Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to read this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Amazon.

I adore this series beautifully translated.

Unfortunately I think at this point I'm going to bow out of this series. Although initially I loved the comforting, heartfelt vibes of When The Coffee Gets Cold, by book 3 it's all a little bit repetitive. I stand by my thoughts that this would work amazingly well as a play, but as a novel series it's just getting a bit stale now.

Before Your Memory Fades is book 3 in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. In this book we join 4 new customers time travel to resolve personal battles or concerns. As well as meeting new customers, we see some of the main characters grow and change and handle new issues.
In this book our customers are a daughter, a comedian, a sister, and a lover - all of whom want to time travel and share their thoughts and feelings with someone in their past.
I enjoyed the book but it's one of those books that when you feel a connection to a character, that chapter is great but when you don't - it's just fine.

Another book in this series. It is nice to be back with the characters in a different setting though. The stories are so emotional again.

.
. . .
.

This was yet another great addition to the already amazing story. The style in which this book had been written was amazing as per usual with this author. This was just over all a comforting read.

As with the first book in this series this book wasn’t for me. The storyline was repetitive and the translation didn’t read well in some parts for me.

Equal parts heart-warming and heart-wrenching, this series is a great insight into humanity and it's varied lives.

This is the third book in the series, following the second instalment “Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from The Cafe”. I reviewed the first one on my blog earlier this year. Although I haven’t read the second, I don’t think you need to read them in order to enjoy them - some of the references might be missed, but the characters and their relationships are explained in the book anyway, so it all made sense.

This cafe is a different one to the first two, and it’s a nice change in location,. Cafe Donna Donna is set on the hillside of Mount Hakodate and run by familiar faces. The premise is still the same, of course, with a special chair which allows you to go back in time - but only while the coffee is warm, only to the cafe and you cannot change the present.

There are four new tales to tell, interwoven with each other but almost written as standalone stories. I found them quite soothing to read, although sometimes they were quite melancholic, nostalgic for times gone by or grieving for lost loved ones.
As they can be read standalone, and as it’s a short novel so you can read it in one sitting, the details in them are repeated in each one, which can get slightly irritating. Perhaps they’re better read with some time inbetween, to reflect on the message and the characters within.

I did enjoy this one less than the first one, but I still recommend it for those who liked the others. The translation works tonally, and it still feels like it’s quintessentially Japanese, despite being in English. The culture, etiquette and social hierarchy are still clear and present, for example.

For people who like their fiction with some magical realism, hopeful longing and in bite size pieces, the collection would no doubt make a great gift..

This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

Review: Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Rating: 4 stars

“Day melted into night; night passed into day. What seemed like a long streth of time cascaded down in moments. I’m going back in time.

This is the third installation in the Before the Coffee Gets cold series and I absolutely ADORE these books, so when i saw this i was happy to jump back into this series with characters who i know and love. There’s something about these books that connects you to the heartwarming characters in a special way, to the point where I want to be there for them and this series has a special place in my heart. I cant wait for the new one to come out!!

If you have no idea what i’m on about, in a small town in Tokyo sits a cafe which is able to send you to any point in time. The catch? There’s a specific set of rules one has to follow. Over the course of the year people visit this cafe and in these books you follow them on their journeys through time.

Here you follow a daughter, a comedian, a sister and a lover - each have something to say to someone before the coffee gets cold…

This one (compared to the others) was very focussed on grief, but also hope and as always the touching stories made me cry. After reading i always wonder who i would go and see.

“Something i strongly believe is that we mustn’t allow the death of a person to be the cause of unhappiness. The reason for that is simple: if we let everyone who dies be a cause for unhappiness, that would mean people are being born to become unhappy. But the opposite of the fact is true. People are always born for the sake of happiness.”

Have you seen the newest addition to these books is coming out soon?? I am incredibly excited! I can’t recommend these books enough.

I absolutely adore Before The Coffee Gets Cold, so when I saw they were doing a 3rd instalment I had to read it.
This one is based in Café Donna instead of Café Funiculi. I enjoyed this one as much as the 1st, it’s full of heart-warming inspiring stories. Even though they aren’t long novels, they are deep, detailed and engaging. It paints wonderful pictures of life at it lowest, where unhappiness seems overwhelming and capable of sweeping away any joy or hope in the future...yet amid sadness, loss and raw grief a new purpose comes and a strength to face even the darkest tomorrow.
The stories included are:
- A daughter who begrudges her deceased parents for leaving her orphaned.
- A comedian who aches for his beloved and their shared dreams.
- A younger sister whose grief has become all-consuming.
- A young man who realises his love for his childhood friend too late.

