Before the Coffee Gets Cold has a prompt with such potential. The book is genuinely such a touching read — there were points where I had real tears almost brought out by how thoughtful the writing is at times, but it gets so sloppy at other times and the illusion is suddenly brought down in one page.
I want to focus on the writing, because I feel painfully pushed away from the book. It is nothing special — almost bland, and lacking the skill and precision of work by other writers. This isn’t a serious book, but for the praise I almost expected better. Kawaguchi, the author, launches you into the story, but there are a dozen characters introduced in the span of 20 pages with no context, and arcane rules that seem hastily tacked on.
I cannot justify a higher rating. This was a cute book, but not enough to overcome some very apparent flaws. I think some of the meaning and impact was lost within this writing.
3/5
Written 12 July 2023 Adapted from my review on Goodreads.