Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Ennen kuin kahvi jäähtyy

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Ennen kuin kahvi jäähtyy by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

189 reviews

_doze_'s review against another edition

I expected this books to have a little more oomph than it truly did. The time travel aspect is why I expected it, but in reality the motivations of the characters didn't grab me. It is a love story for all the characters in some sense (family love, romantic love, friendship love) but the stakes were not high enough for me to feel it was worth me finishing to find out its conclusion.

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kryskross's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

3.5

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reasek's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful fast-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

5.0

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singalana's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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 broke my heart. I didn't expect to feel so deeply and find philosophical meaning in this work. In Tokyo, there's a café that can allow you to travel in time to meet someone who has visited that café, but you only have time until the coffee gets cold. At first, I wasn't sure whether I was going to like it or not. In the beginning of the book we get to know how the process of going back works, and I was sceptical whether it will be executed believably.

In this book, we follow four different storylines. Even though all of them were touching in their own way, the second one was really heartbreaking, and made me bawl my eyes out.

The book still feels like it sort of keeps the reader at an arm's length, something I find that many japanese authors do, it manages to pack a punch, and make the reader ponder on philosophical questions. It does that by gently leading the reader to think on their own.

If the purpose of art is to make people feel something, then this book certainly delivers.

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gabriella_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad 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? Yes

3.5

But Kazu still goes on believing that, no matter what difficulties people face, they will always have the strength to overcome them. It just takes heart. And if the chair can change someone’s heart, it clearly has its purpose.

I like the plot points throughout and felt the world building intriguing. The magical realism elements had a way of grounding the reader while still giving you a bit of whimsy and imagination. I would’ve liked more characterization, but maybe the sequels develop the characters more?

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wmalinn's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

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

3.0

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure about this book at first. the pacing was a little slow for my taste and it took me some time to get into the story. but I decided to approach it with an open mind and kept reading, only to discover a heartbreaking story about love, loss, and the difficulty of navigating relationships. this book and it’s characters have really grown on me and I did end up loving it in the end.

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kaitoro_walker13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-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

4.75

Just a great book. I found that some parts dragged a little, but that is the only fault I can give to this book. It's amazing. Absolutely worth a read.

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