtly, and with a tinge of magic.

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siobhanward's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

This book has been talked about so much (and is now one of a few in a series), that I definitely went in with the thought that it was at least going to be decent, but honestly it was mediocre at best. The idea of time travelling in a cafe was cool, and I appreciated that rules were clearly thought out to make things less messy, but that's mostly what I can say about it. A couple of the stories were solid - I particularly liked the stories about the older couple and the sisters, but I found that the first and last stories to be kind of mediocre. I think part of the challenge was that each of the stories was too short to elicit the emotion that was needed to keep a reader engaged, so everyone experienced tragedy after tragedy to keep the reader engaged.

This was a cool concept, I just wish it had been executed better.

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autumnallegory's review against another edition

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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

5.0

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bluedilly's review

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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grunbean's review

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emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

If a book makes me cry, I find that it’s a good book. A chapter of this book had me bawling.

A short but packed read. I really enjoyed the world it took me to and the stories inside just one cafe. If you’re a fan of the real world with a bit of magic, you will like this!

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