We are back to the Funiculi Funicula cafè, where there's a special seat that allows customers to go back in time...or travel to the future. But there's a set of strict rules, so it's not that many people who decide they can abide by all those rules and actually go back in time.
The stories of 4 of those people are the protagonists of this book:
Gōtaro Chiba has been raising Haruka like his own daughter after she lost both her parents in a car accident when she was just 1 year old. Haruka's father, Suichi Kamiya, has been a good friend of Gōtaro and helped him when he most needed it.
Now Haruka is about to get married and is bound to find out the truth about her parents, and Gōtaro is worried she might not love him anymore once she does.
He wants to go back to the past and meet with Suichi and ask him what to do.
Yukio Kijima also wants to go back to the past and meet his mom, the only person who event supported his dream of moving to Kyoto to become a pottery master. But things took a wrong turn, and Yukio has always been afraid of returning home and admitting he failed.
Katsuki Kurata comes to the cafè because he actually wants to travel to the future to see his girlfriend, whom he intends to propose to.
Lastly, Kiyoshi Manda always regretted never gifting something nice to his wife and telling her how he really felt about his job as a detective for the criminal division.
👍👎My Thoughts
I've actually found out only recently that "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" is supposed to be a trilogy, so since I liked the first book I decided to get my hand on the second one as well.
Likewise the previous book, the stories are touching and, while I personally found the first is the best out of the 4, all of them have a positive and heartwarming ending message.
The original Japanese title can be translated as "before that lie is revealed" and that's the thing that binds the stories together: all the protagonists have indeed lied to the people they loved, each in their own way, and since they know what happened after, they want to go back and act differently, even if that won't change things.
Having read the first book, I was a bit annoyed by the rules being listed in every chapter but since this book can be read as a standalone without any issue, I understand the need to explain them...even if maybe not as many times as the author eventually did.
It was a nice and sweet read, nothing too complex and I'd recommend it if you've just finished a very long and eventful book and are seeking something simple yet entertaining to read next.
My vote: 7/10
Ph: goodreads.com & ytanium.com
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