Tag: time travel

Book Review: Before We Say Goodbye (#4) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Writing the first post of 2025 through a book review and it was not planned but accidentally. I hope this year will fulfill all your desires. Wishing you a healthy and happy year.

The fourth book in the series Before We Say Goodbye is another great book written by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I read this series continuously and the four stories in this one were the most challenging because it has a story about a dog. In this book, we meet again at the magical Cafe Funiculi Funicula known for its famous legend and extraordinary time-travel offering. The customer gets the chance to go back in time but with every journey, there is a risk and here the customer has to obey certain rules otherwise the punishment is brutal. We will be introduced to four new sets of visitors; the husband with something important left to say; the woman who couldn’t bid her dog farewell; the woman who couldn’t answer a proposal; and the daughter who drove her father away.

The vibe of the book is comforting and familiar, the only thing is that the rules are explained very much which makes it repetitive but becomes less in the later part of the novel. The timeline of this book was also a little different than others and I wished there was more of Kazu and Nagare mentioned but because of the timeline, it couldn’t happen. The stories were heart-wrenching, especially of the dog and its owner, I bawled my eyes out. Honestly, this book and this series are like a comfort you can read in a day or savour chapter by chapter. It is a short book, however it makes you empathetic towards others and see how people are going through so much in this world.

I recommend this book.

Rating: 4/5

Check out the review for the first, second, and third books by clicking here.

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: Tales from the Cafe (#2) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Tales from the Cafe is the second book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series and probably my least favourite. The cafe is back with the four stories where we meet a man who has raised his best friend’s daughter and wants to seek his best friend, the son who did not come home for his mother’s funeral, the lover who travelled to see the girl he couldn’t marry, and the ageing detective who couldn’t save his own wife. The stories in this book are all about the regret left behind and the people want the chance to go back in time. On the side street in Tokyo is a cafe Funiculi Funicula that serves good coffee in a warm surrounding. However, the cafe also offers a unique experience to its customers: the chance to travel back in time. However, there are certain rules that the customers have to stick to, otherwise there is severe punishment.

I felt that this book was a little underwhelming for me when I read the blurb I thought it would connect with me well but did not. The stories are all different but each of them includes the regret and pain of their past that they are still carrying. The book is easy to read and short but it took me time to read. The characters are fantastic, it is moving to see the perspective of life through different characters and how each of them is going through something so painful and regretful.

Another thing in this book that captured me was the backstory of the cafe waitress Kazu, as she is shown emotionless and talks straight to the point. The backstory of Kazu and the cafe ghost was not something I was expecting, but it was heartwrenching. Remorse is unbearable if it includes someone we love, and these stories are the perfect example of it.

I would recommend reading it once.

Rating: 3.5/5

Check out the review for the first book here.

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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Book Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold (#1) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

I always loved books and movies that let me experience time travel because of the mistakes I have made in the past, which I can’t rectify but seeing fictional characters getting the chance makes me imagine myself in their place and I feel happy. Before the Coffee Gets Cold is the first book in the series and when I heard it’s Japanese coffee-themed and time travel I knew I needed to read this book and I’m glad I picked this up. So basically this book talks about a funiculi funicula cafe in a small back alley in Tokyo that has been serving brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But with coffee, they allow their customers a unique experience and what is that? The chance to travel back in time. But there is a catch, a risk certain rules that need to be followed for the person to go back in time. And I am not going to tell you because it’s the main thing and experience that you need to find out by reading the book. The book follows four visitors who want to make things right using the cafe’s time-travelling offer.

Now the book is divided into four parts with each part a new customer comes and time travels and their story is told. Each story is so different from the others, however, the common thing between them is the regret and how they want to go back and make things right. But that’s the thing what happened in the past can’t be corrected, the choices were made and destiny played its part. All four stories felt like a warm hug, the characters were beautiful and how I can relate to them. In this book, the stories focus on the lovers, husband and wife, the sisters, and the mother and child and each of them felt to the heart.

This book shows the memories we have of our loved ones and the life we have with them, we can’t imagine living without them but circumstances can’t be reversed. This cafe allows people to get the chance to relive the moment differently but with rules that must be followed. The waitress in the cafe, Kazu Tokita is such a pure and heartwrenching character and I loved her the most. The setting is beautiful as it doesn’t give an impression that in such an ordinary old cafe something big like going back magic can happen but that is what makes it unique.

I loved the book because it’s pure and very calming to read. The author did an incredible job with his writing to showcase the peaceful vibe of the book. I highly recommend this book.

Rating: 4/5

Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.

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