Review: Before The Coffee Gets Cold

Book information

Title: Before The Coffee Gets Cold

Author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Where to buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble & Bookshop.org

Finally I read it too! 

Let's start of with the things I liked;

Firstly, it was touching. Didn't cry but I understood it and could sympathise.

Secondly, we get more than just one story and out of different perspectives. My favourite was the 2nd story. As I couldn't imagine for my love to forget me due to alzheimer. It's heart-wrenching!

Thirdly, the rules for the café and how it works was so interesting to know of and gave the story a bit more action. The story and rules are also so unique and creative. Don't think I will find it in another book.

Fourthly, the reactions of the characters were valid and reasonable. There wasn't a moment where something unusual happened and a customer acted completely normal even though they never saw/experienced it before. Also, when a character was naive or in general made a stupid decision there was always another character saying something against it, showing us that the writing wasn't poor, but done on purpose. 

Now we go over the things I didn't like;

Some words were a bit odd and out of place like 'crocodile tears'. I'm aware what that is but instead of just using a general term it would have been cooler if one would have described it rather than just telling.

That also leads us to the 2nd thing I didn't like. The writing style was a bit plain and more told than shown (excluding the time travel scenes). 

Spoiler section for the 1st story, proceed at your own risk 

(this section goes till the end of the review)

The 1. story and it's characters (especially Fumiko) were a red flag. The romance was a red flag. The idea of letting a character be overpowered by letting them speak 10+ languages is unrealistic. And Fumiko being in her own little bubble by thinking stuff like; ‘She had started to think getting married might be OK if it was to Goro.’ Yeah 'cause getting married to someone who chooses his dream over you and leaves you completely instead of making the compromise with meeting in 3 years is a better man than any other. Don't get me wrong, choosing your dream is valid for me, do that. But don't just ditch your partner and let them make the compromise. You are the one who leaves so you have the responsibility to find a way to still be together instead of immediately giving up. And before someone says; ‘But he has low self-esteem and thought he didn't deserve her.’, would anyone no matter if low self-esteem or not, leave a person knowing they will be more hurt by it than feeling good? Also, communication is important, he could have said that to her to let her know, and not just leave immediately without talking things out. 

And Fumiko's behaviour was a red flag too. Getting impatient by the woman in the dress, so she just gets violent to her and wonders why the woman gets violent back. 

Lastly this; 'Tears are a woman’s weapon. That was Hirai’s philosophy.' 

That's pure manipulation. I know it works (not always, but often), but that doesn't mean to use it to manipulate someone to do what you want. 

Please only cry when you really feel like it and not to get your way forcefully.

How it works: Only everything that is lower than 9 gets reduced from the final rating. Depending on how strong it inflicted the overall enjoyment of reading it effects differently. 

[ Story 8 / 10 ]

[ Characters 7 / 10 ]

[ Triggering 0 / 10 ]

[ Topic/Genre 10 / 10 ]

[ Writing style 7 / 10 ]

[ Grammatic and spelling 10 / 10 ]

[ Ending 10 / 10 ]

Final Rating

3/5