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A review by aayjaysbookshelf
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was my fastest read of this year, yet. Completed this in 3 days only!
This was a nice read. The concept/plot of the story was an interesting one (time travel, but in a coffee cafe), and the language and pace of the story was simple and steady, making it very easy to read. The book also shed a bit of light on Japanese society/culture, which I really liked. Though the story is set in more of theatre/script writing than an actual novel, with four different stories as chapters around the same centrepoint. The stories were simple, nothing too complicated, and that was a fresher after my pretty heavy reads recently.
Having said that, I cannot say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. At a lot of times, it would feel a little drab; not very strong storytelling or gripping nature of writing, which could help me feel more 'connected' with the story, even though the stories are supposed to be emotional in it. Something about the narration didn't appeal to me as much as I was anticipating it to, which can partly be due to its essence being lost in the translation, and partly because of my own very heavy and strongly engrossing reads in the past months which had set the bar high.
All in all, a nice, light read. Would recommend it to anyone looking for something light to read. Though won't pick it back up any sooner.
This was a nice read. The concept/plot of the story was an interesting one (time travel, but in a coffee cafe), and the language and pace of the story was simple and steady, making it very easy to read. The book also shed a bit of light on Japanese society/culture, which I really liked. Though the story is set in more of theatre/script writing than an actual novel, with four different stories as chapters around the same centrepoint. The stories were simple, nothing too complicated, and that was a fresher after my pretty heavy reads recently.
Having said that, I cannot say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. At a lot of times, it would feel a little drab; not very strong storytelling or gripping nature of writing, which could help me feel more 'connected' with the story, even though the stories are supposed to be emotional in it. Something about the narration didn't appeal to me as much as I was anticipating it to, which can partly be due to its essence being lost in the translation, and partly because of my own very heavy and strongly engrossing reads in the past months which had set the bar high.
All in all, a nice, light read. Would recommend it to anyone looking for something light to read. Though won't pick it back up any sooner.