Book review 📚
Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - 4.5/5 ⭐

The book contains 4 individual stories and is the 4th book in the current series. I admit, I haven't read any book from this series but I will now be purchasing and reading because this book stole my heart, cared for it, loved it, then threw it to the floor and crushed it. That's the best description for how much this enthralls you, emotionally.

Have you ever read a book that you love and hate at the same time? I love how it's set it out, I love how descriptive it is and I love the writing style. I hate that it has now emotionally scared me to a point where I cried. No, that's incorrect. I was a blubbering mess. But I would not change a single thing about it. It made me feel on such a deep, underlying level that I cannot stop thinking about it.

Kawaguchi has an interesting writing style. It's thrilling to the core and emotionally terrifying. And yet it's so beautiful and heartwarming. There is so much to think about after reading this book and it truly makes you see things in a different light. The journey from each of the 4 stories was phenomenal. I cannot family a single thing from the author or the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

The latest in the series, we have 4 short stories all set in the same cafe where 4 individuals time travel back to undo their regrets before it’s too late to express them: there’s the husband who needed to tell his wife how much he loved her, the dog owner guilt-stricken because she fell asleep while the dog died, the girlfriend who needed to understand why he boyfriend claimed he’d found another woman and the daughter who needed to mend things with her father.

Each of these stories can be read on a standalone basis although the first story is referenced in the fourth story. Unlike in previous copies, we don’t get much character development for the cafe staff: the focus is on each regretful protagonist with the staff gliding in/out of view as required. Despite this, a charming and light read about the importance of communicating while you still have the chance.

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

This is the next title in the series and again it does not disappoint. There are four stories in the book and each are thought provoking and reflective. Once again you are drawn to each story (I personally loved the dog one) as they unfurl before you.
It does not matter if you have read the previous books or not as this stands alone but it is a book that everyone I believe would enjoy and get something out of.

I have reviewed Before We Say Goodbye for book recommendation and selling site LoveReading. It has been chosen as a LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month. Please see link for full review.

Before We Say Goodbye is the fourth installment in the Before The Coffee Gets Cold series. It was such a fantastic series to read—definitely an emotional rollercoaster for me. Every story made me cry but especially the second story hit me hard emotionally. How come these stories can be heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time? I highly recommend it to everyone. Give this series a chance you won't regret it.

“Wonderful and heartfelt”
Before We Say Goodbye is another wonderful and heartfelt novel from Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Each story is unique and highlights the different ways we as individuals interact with and become impacted by the people around us.

Themes of regret and self-forgiveness are particularly promiment in this instalment and Kawaguchi uses this to reflect on how one connection can make or break another. I was a little hesistant to start this one because I personally felt that the third book was weaker than the others but I think Before We Say Goodbye may be my favourite book in the series yet. Kawaguchi has captured my attention and emotions time and time again and the way he writes is so beautifully loving.

A heart breaking and heart warming collection of 4 stories, 4 people who go back in time to certain moments, they cannot change the events that occur afterwards. There are 4 simple rules, and the 5th one being you have to drink the coffee before it gets cold.

These are very emotional stories that teach you to be grateful for what you have and to appreciate all you have in the moment and not take advantage of what you have. I shed a few tears, especially on the story that contained the dog. If you like emotional reads with deep and well meaning messages this book and the whole series is for you.

An emotional and moving book with four stories about new cafe guests who are coping with unresolved issues, grief, and regrets. The story about the pet dog absolutely broke me it was so sad, and I think this book is the most emotional out of all of them. I'm still not sure that I love the writing style, but I love the setting and the characters and the content of these stories. I think because of the way the books are so repetitive, you could read this book as a stand-alone and still be able to follow all of the plot. The only thing you would potentially miss out on are the cafe-workers and previous cafe visitors' character development.

As always a brilliant collection of short stories that perfectly encapsulates life, love and grief. This one hit particularly hard as I'd just lot a pet myself.

Thank you to Pan Macmillian for letting me have an ARC copy of Before We Say Goodbye to review.

