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A review by kaci_
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
3.0
Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Saw this one floating around bookstagram and was drawn in by its unique premise: a time-traveling coffee shop! Yes please.
But it’s a “time-machine” with a lot of rules. Only one chair in the cafe transports the person back in time. They can’t leave the cafe, they can’t even get up from the chair, and they can only stay until their coffee gets cold. Plus, nothing they do can change their present. You really have to suspend some belief here. The most difficult thing about time-travel tales for me is their inconsistencies or nonsense outcomes. This one is kinda like “yeah, we’re just not dealing with that. You can look, but not touch.”
The book is split into four time-travel moments: the lovers, husband and wife, the sisters, and mother and child. The novel shines in how it layers the stories on top of one another, giving you a whole picture of the people occupying the cafe and their relationships. By the end, you realize that it was one big story among everyone. Not just fragmented moments for each person.
I wasn’t blown away by this one, though. The characters are fine. The storylines are fine. It blends the supernatural into reality nicely. But I never found myself hooked, and I’m sad to admit that I don’t think it’ll be a memorable read for me. I almost wish it had been around to read as a kid. I think the novelty would have stuck with my little kid brain.
Saw this one floating around bookstagram and was drawn in by its unique premise: a time-traveling coffee shop! Yes please.
But it’s a “time-machine” with a lot of rules. Only one chair in the cafe transports the person back in time. They can’t leave the cafe, they can’t even get up from the chair, and they can only stay until their coffee gets cold. Plus, nothing they do can change their present. You really have to suspend some belief here. The most difficult thing about time-travel tales for me is their inconsistencies or nonsense outcomes. This one is kinda like “yeah, we’re just not dealing with that. You can look, but not touch.”
The book is split into four time-travel moments: the lovers, husband and wife, the sisters, and mother and child. The novel shines in how it layers the stories on top of one another, giving you a whole picture of the people occupying the cafe and their relationships. By the end, you realize that it was one big story among everyone. Not just fragmented moments for each person.
I wasn’t blown away by this one, though. The characters are fine. The storylines are fine. It blends the supernatural into reality nicely. But I never found myself hooked, and I’m sad to admit that I don’t think it’ll be a memorable read for me. I almost wish it had been around to read as a kid. I think the novelty would have stuck with my little kid brain.