Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Tales from the Cafe: Before the Coffee Gets Cold

While I loved the first book in this series, I felt like this one fell a bit flat. I'm not sure if it was written this way, or if it was just something that happened in translation, but there was just so much repetition regarding not only the rules, but with stories as well. I would find myself getting lost in some of the mundane details in certain stories that just didn't seem to fit. It would also jump timelines suddenly - I guess what I'm trying to say is there were many times where there didn't seem to be a cohesive flow to the story. Maybe this was a hindrance of the audio as I couldn't see the shift nor did the narrator indicate a shift in times.

Overall, I do love the moments when the loved ones meet in the café to either say their goodbyes, their 'I'm sorries', or even just see them. My heart breaks and swells for each one, but unfortunately it just wasn't enough to really carry the stories.

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hyperashley's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

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ej19's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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timmi_prvt'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? Yes

4.5

Even better than part one!
The narratives become a little more complex, making the individual stories more interconnected and giving the central characters more depth.
At the same time, the short story character of the chapters is retained.

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i_write_on_occasion's review against another edition

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

3.0

The translation is better, however, not all the stories hit as hard as they did in the second book

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val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

3.0

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bellebookcorner's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

“Tidak ada yang tahu hati seseorang. Ketika kita sendiri sedang kebingungan, perasaan orang yang penting bagi kita pun bisa terabaikan.”

Kembali lagi di café Funiculi Funicula yang menceritakan 4 kisah berbeda dan bertemu Kazu, si pegawai yang dapat mengantar orang-orang yang datang ke café tersebut untuk melakukan perjalanan waktu.

Menurutku, buku kedua ini jauh lebih sedih dan menyayat hati, beberapa kali aku nangis saat baca yang ini. Mungkin karena topiknya lebih mengarah tentang hubungan anak dan orangtua dan juga tentang orang yang sudah tiada. Mau tidak mau cara satu-satunya adalah untuk kembali ke masa lalu.

Hal positif lainnya dari buku ini adalah bisa dibaca tanpa harus membaca buku yang pertama jika lupa, karena akan ada beberapa ‘flashback’ dan aturan untuk bisa melakukan perjalanan waktu juga akan dijelaskan kembali.
Walaupun ceritanya berasa seperti diulang-ulang tapi, aku tetep enjoy baca buku ini.

Overall, buku ini merupakan sekuel yang sangat bagus untuk serial ’Before the Coffee Gets Cold’ , kita bisa belajar banyak hal dari pesan-pesan hebat yang tersebar di sepanjang cerita!
Beberapa misteri tentang café itu akhirnya terjawab dan aku juga puas dengan ending setiap ceritanya. Ga sabar buat baca buku yang ketiga nantinya!

Novel tipis ini pas banget buat orang yang ingin membaca perpaduan genre fantasi dan ‘slice of life’.
Highly recommended!

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lucyatoz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

My review from reading Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Tales from the Café in 2020 ~ "A very intriguing ghost-like novel of 4 different yet interlinking stories. I am not normally someone who would read this genre of book but I really loved it!"

3 years later and I have now read the next novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the coffee gets cold ~ Tales from the Café. Some of the same faces appear in this story as featured in the first book and we learn more about their lives along with the 4 people who come to travel back, or forward, in time, in the hope of sharing one last moment with a friend, a mother, a lover, a wife. Another wonderful set of stories in one cover and I look forward to reading the next instalment.

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