Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi - ★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
TRANSLATOR: Geoffrey Trousselot
SERIES: Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1
GENRE: Magical Realism, Japanese.
PUBLICATION DATE: December 6, 2015
RATING: 3.25 stars.


This book has a very interesting premise where coffee comes not just in the title but plays an important role in the story. It talks of a unique cafe in Japan, where drinking a special coffee from a particular seat in the cafe allows you to travel in time. The book goes into the time travel aspect without going all technical about it. Whatever comes across as a loophole in typical sci-fi time travel books is explained away with a rule.

The book is a decent read, while not being outstanding. The stories are really appealing but the writing style should have been crisper. The author meanders along the side lanes of the story while you are desperately waiting to get onto the expressway.

The biggest confusion for me was with the names of the characters. There are so many names beginning with the letter 'K'--Kazu, Kei, Kumi, Kohtake,-- that I felt like I had stepped into an Ekta Kapoor show!

This book has a sequel too but I don't feel like picking it up for now. Maybe in future. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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