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

1.0

"When you return to the past, you must drink the entire cup before the coffee goes cold."

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What would you do if you would be able to go back to the past? In a little Tokyo cafe, you can do just that. However, you must follow simple rules to be able to journey back in time. Before the Coffee Gets Cold tells four different stories of people who went to this cafe and traveled back and meet people.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Rating: ★

I was so excited to read this book. I have been seeing this around our local book community and was dying to read this, thinking that I would be experiencing the same kind of magic that they found in here. Everyone had been gushing about this! But you know when people say that books that are popular are only overhyped? Well...

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The things that I like

☽ The idea of this book. Who does not want to read a book that made its characters travel to the past to deal with an issue that was supposed to break our hearts?



WE ALL LOVE THAT IDEA because we want the pain and the joy of it too.

This is the first page of the book.

If you could go back, who would you want to meet?

I WAS SOLD.

Little did I know that was where it would stop.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The things that I DID NOT like

☾ Repetitive. I can't count how many times the rules had been explained to the people. I mean sure, it has to be said, but can't we just get over it in a single paragraph? Why do we always have to go through it like it was our first circus? It's not!

☾ Short stories that felt long. There were times that I want to strangle this book and tell it, "GIVE ME THE STORY!" because I don't think I got enough of it. I didn't feel a lot of emotions for the characters as well. They felt all alien to me for some reason. Some of the stories felt incomplete and they were forgettable.

☾ Beats the message. This book was supposed to be thought-provoking. It was supposed to make people think about their past regrets and reminisce. Feel pain or happiness from a certain period time of their lives. This book was unrelatable. I did not get to connect with any of the characters at all! Which was a shame because I was ready to cry.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

In sum:

I think this book is thoughtful, but the execution was poor. Maybe it's not really just for me and other readers would enjoy this better.

I would recommend this to people who enjoy the idea of taking a trip to the past and those who like short stories and magical realism.