Free courtesy of Netgalley

If you haven't read the previous books about the little coffee shop in Kabul, firstly why not and then I suggest you read them before you start this one, as you will already have a relationship with this family.

Sunny returns to Kabul, with the sole reason of convincing the family to leave Afghanistan with her as the Americans are pulling out and she is terrified that the Taliban regime will be reinstated. She has no idea how to convince this family to leave their beloved Kabul, where they have built their lives helping others and speaking out against the traditions to keep women in their place.

It all changes on a dime when the Talib actually storms Kabul and starts the sequence of events that are happening to get the whole family and Sunny out.

Based on real events that happened in Afghanistan when the foreign troops left, this book is heartbreaking but gives you an amazing insight to what these everyday normal Afghan people had to put up with to survive and as you already have a relationship with the family, you hope for a happy ending.

I would recommend this book, just to touch a little bit of the fear and chaos these people had to endure and then live unknowing in a country that was strange to them and always being suspected of being terrorists.

An emotional read, but it was interesting to see into people lives in Afghanistan.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

"Farewell to The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul" by Deborah Rodriguez is a poignant continuation of the story set in a bustling café in Kabul. The characters continue to grapple with love, loss, and resilience amid the backdrop of Afghanistan's tumultuous history. Rodriguez's storytelling is vivid and evocative, offering a heartfelt exploration of the power of friendship and hope in the face of adversity. This book is a moving and engaging sequel that immerses readers in the lives of its endearing characters.

Set against the 2021 fall of Kabul and the US troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, this, the third and final instalment of Rodriguez’s Coffee Shop trilogy, is a compelling and brutally honest story of courage, resilience and hope. The characters may not be real, but their experiences represent those of millions whose lives and futures were irrevocably changed by these events.

Having followed the story of American Sunny and her Kabul “family” through two previous books, I found this an especially affecting read.

In 2021, the former coffee shop is no longer a meeting place for soldiers and foreign aid workers but a base from which Yazmina, with the help of her husband, runs two women’s shelters. It’s a dangerous job but one she’s fully committed to. Her sister Layla has become an outspoken women’s rights activist, using her social media profile to spread the word. And then there’s elderly mother-in-law, Halajan. A law into herself, she has found her own way of protesting.

As the Taliban close in on Kabul, spreading dread and panic, the whole family fears for its safety, knowing its activities and beliefs make it a target. It falls to Sunny, with her friend Candace pulling strings in America, to get them all on a flight out of the country.

This was such an incredibly tense read, the mixed emotions of the characters terrifyingly palpable: dismay at the hard-won freedoms they stand to lose if they stay; concern about an unknown future, away from everything they know, if they leave.

I loved that throughout, women are the focal point, their bravery, solidarity and heart shining through on every page. Equally evident is Rodriguez’s love of Afghanistan and its people, a fact highlighted in her afterword, where she explains how she personally worked with charitable foundations to get more than 70 people out of the country to safety.

I honestly cannot recommend this novel highly enough — just read the other two first!

Amazing book! Loved it! the characters are so relatable! Thank you so much for this gem. I have gone on to purchase the other books in this series!

A beautiful read, and such an insight into the people living everyday lives in Afghanistan. I know this it isn’t reality, but I thought it represented really well how scary, uncertain life must be.. Wonderful and powerful reading

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book is part of the Coffee shop in Kabul series although it could be read as a standalone novel. I read and enjoyed the previous books and I was delighted to see that there was a new book out.
This book takes place about 8 years after the last book. It features most of the previous characters, along with some new ones.
Sunny is back in Kabul for a holiday, visiting her friends from the coffee shop. A lot has changed in her absence and things seem to be looking up for her friends.
While she is there, the news come that the US troops are withdrawing. To start with, the characters are not concerned, until the Taliban start to advance.
I remember the horrific scenes on the news in the Autumn of 2021, as the Taliban took control of Kabul. I read this book on tenterhooks, knowing that the characters were in danger, although they didn't know it yet. These characters had become well known to me over 3 books and it was unimaginable that something would happen to them. It really made me think about the suffering and the horrors of the situation.
Despite the dramatic scenes and the highly emotional storyline, I really enjoyed reading this book. I am so glad that the Author decided to write another book about Kabul.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

I have read all of the previous coffee shop books in this series so was looking forward to this final instalment. This could also be read as a standalone.

This author has written from
The heart and with the upmost compassion about the struggles and issues faced by the people of Afghanistan and has done so in a very sensitive and heartfelt way and is an amazing inspiration with all the hard work and dedication she has put in through her humanitarian work to help the people living there. Her words and experiences are filled with human emotion which really gets to the core of the reader when turning each page of this story.

This was a heartbreaking poignant read and hopefully will seek to heighten to others the struggles faced by the people of Afghanistan and what we can do to help them.

What an outstanding closing chapter for this utterly amazing Author!

I have read all the Coffee Shop of Kabul books in order but you could read this on its own. It gives a little explanation to certain subjects thats discussed within so you wouldnt be lost. HOWEVER! I would suggest starting from book one as this is the most inspiring and beautiful series which is a pleasure to read. To get the whole picture and to connect with this in its fullest it is best to start from the first book.

You will not be dissapointed!

Following all the characters throughout these books has been a pleasure and an eye opener. The subject matter is raw and honest. It has been from the start. This does not shy away from the horrors that the Afghan people have faced and have to brave through.
Each character development is flawless. The story flows amazingly and is so moreish.
I really could have sat and read this in one sitting. This was very hard to put down!

