Who Would Like This Book:
This book is a cozy, emotional journey set in a tiny Tokyo café where customers can travel in time - if only for the length of a hot cup of coffee. Perfect for fans of magical realism, heartfelt short stories, or anyone intrigued by the question, 'What would I do with a chance to revisit the past?' Readers who appreciate intimate character studies, bittersweet themes, and gentle lessons on life, love, and regret will find a lot to savor here. Plus, its easy prose and short chapters make it a friendly pick for those easing back into reading.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Not everyone is charmed by this café visit. Some found the writing (or its translation) to be overly simple, repetitive, or lacking the nuance they hoped for from Japanese literature. Others were turned off by traditional gender roles and recurring themes where women are often portrayed as self-sacrificing for the sake of others. Readers craving plot twists, fast pacing, or deep dives into time travel mechanics may also leave with lukewarm feelings instead of a hot cuppa.
About:
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a uniquely captivating novel set in a small, cozy café in Tokyo, where patrons have the extraordinary chance to travel back in time. However, this time travel comes with strict rules: customers can only sit in a specific seat, cannot change the present, and must return before their coffee gets cold. The story is structured into four interconnected chapters, each focusing on different characters grappling with various forms of loss and regret, using the café's magic to seek closure and connection with their pasts.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of grief, loss, and emotional distress, which may be triggering for some readers.
From The Publisher:
*OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD*
*NOW AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*
If you could go back, who would you want to meet?In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee-the chance to travel back in time.
Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn't so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most important, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold.
Heartwarming, wistful, mysterious and delightfully quirky, Toshikazu Kawaguchi's internationally bestselling novel explores the age-old question: What would you change if you could travel back in time?
Ratings (263)
Incredible (24) | |
Loved It (91) | |
Liked It (71) | |
It Was OK (45) | |
Did Not Like (26) | |
Hated It (6) |
Reader Stats (554):
Read It (266) | |
Currently Reading (9) | |
Want To Read (220) | |
Did Not Finish (18) | |
Not Interested (41) |
19 comment(s)
To repetitive
This was a sweet book with a sweet message. It’s 4 different stories that relate to each other but each chapter is a new story with characters we’ve seen in the previous chapters already.
The concept is pretty cool and the reasoning behind why someone would want to sit in the chair is heartwarming while simultaneously being heartbreaking. I enjoyed this story and even shed a few tears.
Such a good read read it over the weekend so heartwarming.feels like a hug typa read and will continue on the series❤️
Enjoyed this book but it’s much sadder than I anticipated. Don’t think I’ll be reading the other installments of this series. Well written and love the concept but I prefer a bit more optimistic reads these days.
Loved the small café setting and getting to know the characters. Very interesting stories of people’s lives and it makes you reflect on your own personal relationships. This is one of my cozy book recommendations for rainy days with a coffee cup!
Been too long to write a proper review. Deserves a reread. Loved it.
Would you travel back (or forward) in time if you could? What if the rules for doing so were somewhat restrictive? What if you could not leave your chair, and you had to return "before the coffee gets cold"? That's the baic premise of this short novel. But it's appeal is much larger, it is a fine piece of relationship fiction, delving into a young dating couple, an older couple dealing with illness, and the owners of a small Tokyo coffee shop where the possibility of time travel exists. Some language feels a little stilted in translation, but in all this was a delightful read.
5 stars. “before the coffee gets cold” is a breathtaking collection of stories about love, loss, relationships, and the most powerful emotion of all: regret. this novel took a piece of my heart, and will continue to stick with me long after reading it. thank you jack edwards for recommending this one. your taste is immaculate!!!!
An anthology of heartfelt stories that happen in a quaint little time travelling coffee shop in Japan. Each story will twist your heart and make you want to time travel before the coffee gets cold.
This book was so sad! every since story was unique and heartbreaking, especially the last one! Overall, I loved this book. Sometimes it was a little boring and slow, which is why my review has 4 instead of 5 stars.
What can you read after
Before the Coffee Gets Cold?
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