Before We Forget Kindness Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series 5 by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
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Web ID: 20312205sci fi and fantasy
Before we forget kindness A Novel By: Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book 5 of Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series Publish Date: November 4, 2024 Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing/Hanover Square Press General Fiction (Adult)/Sci Fi and Fantasy #BeforeWeForgetKindness#NetGalley 200 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader I would like to thank both NetGalley and Harlequin for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own. Book Review: I enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars. I am surprised that the author can keep coming up with unique ideas for the series. This one was a little harder hitting than the other four in the series. As usual there are four different stories. In the first story it is about a little boy who wants to go back to the time that his parents tell him they are separating. This is the first time that a child has wanted to go back. The second story is about a woman who has just delivered a child, and she wants to go back so her husband can the baby. The third story is about a father who wants to go back to amends with his daughter it is also about the daughter who goes back. The last story is about a friend who wants to go back to make amends with her best friend. I am being really short on what happens in each part for a reason. I want you to read the book and feel the feelings that I felt when I read it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Cozy comfy read
There is something so comforting the way this book is written. The story premise is original. I honestly haven't read anything like it. It's not something I would usually pick up. But I wasn't disappointed. I would recommend this to a few of my friends who would definitely enjoy this book. I have a cousin who is a fan and has read the previous books and I sure he'd be happy to read it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Before We Forget Kindness
Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is another beautiful, introspective addition to the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series—a collection of interconnected time-travel stories that are more about healing and forgiveness than rewriting fate. By now, the rules of the mysterious café are familiar: you can visit the past, but nothing you do will change the future. The only thing that changes is you. And once again, Kawaguchi masterfully uses this premise to tell stories that are cozy, poignant, and quietly devastating. The four new visitors to the café each bring a unique emotional weight to their journeys. The father who refuses to accept his daughter’s choice to marry, the woman who carries unspoken feelings in the form of uneaten Valentine’s Day chocolates, the boy caught in the chasm between divorced parents, and the mother with a nameless child in her arms—each story gently peels back the layers of their sorrow and regret, showing us what happens when we’re brave enough to confront the past instead of burying it. Kawaguchi has a gift for making ordinary moments feel profound. A simple conversation over coffee becomes a life-altering revelation. A word left unsaid can echo for years, haunting someone’s future. His writing is restrained, almost deceptively simple, but it carries immense emotional power. The dialogue feels authentic, especially in the quiet pauses where his characters hesitate, caught between grief and hope. You can feel the weight of everything they’ve left unsaid pressing down on them—and the quiet relief when they finally speak. What makes this fifth installment particularly memorable is its exploration of kindness—not the grand, performative kind, but the small acts of grace that ripple outward. Kawaguchi seems to be reminding us that kindness, whether to ourselves or to others, is something fragile and easily forgotten. His characters’ journeys aren’t about fixing the past but about finding the courage to offer themselves forgiveness and understanding. It’s bittersweet but never bleak—there’s always a flicker of light, even in the saddest stories. The only critique I’d offer is that, as the fifth entry in the series, the formula is starting to feel a little familiar. The rules of the café, the ritual of pouring the coffee, and the recurring theme of closure can feel a bit repetitive if you’ve read the previous books back-to-back. However, that same familiarity can also be comforting, like revisiting an old friend who you know will always have a warm cup waiting for you. At 4 stars, Before We Forget Kindness continues the series' legacy of gentle, cathartic storytelling. It’s a quiet reminder of how precious our connections to others are and how important it is to be kind to ourselves and those we love. If you’re already a fan of Kawaguchi’s time-travel café, this book will feel like coming home. And if you’re new to the series, you’ll find yourself enchanted by its blend of magical realism and emotional truth. Either way, it’s a story that will linger with you long after the coffee cools.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
heart warming
Before We Forget Kindness written by Toshikazu Kawaguchi tells stories about people who have come to a mysterious cafe to travel back in time. I have not read any books by this author but will definitely look for the other four in this series. This book can be read as a standalone. Each of the characters are introduced and developed within the corresponding stories. There are four stories within this book, four people who want to time travel. Each for their own reasons. Each story is heartwarming and heartbreaking in many ways. This review does not do justice to this book. It is one of my favorite reads of 2024. One of the very few five-star reads this year. - The father who could not allow his daughter to get married - A woman who couldn't give Valentine's Day chocolates to her loved one - A boy who wants to show his smile to his divorced parents - A wife holding a child with no name
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Kindness is Underrated
My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Hanover Square Press. I'm voluntarily leaving a review. Genre: Asian Literature, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Cozy Fantasy, Japanese Literature Language: A couple of words were said but nothing overly vulgar Spice Level: Kissing Representation: This seems obvious, but the characters are Japanese. There is also one gay character Format: One thread pulls the story together, but it's really a series of vignettes or short stories. You do not need to read the previous books to understand this one. BEFORE WE FORGET KINDNESS is perfect reading for warm and cozy feelings, and the right length for a commute read / listen. Why go back to the past if it won't change the future? That was my biggest question. Kawaguichi explores regret and how changing what we say maybe doesn't change the future, but it changes our perceptions and feeling of closure. I thought each of the characters' goals were interesting. There's one dealing with a child that made me teary too. The sense of belonging and all coming to the right ending is wonderful. This is something I've found in Japanese literature—a sense of space and time to ruminate and become easy with who you are. This is a thoughtful book and delightful. Happy reading!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Another fabulous book in the series!
This is the 5th book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. I was so happy to discover there was another book to read. Cafe Funiculi Funicula is back providing the backdrop for people to travel back or forward in time to face unresolved issues from their past. There are four different stories in this installment, and they will make you smile, cry, rejoice, celebrate, mourn and understand, at least partially, life’s challenges. There are lessons learned, but not the lessons people expect to learn. Time is precious, and the cafe and its magical abilities allow the characters to gain a better understanding of their life situations. Things aren’t always as they perceive them to be.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
series
Four heartwarming stories of people who travel to a past time to see people they have unresolved issues with. While it will not change what happened, it gives them closure and the ability to move on with their lives. #Before We Forget Kindness #HarlequinTradePublishing #HanoverSquarePress
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
The world is better for Kawaguchi’s stories
Before We Forget Kindness is the fifth installment in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold book series. This series was written in Japanese and translated into English so some things don’t always translate. I came upon this series by accident and immediately fell in love with the wisdom gained by each beautifully told story. Whether you identify with the main character or you glean something else from the tale, each story is unique. This book was no different. Our first story, The Son, we meet a young boy trying to put on a brave face amidst his parents divorce. He wants to go back and let them know he was happy if they were happy. Next, we have a woman who wants to go back in time so her husband can name their baby, because in the present he is no longer alive to do so. Or the father and daughter who just couldn’t seem to connect until it was too late and lastly, a story of hurt feelings and a broken friendship that one friend would live to regret. Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s stories tug at the heartstrings but also leave you a little bit wiser, thankful and more thoughtful.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com