This to me was a subtle, magical story with hard hitting, thought provoking messages.
The narrator and the storyline caught me from the start.

A series of short stories set in a cafe in Japan, where people can go back in time to a specific moment in their lives, as long as they follow strict rules, including returning to the present before their cup of coffee gets cold. They can’t change the present but they can learn something about themselves or their loved ones. It took me a while to get into the stories but there was enough of interest to make me want to find out what happened to the characters. The author focuses on thoughts and feelings, and the tiny world of the cafe (people can’t leave the cafe when they go back in time). Thank you to Net Galley and the audio publishers for an advance copy of the audiobook.

This was very gentle, heartbreakingly so, that would leave any reader wondering what they would do if they could go back to a specific moment in their life, and just how much that would/could change their present and future.

I have already read this book and loved it. Listening to it as audio brought so much more to the experience.

What would you do if you could travel in time? Either back or forth? If you could go back, who would you want to meet? What if, even going back in time, nothing would change the present or the future? Would you still choose to do it? Had you left things untold, would you go back in time just to have the chance to say these things? These are some of the questions that reading “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” will leave you with.

In a small back alley in Tokyo, a café stands for more than a hundred years, serving tea, coffee or food to the patrons that choose to visit it. In order to enter the shop, you need to descent a few stairs, so it’s not so clearly visible from the outside. However, a few years ago, the café had become very famous because of a special treat it has. It’s customers have the chance to travel back in time, should they want to. But there are a few rules they need to follow in order to do it. The rules are very strict and most people that hear them decide that it isn’t worth it. Not if they cannot change what happened. Not if they cannot move from where they sit. One of the rules is that they need to get back to present time before the coffee gets cold. This is essential, as if they don’t follow this rule, they will suffer the consequences.

The coffee shop is frequented by people that like being there and also from people that want to go back in time. In all cases, the customers make friends with the owners, they share their secrets and their regrets, but they make the final decision on their own. In this book we read about 4 people using the time travel service in the coffee shop. All for their very own different reasons. But we don’t read their stories as one would do in a short stories book. No. They all melt together, since from the very beginning of the book and as the narrative progresses, the reader gets to meet all the characters in the book, all the time travelers and their life, as well as what led them to take the risk to travel in time. So, when they get to that point, the readers has already understood their motives and expects to see what happens.

The author takes the reader through four different reasons one would like to go back in time. The first is to say things that were left unsaid, to try and understand why a lover left, to close an unfinished conversation only to understand that they were never telling everything to each other. The second was in order to get one more glimpse of a loved one before Alzheimer made them a different person. The third was to see a loved one just one more time. And the fourth was to see someone they would never meet. All four reasons where there because of the decisions the time travelers made in the past. Because of their choices. So, one thing I’m going to keep from this book will be that we have to live with the choices we make. We cannot undo them.

On of the reasons I liked this book so much was the narrator. Arina Li has done a wonderful job bringing the characters to life and transferring the atmosphere in the coffee shop to the audiobook listener. I would like to listen more audiobooks narrated by Arina Li.

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan UK Audio for an advance copy of this book. The views expressed are my personal and honest opinion.

Before The Coffee Gets Cold is a Japanese book translated into English. Set in a small cafe in Tokyo where people can time travel it follows four different people who all have a personal reason to spend a few more minutes with a loved one.
This book is beautifully written with elaborate descriptions which I found are at the detriment of the storyline. I loved the idea of the book, but the pace was far too slow for my taste.

The story was such a wonderful premise - a chance to travel in time when at a small tucked away coffee shop in Tokyo. There are 4 people that want to travel in time, each with a different reason - but they must return before the coffee gets cold! This was beautiful - I love slow Japan-based novels and this was like a warm hug for the soul.

Truly such a beautiful book and such a wonderful experience listening to it as well, I will be completely honest that after listening to it I did re read it myself with no audio and I did adore both experiences!

