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

emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

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

3.0

This was a nice, easy read with an interesting and meaningful story. My main qualm with it is that I did not enjoy the writing style or at least not in this translation. I thought I was very plain and the storytelling was often all over the place or repetitive. The female characters are often also very stereotypical and sometimes flat, especially in the first story, I think there is a better way to start the book than that. However, the second story “Husband and Wife” and the last story  “Mother and Child” were both very touching. The first was by far the worst and the third was good but didn’t touch me like the others.