Before the Coffee gets Cold: Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Before the Coffee gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Published in: 2020
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★★]

This ARC was provided by Pan Macmillan (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

What would it take to make you want to time travel?

Synopsis from Goodreads: In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time…

From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold comes a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula’s time-travelling offer.

Among some faces that will be familiar to readers of Kawaguchi’s previous novel, we will be introduced to:

The man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years ago

The son who was unable to attend his own mother’s funeral

The man who travelled to see the girl who he could not marry

The old detective who never gave his wife that gift…

This beautiful, simple tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in order to move on with their lives. Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?

My Thoughts: Once again keep the tissues handy. This book remains true to the message of the first book and that is while you cannot change the present by time travel you can change your perspective and how you deal with the present. The rules of time travel also remain the same and while at first they may seem random each rule actually makes sense to overcome the paradox of time travel.

I loved the stories of the customers but the real treat in this book was the introduction of Miki who breathes life and at times hilarity in what could otherwise be a completely heart breaking book. I also loved learning more about the café and the owners.

I really hope there are more books to come in the series as I am invested in the regular characters and I would love to see what Kawaguchi comes up with next for those who wish to travel in time.

And one final thing I love these covers the simple elegance that conveys so much about the book.

Who would like this? I would recommend this to anyone who read and enjoyed the first book and anyone who wants to explore the human, emotional side of time travel rather than the go back in time to change the world type story.

We want to hear from you! Have you read this book? What did you think?