Outstanding. Even tho i am saddened by the closing of the Coffee shop Chapter it has been a beautiful journey. May we read more about this in the future. Who knows. I will be first in line if we do. For now i will content myself with this authors other books i have sitting on my bookshelf.

Well done Deborah Rodriguez for all your hard work and help to the Afghan people your storys have done them proud. You are an inspiration.

Many thanks to the Author, Publisher and netgalley for a free ARC.

Review written 13/8/23

Reading this book my heart was thumping wildly! Such a brilliant insight into the lives of ordinary people in Afghanistan.
I know this is fiction, but it feels very real and scary. People are having to make decisions that are extremely difficult to make or even comprehend.
Sunny really is a selfless character and people, like her in the real world need applauding.
An excellent book that takes you out of your comfort zone!

Farewell to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul, by Deborah Rodriguez.

I didn’t realise how much I needed another book in this incredible series until I started reading. It’s a long time since I read the others and I’d forgotten quite a lot, but it soon came flooding back to me, like a balm for my soul.

Sunny and all of her Afghan “family” are such brilliantly written characters and whilst this is a fictional story, the actions of the aggressors are based on well-researched and heartbreaking facts. I trust hope that the real life equivalents of Hala and her family find peace.

The descriptions of Kabul are stunning and really did make me feel like I was there, surrounded by the fragrant spices and warmth of the sun and the people.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Deborah Rodriguez and Little, Brown Book Group for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Sunny returns to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul from the USA after 8 years, to visit her 'family' there - Just at the time Biden is deciding to remove US troops from the country's "Civil War". The young cannot believe the Taliban will ever reach Kabul, a false sense of security backed up by their mobile phones and internet access. The older citizens know better. We meet the cast of fictional characters from the previous books, like old friends.

A gut wrenching account of ordinary citizens fleeing the terror and horror that is the Taliban. The last third of the book I spent totally gobsmacked - we all saw the newsreels of people desperate to get out of the country, hanging on to planes, the crowds, the fighting (and even a suicide bomb). This fictional book - based on factual accounts, really brings home what it was like for ordinary famiies. No spoilers here, but read this and weep - for all those misplaced people and for those who had to remain under that regime.

A fascinating Author's afterword too ( - needs to be updated with the latest closure of all the beauty parlours too; the last meeting places of female friends, and the start point of Deborah Rodriguez's mission there). This book deserves to be read - we need to be reminded of what refugees have been through and the huge feats they face to build new lives in foreign countries (when all they really want to do is return to their former lives in peace)...

I picked up this book – not realising it was a sequel – and had to buy and read the first book first. I am not sure you could read this as a stand-alone, as you really need to know the main characters and their back stories. Sunny, Halajan and Rashif, Ahmet and Yazmin, Yazmin’s younger sister Layla, and chief cook and bottle-washer, Bashir Hadi, are all back in the Little Coffee Shop, along with another Afghan/American girl, Kat. Candace is back in USA, but in constant communication.
A lot has changed. It turns out that there is a second book before this (which I am reading now), but there are enough hints as to what has occurred in the interim, that you can start this book having only read book 1 (as I did). It is no hardship at all to read all three books. They are exceptionally addictive.
Yazmin is now running a women’s refuge. Layla is at university and very political active. The Taliban are resurgent, and the Americans (and all the other western forces) are planning on leaving. Kabul is now (at least on the surface) a modern city – but how long will that last? Yes, the Taliban are making huge inroads in the countryside. But this is Kabul! Women will not allow all the freedoms that they have gained over the last 20 years to be snatched away again, so Layla believes. They will fight for their rights. It can’t happen here.
Oh yes it can – you scream at the book. It is like the horrifying feeling you have when watching programmes about German (and other) Jews in the 1930s. GET OUT NOW!!!
Sunny and Kat think that as American citizens, they will be safe, and not be left behind. The others only want to go, if all those they care for are evacuated too. And the Taliban have promised that they will not be as punitive as they were last time round. No-one has any idea of the utter chaos that the American withdrawal is about to unleash. Candace is running a frantic operation, using ALL her contacts to beg, steal or borrow a seat on a flight out of Kabul for each of her friends, telling them that when they get the go-code, they MUST GO.
As the reader, you know what is going to happen in general – we all saw the heartbreaking scenes on TV. But, we don’t know what will happen to our friends (and by now they are our friends, not just characters in a book).
The pace of the book increases to breakneck speed – it is impossible to put down. Who will get out? Will anyone?
These books are phenomenally good. The characters live on in your mind well after the reading is done. You will mourn for an Afghanistan that maybe never was, but could have been. And will have renewed understanding and sympathy for the millions of Afghans who fled or tried to flee their ravaged country.
Very, very highly recommended.

I struggle to put into words how this book makes me feel. I stumbled across the coffee shop and the beauty school in my late teens/early twenties. Hearing how there were women in the world that did not have the same freedoms and pleasures in life was heartbreaking. The authors words stuck with me and I carried them with me through life.

Saying farewell to the coffee shop, this book was heartbreaking and heartwarming all in one. Sunny's love for the people of Kabul and their love in return.

Reading why the author choose to write a third book after the events of 2021, you can tell the words on the pages are so much more than fiction. The experiences and the emotions are all real. The pain and suffering, real.

Thank you to the author, you have changed so many people's lives from your humanitarian work but also shaped the minds of others with your words.

A heartbreaking account of the impact of the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan. It personalised the pictures on the news of people trying to escape the impending regime by flocking to the airport. Highly recommend.