A review by pravallika_manju
Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Tales from the café, the second book in the Before the coffee gets cold series, is a lovely continuation of the first book. The stories are equally as compelling as those from the first book but there is a bit of repetition that made me impatient while reading. For example, with every new customer, the author goes over the rules again. There are certain circumstances
(one where the customer has questions about the rules which have not been addressed before or another when it is Miki's first pour and she goes over the rules for the first time, in her own distinct style)
where it makes sense for the rules to be repeated. But otherwise, it feels redundant to me as a reader to whom the rules have been established many a time in the previous stories. Further, when someone is discussing or thinking about a previous customer who travelled in time, the author similarly spends time explaining their story and sometimes it feels like filler. Though I do understand that this might be serving the purpose of filling in readers who are not reading the books in order or are reading only one book and not the whole series, it makes me impatient while reading nonetheless, since to me it feels like the explanations could be shorter. Having said that, the stories are quite heartwarming and it's also extremely engaging to watch the cast of returning characters age and grow. The lore of the characters' past and present also progresses, carrying their story forward throughout each individual short story in the book.
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