I’m judging the L.A. Times 2020 and 2021 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got me to read on even though it was among 296 other books I’m charged to read. 

“Negativity is food for malady, one might say.”

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a light and heartfelt read that is set in a cafe in Japan where one specific seat allows a person to travel through time. There are some rules to follow to time travel, such as you must return before your coffee is cold and you cannot change what happened in the past. 

I loved the premise of the book. The time-traveling aspect was unique, and I liked how the cafe was the location where people could go to time travel. The four stories presented were all interconnected, and all had an interesting exploration of the 
fulfillment people get from human connections/interactions. The stories moved me, and they made me wish I could go back in time and visit some of the family members who are no longer with me. The writing and translation were a little choppy and repetitive, but the story still was excellent, and I loved the meaning behind the book that life is too short and people should make more meaningful relationships. 

Thank you to NetGallery and to Harlequin Trade Publishing for giving me a copy for the book.

I liked the idea of this book. It is interesting. I liked reading it in sections and absorbing it over time. The characters are likable and the connections are great.

I was intrigued by the concept- limited time travel.  It was a good story that felt like it was supposed to be staged as a play.  It made me smile and left me feeling happy and sad which is all you can ask for in a book.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is an interesting read. I really enjoyed the writing and I found the characters complementary to one another, which was fantastic. I am just not one for sci-fi/time travel, so it moved slowly for me at times because of my lack of interest. However, I would recommend this book for people who are interested in that blend of realism and fantasy. Overall, pretty good read!

I loved the subtle magic and the quiet redundancy of the cafe. It's a simple premise and well-executed, and it feels absolutely magical to live in this world.

I tried reading this earlier and couldn't get into it.  I waited a bit and then picked up the book. It was definitely easier to read because there was so much repetition that I could skim over it when it came up again and again. Another review mentioned that this read like a play and I could definitely see that. Instead it was supposed to be a novel (although a short one). There are four parts but they are all connected (kind of).

I did like how the characters were all connected, but it was hard to keep track of who was who because of the Japanese names. The concept was interesting and to me, that was the best part. I loved to see how people would go back in time knowing the rules and what they could do.

Overall, the execution wasn't nearly as good as the concept.

Listening to this was slow at first, as I figured out just how the time traveling cafe was going to work. But then it reminded me a bit of the Studio Ghibli movies: full of quiet magic and everyday dramas, with the slight hesitant clunkiness of translation. And in the end I appreciated the way the point of view swiveled to show different characters in the cafe. By the end of the story I felt I had a richer picture of each character, as seen through different perspectives. My biggest disappointment was not having a backstory for the ghost woman.

Ultimately, though, I appreciated the somewhat odd and very limited setup of time travel. At first, listening to the "rules" for using the cafe as an opportunity to go back in time seemed cumbersome. But magic is weird, and why wouldn't there be rules? Can you imagine if there were none, and customers went back in time willy-nilly? The set-up of going back to rehash a conversation, to speak with a spouse before Alzheimer’s claimed them, to speak with a sister before her death, or going to a future to speak with your daughter is so tempting. But both the rules, and the reality of time-travel force each customer to realize that while we can’t always change our circumstances or our fate, we can change our perspective. I really enjoyed this.

There is café in Tokyo, where customers can travel through time. But there are rules that must be followed. One of these rules is that whatever happens in the other time will not change the present. So, is it worth the risks? The stories of the people who work at and visit the café are intertwined, and through it all is this idea of time travel.

A touching story. Each character, and each character’s story is different, but they are all connected.

Four interconnected users of a time traveling cafe try to make right with their own pasts. While I don't typically like time travel stories, I do admire a writer who can make magical realism work well.

I put off writing a review for this book, because I don't like be give negative opinions.  This may appeal to those who enjoy time travel tales, and abstract concepts.  It just wasn't my cup of tea.  Perhaps a good choice for someone else.

A slow moving, but beautifully paced novel about time travel and questioning the idea that if you were given an opportunity to visit the past, would you? Beautifully written! Loved it so much!

I wouldn’t describe this book as a book about time travel and rather a novel about interpersonal relationships and self-reflection told through the idea of time travel. As someone who prefers plot driven narratives, it was a little dry, but I appreciate the intent of this book. I liked how it was split into four sections, each reading like a short story with a different “main character” and moral, while still having an overarching storyline throughout. I have mixed feelings about the writing style because on one hand I do like straightforward writing, but sometimes while reading it felt repetitive and stagnant. Overall, I think this is a quick read and a nice recommendation for those looking to read more translated works.

This book was quite quirky in his premise and in the characters and their journey through the book. It was a bit of a challenging read because it was so different, but I enjoyed it. I could see this being turned into a movie or miniseries.

This gem of a book has stuck with me long after I finished reading it.  I was immediately pulled into the fantastical world of the coffee shop and fell in love with the characters I met there. A sweet story with lots of heart! I highly recommend it.

This book has such an interesting premise. It takes a while to get used to the translation, but once you've settled into the different nuances of the language, you start to really appreciate the different landscapes presented in this unique book. It certainly gives you lots of food for thought, and would be perfect for a book or discussion group. We got it for our collection.

The writing (or possibly the translation?) is clunky and awkward. Characterization is pat and uninteresting. I couldn't stay with this.

Quirky but engaging. It took me awhile to warm up to the stories in this book. If the Twilight Zone was a book with a story arc this would be it.

Beautiful stories written in the Japanese tradition, Before the Coffee Gets Cold makes us think if correcting the past is the best way to protect our future. The only way to learn is through our mistakes.

I liked the cover of this book, and I liked the premise: four stories about a cafe that allows you to travel through time.
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The rules of how to time travel are difficult.  There aren’t many people who even consider it worth the trouble! But the process of time travel and the supernatural quirkiness of the cafe are secondary to the stories of the people who decide they need to actual travel through time and why. There are four separate stories that all revolve around the cafe and the people who work there. The last story was my favorite!
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The writing is so simple. It could be because it was translated from Japanese or it could be that originally it was a play, or maybe it’s just the author’s style of writing. Whatever it is, I found it soothing to listen to this audiobook, though at times it was hard to tell the Japanese names apart. Below is a quote so you can see what you think of the simple tone. Also there is no mature content in this book at all.
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“He walked behind the counter and took a glass from the shelf. He pulled out a carton of orange juice from the fridge under the counter, poured it nonchalantly into the glass, and gulped it down. He took the glass into the kitchen to wash it. There was the sound of fingernails tapping on the counter. He poked his head out of the kitchen to see what was happening.”