Barnes & NobleBefore The Coffee Gets Cold Before The Coffee Gets Cold Series #1 by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
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Web ID: 155254446/5 ⭐️
this has been one of my favorite July reads. The raw emotion you feel while reading this has been unmatched.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
It was alright
Honestly, I only continued to read this due to how short the book it was itself. I believe it might be a bit over hyped online. Due to the story because a bit flat… Overall, I didn’t really have any emotional attachment to any of the characters and it felt kinda eh… It was an okay short read, nothing really thought provoking nor tear jerking 🥲
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Interestin concept,character-driven, introspective
Four bittersweet tales of love, family, and time travel are woven together to explore regrets and second chances. It’s mostly a character-driven, introspective tale which made the pace feel slow and the writing a bit repetitive. The stories and rules about time travel were interesting, but the last tale especially was a downer. Worth the listen but I likely won’t continue with the series.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Must read!
This book will grasp your attention and keep pulling you throughout the whole book. This novel is a must read, each chapter leaves you with a new life lesson and is very heart warming as well. My favorite novel so far!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Cozy Episodic Grief Narrative
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Kawaguchi Toshikazu is a third person multi-POV episodic Japanese contemporary magical realist novel. In a cafe in Tokyo, there’s a single chair that lets some go back in time for a little bit, but there are some strict rules. If you don’t finish drinking the coffee before it gets cold, you’ll become a ghost. What’s more, whatever happens in the past won’t change the present. The first story is between Fumiko and Goro, a recently separated romantic couple. Goro has gone to the US for three years in order to work towards his dream job of working for a specific video game company while Fumiko is still in Japan and waiting for him. Before Goro left, Fumiko didn’t say the things she wanted to, leading to Fumiko believing that they had broken up. She doesn’t want to let him go and is even thinking of him as someone she wants to spend the rest of her life with, so she decides to go back in time to the last time they spoke in the cafe. The next story really tugged at my heartstrings as it’s between Fusagi and Kohtake, a married couple where Kohtake has started to become more of a nurse for her husband, who has Alzheimer’s. Fusagi doesn’t appear to remember her and their marriage is not what it used to be, but he does keep an envelope on him at all times that Kohtake is convinced is for her. The cafe is owned by Kazu and married couple Fumiko and Goro. Fumiko is pregnant and concerned about her future because her chronic illness makes her pregnancy a risk to her and the child’s life. Negara, despite his misgivings, does not push her to choose her life over their child’s and respects her wants and needs. Kazu, meanwhile, is a bit cold and standoffish in how she talks to the customers of the shop, but she is ultimately quite compassionate and recognizes that people have a right to get answers. Content warning for mentions of death, Alzheimer’s, and pregnancy I would recommend this to fans of cozy fantasy with a bite who want something more akin to magical realism, fans of magical realism who like stories dealing with grief, and those looking for a magical coffee shop that is more episodic
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
must read
finished this book in one sitting, it has you hooked from start to finish. i love love love this book, i plan on getting the rest to finish the series. if you are looking for a quickish read i definitely recommend this book.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Got me back into reading
As an adult, I haven’t tried to read since almost middle school. I just lost interest in reading in general. This summer I wanted to give it a go, as I have been spending too much time online. On a whim I picked this book up in target because I liked the cover, and I discovered a new love for reading, but in new categories and types. This book seems quite simple, four short stories about different characters and their lives, but I found that it was in actuality, not that simple. When you reach in for a meaning, it is not hard to figure out that we all live this life too. And we must live our lives the way we want to, make amends, pay attention to our words and actions, and do it before our own coffee gets cold.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
What if you could go back in time?
I was surprised to learn this book is a collection of four interconnected stories set in a café where time travel is possible but only once. While all the stories are beautiful, the final one about a mother and child stands out. The mother travels back in time to see her child and decide if it was worth the difficult pregnancy. Upon arrival, she finds the child has already visited her but remains anonymous, only wanting a photograph. This leaves the impression of a mother’s death during childbirth, yet the child is surrounded by love from her mother’s friends who run the café and her husband who raises her to be kind and well-adjusted. This is a truly excellent book, beautifully translated. It’s a must-read that prompts reflection on life’s choices. It also sparks curiosity about time travel, considering the limited time to make a difference. While I’m hesitant to read the rest of the series due to the disturbing content of the lost story, I must admit the writing is exceptional and occasionally humorous.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com