Before the Coffee Gets Cold

An enjoyable read. If you like this premise—people having one last chance to talk to someone—then I'd say go for it. However, perhaps it's not something everyone would enjoy. It's not slow, we move quite quickly through each character's story, but if you're looking for something “exciting”, then perhaps you won't find it here.

However, the characters are well-developed and each is unique in their experience and the “loss” they experience. Importantly, I didn't find any of the character POVs worse than any other. For this kind of book, this is essential I think and Kawaguchi nailed the balance.

Essentially, I'd pitch this book as an exploration of one central theme: saying goodbye. In some form, each chapter's POV character must say goodbye to someone they love. As we progress through the chapter they learn to accept and move-on in their lives.

No matter who we are, and no matter how we will say goodbye to the people we love—whether through death, illness or life circumstances—everyone will go through this experience over and over in our lives. And the question is: how do we overcome this loss?

I think Kawaguchi's answer to this is simple: it is good to be sad in saying goodbye, because it meant we had something to say goodbye to. If we can appreciate this, then we realise it's better this way because the alternative is never having had someone worth saying goodbye to. A reality that is perhaps even sadder than saying goodbye.

In my opinion, Before the Coffee Gets Cold provides a convincing persuasion of this idea. If this theme is something that interests you, then this book is a subtle and satisfying exploration of it. 

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4/5 for writing, 4.5/5 for story and 3/5 for impact.