A review by kamrynharned
Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Happiness.  You deserve it, and it’s often a choice.  It can change your entire perspective on life, and it gives life meaning.  It’s proof of a life filled with love, and it’s a beautiful way to honor the legacy of one who has passed.  It can feel scary or like betrayal to be happy after loss, but there is nothing that honors the dead more than the happiness of the ones they left behind.  This book was a DELIGHT.  Easy to read, easy to fall in love with the characters.  There was a new cast of cafe visitors, but the story of the cafe workers continues from the last book.  Even some of the cafe regulars from the last book reappear in this one!  You get some closure and also get to know the characters more.  I read a review that the second book just isn’t worth reading once you’ve read the first, but I couldn’t disagree more. If anything, I enjoyed it more.  I also learned that the author of these books was originally a playwright, and that is so evident in the way he writes and sets up his scenes.