Before the Coffee Gets Cold

A Novel

De: Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Narrado por: Arina Ii

Over One Million Copies Sold

Now an International Best Seller

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 100 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 best-selling novel explores the age-old question: What would you change if you could travel back in time?

©2020 Toshikazu Kawaguchi (P)2020 Harlequin Audio

Wonderful! Beautiful and heart warming story!

I listened to this book while commuting. I love how the premise of the book is sort of bizarre and I got so drawn into the story. The café is a curious place and the characters are an unusual bunch. The story was woven around all these characters so beautifully. The bonds formed between the characters and how their experiences in the café changed them in unexpected ways is truly heart warming.

But I have to ask...

Who is that woman with the novel? I would love to know more than what was written but I guess we’ll never know?

An Interior and Relational Drama

I thought the story well done; very simply told. I did wish for greater depth and liveliness of plot, but what is here is very good. The confinement of the story to the cafe mostly worked, but I found myself chafing a bit at the constraints and hoping that the rules would change or that there would be some clever breaking of the rules. The worst part was the difference between the audio and the published novel. Some of it may have been the correction of errors (or simply errors in the audio), but some of it also clearly related to matters of translation and the differences between American and British English.

EMOTIONALLY SATISFYING!

Enjoyed this book immensely. Gently paced, wonderful, relatable characters and a riveting story in each chapter. I'm going to miss these folks but I will never forget them.

Magical realism in Tokyo

A small basement cafe in Tokyo allows patrons to travel in time — but they can only stay in the other time until the cup of coffee that is poured at the start of their trip is warm. This wistful but charming novel interweaves the stories of several people who make the journey, creating a community and giving this book its warmth.

Interesting premise

I liked the premise of this story and thought it was well executed. The narration was a bit dry, but that could have been the source material. The stories were poignant in the moment, but I had a hard time distinguishing the characters. I do have a fairly vivid image of the cafe in my mind, so that speaks to where the imagery tended to focus.

Good read, and enough to make me consider continuing the series.

Touching Story

Though this wasn’t so much of a page turner, it was really touching and made me reflect on my relationships and how we as humans come to conclusions that are not always true. A gentle reminder to be compassionate and take the time to listen to others, especially those that are important to you.

Heartbreak + Comfort. 10/10

Loved the narration and the moral of the story.

Such a great depiction of pain, loss, and love. Even with its sad tone, I loved listening to the journeys each character went through. Love!

Interesting read

An interesting dive into relationships and I think the idea of regret or also second chances

Interesting concept and good stories

Honestly, the first chapter was very slow and hard for me to get into. I thought about stopping and not finishing it but I’m so glad I did. The concept of this time traveling seat in a cafe is so mysterious, and the stories the author tells about regret and mindset are truly heartwarming.

Will Be Buying the Other Books In the Series

The idea of a small cafe in the back alley of Tokyo that not only serves coffee but a chance to travel to the past is what grabbed my attention to listen to this novel. The bittersweet stories did not disappoint. They were all different in their own ways which made it easier to be engaged while listening to on my commute. I will be listening/reading the other books in the series as well.