Tales from the Cafe

It has been a few months since I read the previous book in the series, so I was glad when the author made any needed recaps for events that have a follow up in this one. The theatrical feeling of the writing keeps being present and one of the best features of the series.

The main idea of the short stories in this book is death related regret. Regret of not having done or said something before or after someone is no longer in our life. It hit me particularly hard because recently I experienced some of this.

I left it having a bit more hope.

“It’s a part of life, and carrying out acts of mourning allows us not to forget.”

"We can never truly see into the hearts of others.

When people get lost in their worries, they can

be blind to the feelings of those more important

to them."

Beautiful, introspective, and just as wonderful as the first book, Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

I get that it was meant to be sweet and thoughtful, but it just didn't work for me. It felt stiff and heavyhanded; the characters flat and unrelatable, shoehorned to fit into the narrative. All of them are “troubled” in some way, and the author made sure to reiterate their one woe (“felt guilty because XYZ”) in case we missed it the first or second time. The time-travel rules are arbitrary to the point of being annoying, and often interfered with the flow.

This book is beautifully written with an equally beautiful message. Kawaguchi's characters feel so real and relatable. Their personal growth feels organic and true, not having forced a happily-ever-after upon them. The resolutions seem simple when reading them, but there is a lot that happens in one's soul to get there. Kawaguchi's characters display this brilliantly, showing a respect for the person and their personal thoughts while communicating the personal journey to the reader. I love this book as much as the first. 

Revisitamos la misma cafetería algunos años después del primer libro y nos encontramos algunos personajes que ya conocíamos y otros nuevos.
Aunque pasen los años, la cafetería se mantiene igual, tanto de aspecto como de ambiente.
Sigue la misma estructura que el libro anterior. Relata 4 historias de 4 personas diferentes que visitan la cafetería para tener una última oportunidad de ver a su ser querido cada una por motivos distintos.
Además, una de esas 4 personas no viaja al pasado sino al futuro, algo que aún no vimos en el primer libro.
También conocemos más sobre la vida de Kazu, una de los protagonistas de la historia que llevan la cafetería.
Mi historia favorita ha sido la tercera, la del hombre que viaja al futuro para ver a su pareja.
Aunque se puede leer sin haber leído el anterior, recomiendo que se empiece desde el primero.

4.5

I enjoyed this book even more than the first one. Getting to know the characters and their stories and what they get from travelling back in time or to the future was just lovely and such a comfort and a little sad.

Between 2.5 and 3

Such a lovely surprise; involving, light and yet deep.

As sweet and emotional as the first book, though some repetition for the sake of being able to be read as a stand-alone piece. It was fun to hear updates from characters in the first book. Overall I loved it as much as the first one.

Another tear-jerker... One that took about an hour to get through but will leave an imprint in your heart.

4.5 stars. The Chinese name of this book is 在谎言拆穿之前 or “Before the Lie Gets Exposed” (which I believed is a direct translation of the Japanese name). I think this name gives a better indication of the type of stories in this book. The first book was more about the people who time-travelled, but this book was also about the owners of the cafe and more about the ghost. I cried less in this book, but I enjoyed the unfolding of the stories behind the regular characters. As per the previous book, this was a healing read, and nudges readers towards liberation from grief, regrets and guilt through the stories.

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My Rating System:
5⭐️: Excellent book AND influenced a change in my views
4.5⭐️: Excellent read ⬅️⬅️⬅️
4⭐️: Great read, will recommend
3.5⭐️: Enjoyable read but missing something that will make it great
3⭐️: An okay read that I didn't regret spending time on it
2⭐️: Didn't enjoy
1⭐️: Didn't enjoy and had serious issues. Will suggest to avoid.

I loved reading every word. It made me happy, sad and nearly cried. Definitely one of my favourites.

The second book in the “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” series, which centres around a Japanese cafe with the unique power to let its visitors time travel, but only within the bounds of the cafe, and before their cup of coffee gets cold. The original title for this book is “before the secret gets out”, and so the stories of the time travellers are themed around loss, whether it's travelling forward in time to confirm your own death, or travelling backwards to meet a deceased friend or lover.

As the title would suggest, in some of the stories they end up accidentally revealing to the person that they are going to die. It's written from the POV of the time traveller, who has their own struggles, but gosh. Letting someone know they are going to die soon is such a horrible thing to place on someone, right? And I'm surprised this plot point is just skipped over in the stories. Nonetheless, there are some bittersweet moments in the stories as the travellers learn how to move on after a loved one's death.

I read this one in Japanese, so for language learners I would say it’s quite good. Since the entire story takes place within the cafe, and the story is mostly dialog, it helps to keep things simple (complex plots are hard enough to keep up with, let alone in another language).