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A review by heather_lt
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
A basement cafe. A specific chair. A specific set of rules. A coffee pouring ritual. A short time limit. These are all the ingredients you need for time travel in this book.
I wasn't a huge fan of the simplistic writing style. That might just be down to the translation or the author's background as a playwright. You can really tell this was adapted from a play because it's not really a cohesive story but set out in four parts. Each part focuses on a specific reoccuring character as they travel through time and experience a cathartic purging of emotion. For stories based on such character growth, most of the characters you get introduced to have little depth and sometimes that detracted from the emotional tone of what was happening.
However, I enjoyed the mysterious circumstances of the time travel element in this book, the fact that their are so many specific rules, and that you can't just time travel for the sheer fun of it. There seems to be a reasoning behind who gets to time travel and it's just as mysterious as all the rules! But each character who travels through time finds it a cathartic experience, and these experiences make you pause and think about your own life and experiences.
I wasn't a huge fan of the simplistic writing style. That might just be down to the translation or the author's background as a playwright. You can really tell this was adapted from a play because it's not really a cohesive story but set out in four parts. Each part focuses on a specific reoccuring character as they travel through time and experience a cathartic purging of emotion. For stories based on such character growth, most of the characters you get introduced to have little depth and sometimes that detracted from the emotional tone of what was happening.
However, I enjoyed the mysterious circumstances of the time travel element in this book, the fact that their are so many specific rules, and that you can't just time travel for the sheer fun of it. There seems to be a reasoning behind who gets to time travel and it's just as mysterious as all the rules! But each character who travels through time finds it a cathartic experience, and these experiences make you pause and think about your own life and experiences.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Chronic illness