The latest title in the very popular series Before the Coffee Gets Cold is BEFORE WE FORGET KINDNESS by Japanese author Toshikazu Kawaguchi. The series is popular across different readers for its young-ish vibe and cosiness, adding to the growing popularity of Japanese, and Korean fiction which has a touch of magic realism and feet firmly in the fantasy genre.
I have not read the previous four books, though I have a copy of them with me, I wanted to pick up the latest, having heard of the basic premise, I wanted to go in blind and see if it gives the same vibes as everyone's been talking about.
It does have a cosy cafe backdrop, quirky staff, and customers of varied ages and nature.
We meet 4-5 customers, who have previously visited the cafe before they decide to time travel during their present visit. This is one of the rules every customer, who wishes to revisit a moment in their past, has to follow strictly.
I will not go into more spoilers than the basics so let me tell you how I felt reading about the customers we meet in this coffee shop.
The premise is nice. It feels even magical and unbelievable when one first comes across it. The disbelief, though hesitantly, soon changes into hope and even desperation in some cases, on behalf of the customers.
Every customer who wants to revisit the past, meet that one person with whom they wish to talk a last time and right some wrong, or have a conversation they're desperate to get out of their hearts, has to follow a set number of rules. The cafe staff enlightens them regarding the same and naturally, the rules are repeated with every customer. This is where the narrative gets repetitive, which is kind of unavoidable but still a tad boring as a reader, especially for those who've read the previous 4 books.
Now for the core of the book, it is kindness or rather the missed chances of being kind in the past and how these customers wish to go back and be or receive the kindness that was amiss in the past. It's their one chance to unburden their hearts and move on with their present lives.
This is such a unique gift one can get in life, also equally for some it can be of immense pressure. This tug of war is where the reader gets to introspect and dig deeper within their hearts for the kindness to self or others. I found this part of the story heartwarming.
So even if the customers we meet are all time traveling, going through the same process at the cafe, it is their reasons to do so, that are different and what we should take away from the story. It is their backstories and how they reach that point, that is emotional and demands a few teary moments too.
Overall, a string of heartwarming, introspective short stories bound together with the magic of time travel set in a quirky, warm, Tokyo cafe basement is what BEFORE WE FORGET KINDNESS is all about. It is a quick short read so do give it a chance this cosy season.
In the fifth book in the sensational Before the Coffee Gets Cold series translated from Japanese, the mysterious café where customers arrive hoping to travel back in time welcomes four new guests:
- The father who could not allow his daughter to get married - A woman who couldn't give Valentine's Day chocolates to her loved one - A boy who wants to show his smile to his divorced parents - A wife holding a child with no name . . .
They must follow the café's strict rules, however, and come back to the present before their coffee goes cold. Another moving and heartwarming tale from Toshikazu Kawaguchi, in Before we forget kindness our new visitors wish to go back into their past to move on their present, finding closure and comfort so they can embark on a beautiful future.
Catch up on the rest of the series with Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Tales from the Cafe, Before Your Memory Fades and Before We Say Goodbye.
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