Before Your Memory Fades: A Poignant Novel Exploring Grief, Healing and Second Chances from a Magical Café―Book Three of the Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series

I find this series to be so endearing and heartwarming. Even though the time travel premise is the same in every “chapter”, each story feels fresh and unique while still moving the overall storyline of the main characters forward. Before Your Memory Fades caught me by surprise as it takes place in a different city and cafe, but when explained it absolutely made sense. Absolutely loved the new characters and location. I found the story about a daughter traveling back to confront her parents both heartbreaking and moving. The story of Todoroki and Hayashida of the comedy duo PORON DORON was one of my favorites and I especially liked how it connected to one of the cafe workers. The story about two sisters impacted me the most. Having lost my aunt, I saw the grief of losing a sister through my mother’s and her surviving sister’s eyes. The author does a beautiful job capturing the bond of sisters and the grief of losing one. There is a lighter, but somewhat serious, note woven throughout all of the stories which was young Sachi posing questions to costumers from her book “What If the World Were Ending Tomorrow? One Hundred Questions.” It was entertaining throughout the novel, but most moving in the last story. There is SO much I love about this installment. If you don’t want to go back to the start of the series, Before Your Memory Fades would be a good place to start.

Full disclosure. This fell just shy of a 5 star read for me. But this series is still a keeper. Absolutely highly recommend. Again, individual stories are told but are masterfully woven together. I felt some of the characters were a bit more difficult for me to connect with than the previous two books, but overall the stories and how they connected was good as usual. Wicked twist at the end that made me cry. And I was kind of mad. But life is life and it often plays out different than you want. This series definitely reminds us of that but also offers slivers of hope. So the ending made sense in that vein. Still mad though LOL

All of these books about the Tokyo coffee shop that allows customers to travel back in time (with stipulations and restrictions) are outstanding. Well-written and well-translated. I found the stories therein to be as deep or as simple as the reader wants them to be. On the one hand, it is a clever take on the "time travel" theme and makes for a fun read. On the other hand, I found many of the stories to have profoundly philosophical themes that led to deep contemplation. I have thoroughly enjoyed every book in this series.

I made the mistake of buying all of the books after reading the first one. By the third book, it's getting repetitive. Another person wants to go back to the past ... yawn. I will admit that the orphan story was very good. Of course, you have to suspend disbelief with these books and not ask questions about the ridiculous premise. Like what if there is someone in the restroom when the guy gets up to use it? What does he do in there? What happens to him when there is new ghost? Why doesn't someone just travel to the future and read the stock prices? Why doesn't Yukika have a smart phone? Can you meet yourself in the past? Why does everyone who goes to the past waste so much time mumbling and then lie to the person they went back to see? Anyone who has read one of these books knows about the author's annoying need to constantly repeat the rules. But the author actually BREAKS the rule at the very end. I couldn't believe it. The main rule is that you can't change the present no matter what. Reiji travels to the past and tells Nanako that she becomes his wife. Several months later (post present), Nanako dies, and it's revealed that she held on so long because of those words "You become my wife". Present day Nanako should have no knowledge of those words. Reiji changed her present reality. That shouldn't have been possible.

greta

Before your memory fades is, like the first 2 books of this series, a balance between happy and sad moments. We see some familiar characters along with some new ones, and jump a couple years in the future as well. We also learn there’s another magic cafe with some lovely customers~ from reading this, I got reminded that while no life is forever, we should also strive to not be sad when someone passes forever, we should try to be happy again at some point~

In the third installment of Toshikazu Kawaguchi's time travel series, "Before Your Memory Fades," some members of the Takita Family leave the Tokyo time travel cafe behind to help manage another time travel cafe in a popular tourist destination in Northern Japan while a relative is off in the United States rendering aid to someone in need. Although you could read the books as standalones, I highly recommend reading them in order, or else the reader will miss out on important foundational information and subtle connections among the characters in all three books. The most important parameters surrounding the brief visits to another time, but not another place (all conversations have to happen when the other parties were or will be in the cafe) remain the same from the first books: you stay in the past (or the future) only as long as your coffee stays warm. If you do not drink it all before it gets cold, you become a ghost, doomed to sit in the cafe for eternity or until - oops! You have to read the books to find that out. Four persons embark on the perilous journey to speak to loved ones: parents, a romantic partner, a sibling, and a childhood friend. These poignant stories captured my imagination and my heart. I have already preordered Book 4, which is scheduled to be released in November 2023.

I have been reading the series and have enjoyed them.

a great and intriguing book

Livro Maravilhoso, magnético, te envolve de uma maneira impressionante, comprei de presente para o meu filho e ele amou, já quer todos da coleção 🤪

Good one

In my opinion this is the best one in the series. The quirky characters, the wholesome stories make up for a great winter/autumnal reading. The setting has changed from Funicili Funicula in Tokyo to Donna Donna cafe in a port city called Hakodate in Hokkaido. This was perfect for me because the setting changes to a sea-side town and the lovely descriptions of the foliage and the changing seasons. I loved it ! An absolute ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ! Highly recommend :)

Molto bello, segue la linea dei libri precedenti.