A collection of 4 stories that reflects on the question ‘If you could have one last coffee with someone you have loved and lost, what would you say?’ Beautifully written with a captivating pull drawing you into these emotional stories with the characters living with their grief and wishing for one more moment with those they lost.

Having lost two very important people in the last two years, I found these 4 stories in the collection very poignant and moving tales about closure and healing. I’ve not read the other books in the series about the magical cafe with a ghost who allows someone to time travel into the past for the duration of a cup of coffee going cold but these enchanting tales have made me add them to my TBR. I loved the quirky elements of the plot by adding elements of humour while tackling very emotionally-charged topics of grief and loss. I laughed, cried, and remembered with joy by reading this book. The outpouring of love which is the common element uniting all the characters who undergo the journey to the past to see their loved ones is richly evident, how we carry that love with us forever in our hearts and how grief is the transformation of joy of living with that love to remembering that love with joy.

Before We Say Goodbye is a love letter to those readers who never got to say goodbye to the ones they love. With the rules if the cafe being strict as to not change the future it focuses on the idea of regret and of not having any. These four different stories all hinge on that one common thread. Coming to terms with loss is difficult but living with such deep regret is harder.

It is the perfect introduction to readers wishing to start translated fiction. The ending will leave you with a broad smile across your face, after the long lament on loss and regret, a unending sense of lightheartedness falls over you. I will be recommmending this book to anyone who has read Before The Coffee Gets Cold, Weasels In The Attic or Days At The Morasaki Bookshop.

I enjoyed this book much more than the first. The stories were heartbreaking and well thoughtout however I struggled to comprehend some of the characters decisions. Thankyou Netgalley for the ARC. 3.5 starts.

Many Thanks to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan Books for providing me with a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Premise
The regulars at the magical 'Café Funiculi Funicula' are well acquainted with its famous legend and extraordinary, secret menu time travel offering. Many patrons have reunited with old flames, made amends with estranged family, and visited loved ones. But the journey is not without risks and there are rules to follow. Travellers must have visited the café previously and most importantly, must return to the present in the time it takes for their coffee to go cold...

The Four Stories...
'Before We Say Goodbye' contains four separate short stories, which are:
1. The Husband
2. The Farewell
3. The Proposal
4. The Daughter

These stories all focus on the theme of grief and progressing through the stages of grief that allows us to move on, particularly with the phase of denial - which in these stories is shown through each narrator's regrets about specific issues in their life.

Each character is given the opportunity to face one time in their life again in an attempt to ease themselves of any guilt/regrets. The café however has some rules about time traveling that need to be followed, which are:
1. The only people you can meet in the past are those who have visited the café.
2. There is nothing you can do while there that will change the present.
3. A customer sits on the chair that takes you there. That means you must wait until it is vacated.
4. Once you arrive at your destination, you may not get up from your seat.
5. Your journey begins with the pouring of the coffee and it must end before the coffee gets cold.

With these rules accepted, the characters find themselves warped back into a time in which they must face what they have been regretting, but knowing they cannot change the present...

Final Thoughts...
'Before We Say Goodbye' is a wonderfully crafted selection of short stories that everyone will resonate with to some capacity, whether this be: facing a family death, the loss of a pet or even the regrets of losing a relationship that could've been saved.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, particularly those of the YA age-band and beyond!
For me it absolutely deserves a 5 star rating - and I hope to pick up a physical copy once it releases on the 14th September!

5/5

Once again, many thanks to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan Books for providing me with this review copy of 'Before We Say Goodbye' - I had a lovely time reading it!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Before We Say Goodbye' by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

'Before We Say Goodbye' is the fourth and latest novel in the 'Before The Coffee Gets Cold' series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. As usual, the stories all follow the same formula but each story is unique and personal to the person who wishes to go back in time. I love this series so much and this book didn't disappoint.

While the intricacies of the time travel mechanism remain a mystery, such as why a customer needs to be seated in a particular spot or why the pouring of the coffee is a trigger for going back in time, even by the fourth book in the series and may remain as such, this mysterious cafe that allows people to go back in time if only to just to see precious loved ones one more time, continues to be a wonderful vehicle for the exploration of relationships, regret and particularly grief in this instalment. While I’ve read the other three books in the series, this one somehow hit me the hardest and made me cry like a baby by the end of each little story.