I truly cannot recommend enough

I hated this. Zero idea on the fuss. I found it tedious and boring. The characters are flat and unexciting and the plot overall very bland. I don’t think the book would of held me more than the audiobook, possibly less. This one was not for me despite really high hopes based on the hype.

What a lovely book.

Really nice read, easy going and uplifting. Well definitely read the others in the series.

I enjoyed this audiobook, its one I've been wanting to read for a while! Some of it was quite emotional and I liked how it went into different people's lives to give you a point of view, I love how it was all tied up at the end! Recommend

Unfortunately, this one didn't deliver what I hoped it would. I've heard so many good things about this book and was certain I was going to love it but ultimately found myself disappointed.

Reading this felt like there was always something missing. To me, it felt like there was an essential part of the sensory experience of this story lost in the writing, making it hard for me to be immersed in the story or care about the characters much. I read that this story was originally a play and that actually makes a lot of sense. Seeing it play out on a stage would make it easier to feel a sense of immersion in the space and tell characters apart, something the novel version failed at for me.
That being said, I greatly enjoyed Arina Ii's narration of the audiobook! She managed to give dimension and life to the world of the story and the characters and I think she was a great choice for this book.

I've been meaning to read this book for ages, and I wish I read it sooner - as my expectations would have been less than they were going into this.

I loved the premise, and the slice of life styling of all the stories The narration was also brilliant, but I didn't connect with a couple of the travellers, so didn't get as much out of this book as others might. It is very much a character driven book, and as we only have a short time with each character we can't fully appreciate each character as we might if we had a bit more time (hee hee!)


This isn't a new favourite, but I'm glad I read it and look forward to reading the next books in the series.

3.5 stars

It was an interesting story. I heard a lot about this book. About its story and it's philosophy. I have to say, I wasn't really expecting that but I don't know what I was expecting.
It was sure philosophical. Maybe a bit too much intricated for me. The moral is good. The writing is very beautiful.
It was a whole experience.

Well, this was a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I did like it, I just thought I was going to love it. I've been wanting to read this for a while and I found it a like anti-climatic.

I really liked the premise of it, but it felt very slice of life. Maybe because the book tells 4 different short stories that happen in the cafe, so there's really no time to develop things further. The narration was great, though. Definitely recommend going the audiobook route for this.

It was okay. Cute in a quiet kind of way. The last story was definitely my favourite.

There is a cafe that allows you to travel into the past. Although nothing in the past can change this allows you to step back and say the things that were left unsaid.

But there are a few rules, one is that you are limited on time and you must drink the coffee before it gets cold. But maybe that's the only amount of time you need.

A fantastic novel exploring the past and the idea that you could go back and have a few minutes with someone was beautiful.

I loved the rules and limitations allowing my thoughts to focus on one person and what I would want to say to them.

But if you had one opportunity to go back and speak to someone, who would it be and what would you say?

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan UK Audio for the advance audiobook.

I had read the book when it first came out I had wondered if there would be an audiobook.
Being able to listen to the book and how the reader brought the stories to life has been great.

I enjoyed the book when I read it and the same listening to the audiobook.
This book delves into what ifs and also not taking your interactions with loved ones for granted. A beautiful story and I’m happy it’s been made into an audiobook,

I found this plot to be so unique and I was able to easily immerse myself into this audiobook. It was so well paced which really allowed for a better listen.

This is a gentle listen about a coffee shop in Tokyo where you can travel in time, but only as long as it takes your coffee to get cold. The story was delightful and was at times very moving . The narrator Arini Li had a lovely soothing voice that was totally suited to this recording. However , I did find myself getting confused with the characters names, although this is probably my fault rather than that of the author and due to cultural differences. Overall I enjoyed this audiobook and will be looking for the others in the series. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the AR see of this audiobook in return for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook. All opinions are 100% my own.

I loved the different stories of Before the coffee gets cold and the writing was beautiful.

This book translated so well into an audiobook. Hearing the different characters words and feelings bought to life added a whole new depth to the stories.

However, I wish that a different narrator had been used for the different characters stories to clearly differentiate between them.