All completely different but will all impact the reader differently. If you haven’t read one of these novels I highly recommend you do (make sure you have tissues).
This is a book that doesn’t inflate one’s ego but leaves you wanting to be a better friend, lover or family member.

Before the coffee gets cold is one of my favourite books so thankyou for allowing me to read Before your Memory Fades. I love the emotion in these books and the stories that get told.

‘Before Your Memory Fades’ is the third in the series of what I’m presuming are successful ‘Before the Coffee gets Cold’ books by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

The premise of the books is there’s a certain café (or two, it seems) in Tokyo where one can travel back in time. But of course there are rules to adhere to.

You must wait for the café’s ghost to leave his chair to go to the toilet, which he does once a day. You then sit in his empty seat.

You are then are poured a cup of coffee and when you travel back you only have as much time in the past as the coffee takes to go cold.

If you don’t finish the coffee before then, you become the ghost.

The premise of the books are amazing but I just feel there’s not enough oomph in the short tales themselves (of which there are four here). And the person who wants to go back in time has to be sure the person they want to see has actually visited the café as they’re not allowed to leave the café. Neither can they change the future. So it’s a bit like an anti-Quantum Leap. They can’t “put right what once went wrong”. The first story in this book deals with a woman who wants to confront her dead parents who left her orphaned. You wonder why.

If you’re after a Sci-Fi time-travel tale with twists and shocks then these probably aren’t the books for you.

If you’re after a short, sentimental, emotional read dealing with life, death and everything in between then grab a coffee and settle down for a good read.

The third and latest novel in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series is the best one yet! I was apprehensive about the new café and new characters but there are plenty carried over from the first two books that I wasn’t disoriented. I quite enjoyed the setting and even have another favourite character now—Kazu being my first favourite from the other books in the series.

All the books in the series are magically whimsical and make for a very comforting read. The book is split into smaller stories focusing on different characters, but there is crossover with the emotional themes and the connection to death.

I think it’s important to know ahead of time that this book and series is not fast-paced. These relationship-centered time travel stories are best enjoyed when you’re not in a rush. So the next time you want to curl up on the couch with a good book (and have a good cry), give this heartfelt collection a try.

Before Your Memory Fades is third book in the Before the coffee gets cold series which centres a mysterious café set in the basement of a busy Tokyo neighbourhood that has been serving coffee for over one hundred years. This is a special café which offers visitors the chance to travel back in time, but it is not as straightforward as it seems. Time travel comes with rules, one of which is that they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold.

The story follows four interconnected visitors who all want to experience time travelling;
A daughter who begrudges her deceased parents for leaving her orphaned
A comedian who aches for his beloved and their shared dreams
A younger sister whose grief has become all-consuming
A young man who realizes his love for his childhood friend too late

A bittersweet wonderfully moving story! Similarly to the other two books, it is both tragic and incredibly heart-warming all at once. Each story is unique and written beautifully. I love these books, highly recommend.

i picked this one up straight after finishing tales from the cafe because i just couldn’t wait!
there is a fresh setting for this novel which i actually really liked, as it allowed some fresh stories but also with the comfort of our main characters. again, the stories of those waiting to travel through time were emotional and brought tears to me eye.

these books have such few words, but are packed with sheer emotion.

The two previous offerings from the cafe have been whimsical and poignant delights and this third serving is no exception. Focusing on the theme of 'what would you do if the world was ending tomorrow', we follow 4 people making use of the cafe to travel back in time to have conversations with loved ones. I particularly enjoyed 'the comedian' of the quartet but what I enjoyed most overall was the interactions between the various staff members of the cafe. These served as lovely interludes between the specific stories and gave the narrative a real cohesion that would otherwise have been lacking. Touching and sweet, without being too maudlin or sentimental, I would definitely recommend this for those looking for a bit of hope in life.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A daughter who begrudges her deceased parents for leaving her orphaned

A comedian who aches for his beloved and their shared dreams

A younger sister whose grief has become all-consuming

A young man who realizes his love for his childhood friend too late

Absolutely amazing read! Such a captivating read! Amazing cover art that was super eye catching would definitely recommend to all!

This didn't grab me as much as Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Perhaps because it was quite similar and so I didn't engage as much with the story.