It was lovely to be back in the cafe and to see familiar faces. While it was done here briefly, I hope that in the future we can have more of the cafe’s customers return and find out how their lives have been changed by the opportunity to go back in time.

A definite recommend for anyone who has read the previous books in the series. While it is more of the same, it never fails to tug at the heartstrings and I found the stories in this one particularly tear-jerking.

And to anyone who hasn’t read the previous books, while you would miss out on getting more acquainted with the workers of the cafe and the appearances from past customers will mean little to you, the rules of the cafe are repeated throughout so you would still be able to follow along with relative ease and enjoy regardless.

'Before We Say Goodbye' is the fourth novel in Kawaguchi's series about cafes which offer the opportunity to time travel. This one is once again set in Tokyo's 'Funiculi Funicula', where sitting in a specific seat and drinking a cup of coffee enables a very restricted time-travel experience. The book follows the same format as the others - a set of four short stories, with some continuity provided by the cafe's staff and regulars, each about a different time traveller. In every case, the traveller is aiming to meet a particular loved one who has previously visited the cafe.

The rules that were introduced in the first book are unchanged - the traveller cannot leave their chair, it is impossible to change the present no matter how hard someone tries to do so, and they must return to the 'present' before their coffee gets cold. I haven't read the second and third novels in the series, but I don't think it is essential to read the books in order as the premise is explained very clearly - even if I hadn't read the first I think I could still have appreciated and understood.

As with the previous novels, it's a tear-jerker. Generally the 'travellers' want to do so in order to have a last chance to see someone who is now dead or otherwise inaccessible to them. So naturally it's going to be emotional. I found the second story - the one about the dead dog who put his human companions first until the very end - the most emotional. If you cry easily when reading, don't choose this novel for public transport.

Whilst it is all nicely written and has the emotional punch you'd expect, I think the concept does suffer a bit from the limitations of the time travel as set up for this series. There are only so many scenarios that you can play out - and all of them are a variation the same theme. Even only having read one of the other three offerings, it already felt quite repetitive. The 'message' is the same - treat people well, don't take the people you love for granted, tell people how you feel etc. It's a good and valid message, but once you've heard it, you've heard it.

If you've read the others in the series and enjoyed them and basically just want more of the same, this latest instalment certainly won't disappoint. If you haven't read the others, this is as good a one to read as any. But if you feel like one book of tear jerking time travel-enabled reunions with dead family members etc. was enough, then don't read this one expecting something different.

“Inside every person is an inherent capability to make it through any kind of difficulty.”


Oh my heart! ❤️ This book did not disappoint.
I love this series so so much and can not recommend it enough. This fourth book stood up as high as the first three in the series. Brilliant.

I was thrilled to be accepted for an eARC of Before We Say Goodbye, because I’m a big fan of this series. Toshikazu Kawaguchi – and the translator – has a really special way of making magic from quiet stories. Set again in the mysterious Funiculi Funicula café, four more guests are offered the chance to travel back in time and meet someone from the past.

This installment of the series is sad: sadder than any of the other books. For the first time, we go back in time to visit a pet (I cried) and somehow there’s more depth and reasoning with the characters that return to go back in time. It feels as though Kawaguchi has found their rhythm with the series as well, with longer passages set within the café itself and a little more rumination of the café characters. Slow-paced yet short in length, this is another lyrical addition to the Before the Coffee Gets Cold saga.

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s light sci-fi Before We Say Goodbye is a quick, cosy, and heartfelt read that will not disappoint fans of the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series! The Funiculi Funicula continues to offer a chance at reconciliation for its past-visiting patrons and each tale charts a regretful path that leads to an uplifting destination. The Farewell (the story with the dog) is maybe my favourite story from all of the books so far! Each instalment of this series has felt like a holding a warm cup of coffee on a cold day.

I honestly love this series of books and this one is the hardest of the four, in my opinion. There is a story of a dog abd that one hit me more than the others 😭