Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi – cozy and wonderful time travel fiction

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is cozy and touching time travel fiction with simple and wonderful magical realism with fantastic concept.

Synopsis

What would you change if you could go back in time?

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.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer’s, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?

Review

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a cozy and emotive time travel fiction set in a café in Japan. The story revolves around the café’s owner, staff, and regular visitors, blending a matter-of-fact writing style with a detached yet engaging tone. The book is divided into four interconnected stories—1) Lovers, 2) Husband and Wife, 3) Sisters, and 4) Mother and Daughter—that unfold in chronological order.

The central concept of the café is its time-travel legend, offering visitors a chance to revisit their past, though with frustrating rules: 1) No matter what happens in the past, it won’t change the present. 2) The person you want to visit must have visited the café before. 3) Only one seat allows time travel, and it’s usually occupied by a ghost. 4) You cannot leave the seat once you’ve traveled back. 5) The journey starts when coffee is poured, and you must drink it before it gets cold, or you risk becoming the ghost yourself.

While I’ve never enjoyed time-travel books before due to their usual inconsistencies, these rules made sense and added a fascinating structure to the story. The café’s history is woven throughout the book—its origins, location in a basement with a magical, cozy and cool interior despite it being in the basement with no window or air conditioner, and the air of mystery around it.

The characters, particularly the café’s staff and patrons, are a key part of the charm. Kazu, the introverted waitress and cousin of the owner, is responsible for serving those who wish to time travel. Her detached yet empathetic personality stood out, as she never interferes with her customers’ choices but clearly cares for them.

Nagare, the café’s owner, and his wife Kei, feature more in the final story, which, while not my favorite, was still enjoyable. Many reviewers didn’t like that last story but I didn’t mind it. It wasn’t my favorite because of the way characters reacted after sitting on the seat but I didn’t mind Kei’s decision.

I didn’t exactly liked Fumiko in first story, who wanted to visit past to meet her lover who left her for job in America and realized too late that she loved and wanted to marry him. She didn’t came out likeable character with her attitude but I liked her in the last story.

Husband and Wife was my favorite, following Fusagi, who wishes to give a letter to his wife, Kohtake, but has forgotten she’s his wife due to Alzheimer’s. Kohtake’s visit to the past, learning about his wish, creates a touching moment of reconnection that moved me deeply.

Hirai, another memorable character, owns a pub near the café and has a complex relationship with her family, having been disowned for refusing to run their family inn. Her story, filled with regret over lost time with her sister, was incredibly emotional, and I found myself crying by the end. I enjoyed knowing more about Sedai, a popular toursist destination where her home is and Tanbata festival in this story.

The four stories each have their own emotional depth. Even though each story have sadness and melancholy air, they all ended on positive note giving hope to the person visiting the past, how it didn’t change their situation but it changed the person by giving strength and hope to move on in life with different perspective and be happy. This balance of melancholy and hope is a highlight of the book.

My rating is somewhere between 3.5 and 4 as I agree with some reviewers about two things – Conversation wasn’t really great and as the stories takes place at one setting and revolves around the time travel there are repetition. I didn’t entirely connect with the characters, but their stories still touched me, turning what could have been a flaw into a strength for me.

Overall, Before the Coffee Gets Cold is cozy and touching time travel fiction with simple and wonderful magical realism with fantastic concept. It’s the first time-travel story I’ve truly enjoyed, and I’m eager to read the next books in the series.

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

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