Normally I would split these up, but I’ve read the first three books in this series and decided to bundle them together!

Before the Coffee Gets Cold series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

• Book 1: Before the Coffee Gets Cold — my rating: 10/10
• Book 2: Tales From the Café — my rating: 7/10
• Book 3: Before Your Memory Fades — my rating: 8.5/10
• Book 4: Before We Say Goodbye — TBR
• Book 5: Before We Forget Kindness — TBR

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

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?

Book 1: Before the Coffee Gets Cold

My sister-in-law recommended the first book to me last year and I absolutely loved it. It is a very emotional book, there were times where it was heartwarming and others where it felt like it sucker punched you in your emotions. I took the opportunity last week to reread it to give it a review for my blog and it was as good as I remembered. Even though I knew the emotional parts, I still ended up crying. The way the cafe and its patrons are described is warm and inviting. Their stories are memorable and quickly felt like I knew them for longer than just a chapter.

The thing I enjoy most is how the time travel works. There are so many rules that upon reading for the first time you wonder why anyone would want to try and go back in time. It almost sounds like a hassle. At the same time the rules make the cafe the center of this fantasy world. There is also a sense that within the smaller experiences by those wishing to travel to the past are just half of the story being told. There’s the larger story of the cafe and those who live and work there.

If you are struggling with grief and loss this book might in someways be triggering. It is a beautifully written book and while I do struggle with topics around grief, reading it was in some ways healing. But if you’re in a vulnerable space I would recommend saving it for another day. It will be here waiting for you.

Overall rating: 10/10

Re-readability rating: 10/10

Audiobook Narration: 8/10

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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…

From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold comes a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula’s time-travelling offer.

Among some faces that will be familiar to readers of Kawaguchi’s previous novel, we will be introduced to:

The man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years ago
The son who was unable to attend his own mother’s funeral
The man who travelled to see the girl who he could not marry
The old detective who never gave his wife that gift…

This beautiful, simple tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in order to move on with their lives. Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?

Book 2: Tales From the Cafe

Another book I read last year, but I reread it this week to refresh myself for the review.

The sequel attempts to live up to the high expectations set by its predecessor. However personally it’s my least favorite so far of the series. While it built on all the same foundations the previous book, there was just not enough the really pulled my heartstrings. I was excited that we learned some new information regarding how the one seat in the cafe can take you to the past. Learning more of the lore, definitely lent a lot to a book that at least for me was a struggle to re-read. While not a significant drop, my own personal rating after reading it for the second time this week dipped below 8.

The cast of characters is still excellent, the cafe a warm inviting place to spend a few hours while reading this book. I will say that without spoiling it, there is one particular story line that threads through this book that did get tears out of me on both of my reads.

If you liked the first book there are some trigger warnings here as well from suicide, depression, grief, and terminal illnesses. And it’s a beautiful book, but if you’re feeling vulnerable I would recommend putting it on hold.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Re-readability Rating: 6/10

Audiobook Narration: 8/10

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The latest novel in the international bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series, following four new customers in a little Tokyo café where customers can travel back in time.

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café that 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.

From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Tales from the Cafe comes another story of four new customers, each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Café Funiculi Funicula’s time-travelling offer. Among some familiar faces from Kawaguchi’s previous novels, readers will also be introduced to a daughter, a comedian, a sister, and a lover, each with something they wish they had said differently.

With his signature heartwarming characters and immersive storytelling, Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?

Book 3: Before Your Memory Fades

I was a little hesitant starting this book just because I wasn’t super impressed by the sequel. However, I was delightfully proven wrong. The book centers around a second café with the same time travel ability. We get some new characters and even a few from the first café – in some cases leading to other questions. Overall this book breathed new life into me when it came to the series as a whole. I am looking forward to reading the next two books now!

While this book also covered some potentially triggering topics similar to its predecessors, I didn’t cry nearly as much until the end. Let’s just say I was not expecting the ending of the book, but it left me an emotional wreck. For that its rating went up and I will definitely read it again!

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Re-readability Rating: 9/10

Audiobook Narration: 8/10