Before the coffee gets cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi | Book Review

Before the coffee gets cold is a translated work, originally written in Japanese and based on a play about a cafe that allows people to travel in time.

Before the coffee gets cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Themes: Fiction, Cultural, Fantasy, Contemporary, Magical Realism

Reading Format: Paperback

3 STARS // 6.2 CAWPILE

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I picked Before the coffee gets cold up because the cover and title intrigued me when I saw it was about time travel, I knew I had to buy it. The story centres around a coffee shop that can send you back in time, but there are quite a lot of rules. Mainly, you can’t affect the present, it just isn’t possible. Before the coffee gets cold was originally adapted from a play and follows four narratives of four different characters who wish to travel in time for one reason or another.

As the plot progresses, we see more and more from each character as new ones are introduced. I can see why this worked so well as a play, especially as it is all set inside this time travelling, magical cafe. The setting was quaint and atmospheric and was very simple to imagine, being quite small and modest. the writing was beautifully done, painting a story cleverly around each character.

I think I would have enjoyed this more had there been a variation in the storyline, it became quite routine and a bit boring. But this is a novel of beauty more than anything and this, it achieved.