A review by foxwish
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This isn't really a novel, it's more of a collection of disjointed stories that take place in the same coffee shop.

There's definitely sexist undertones, just read this quote:
'Don't go!' she would have screamed. Of course, they would have been crocodile tears. Tears are a woman's weapon.

Outside of that, the prose is very basic and wooden, I expected more depth. The characters felt mostly one-dimensional and the stories are bogged down by copy-pasted explanations of things such as Alzheimer's disease, rather than being integrated well into the story.

The last story did end up being emotional at least, but I only finished this book because it was so short and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Deeply disappointing, there are better written books about grief, but I guess the book was readable.

Note: Cat on the cover, but no cat in the story. Another layer of disappointment.
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