Author: Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

An avid reader whose current interest lies in mysteries and thrillers. Line 'em up! Also personally love fantasies and any stories to do with magic, and a sucker for the occasional (good) romance.
4 star, adult

Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer’s, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?

This one took me by surprise. Not in the sense that I didn’t think I would like it, but rather in the way that it panned out. A friend of mine suggested this to me and I happily obliged to after I heard about the concept. As I was reading the first part, I was definitely not super engrossed, but willing to press on out of interest. But after the second, third and the final part, I found that I was really enjoying it, and the rest of the book flew by for me!

Before the Coffee Gets Cold centers around a special café in Japan. Its specialty? Time travel. Say what? Yes that’s right, at this coffee shop, they offer a very special deal indeed, an opportunity to go back through time….with conditions of course. I thoroughly enjoyed the way time travel was portrayed in this novel, and how the situation was set up for it to occur. Perhaps it’s the Japanese origin of this book, or perhaps I haven’t read enough time travel stories, but this one struck me as quite unique, and the themes that it explored using its special time travel scenario was very well done.

The book is set up in four parts, each following a different individual who ends up deciding to go on this little time travelling journey. What is the price of time travel and what are the gains and risks? These are all questions that are well answered in here, in my opinion. Though of a scientific education, I am not a particular stickler for the scientific feasibility and logic of such sci-fi stories. Despite this, I found the scenarios to be quite believable, and the staff of the café really do well to add to its mysticism. Each character has their own personal growth journey, and a very particular reason why they want to travel back in time – what will they learn along the way, and will they come out the other side a changed person?

Of course in any time travel book, the mechanics and rules of all the time travel itself are very interesting and intriguing. However, the build up and growth of the characters, and the complexities of the choices one can face even with an option to travel through time, really spoke to me in this book. I really felt for each character, and struggled to contemplate what I would do in their situation. I found that each scenario in the book added more and more stakes to time travel, and this quiet underlying build up of tension and suspense also constantly pulled me forward through this story. Overall, I had a great experience reading this book, and I can solidly recommend it to all of you guys!

Note from Fives: I do believe this book is translated from Japanese though, so some of the manners of speech, etc. are more or less directly translated and were a bit odd as a North American reader. That being said they weren’t grammatically incorrect or anything – just make sure to keep that in mind if you ever find something a bit strange in the way things are said. Some things just don’t translate to English very well, and I’m glad the translator chose to keep true to the elements of Japanese culture.

Overall Recommendations

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a tale of an interesting café with the ability to transport its patrons backwards in time. Set in Japan, translated from its original Japanese, this story follows different customers looking to tap into the special powers of this café. It has very original rules for its time travel, and undoubtedly creates complex situations in which these customers must make decisions of heavy weight. How the customers go through their decision making, and the ramifications of their choices are all explored in this short novel. What would you do if offered the chance to go back in time? A very thought-provoking novel, with ever increasing tensions with each story, brings us through an emotional journey which truly tackles the complexity of human nature. I recommend this read for sure!

discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – What Makes a Book Beautiful?

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Happy Friday everyone! Once again this week we will be participating again in Let’s Talk Bookish, where we discuss a topic suggested by the lovely community. Let me once again reference their little blurb below, please follow them and feel free to leave your own suggestion and prompts for next month while you’re over there!

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

Prompt for Feb 12:

It’s impossible not to sometimes judge books by the cover – what makes a book beautiful to you? Are there certain covers you’re drawn towards, and certain styles you stay away from? What are some of the most beautiful covers you’ve seen?

It’s definitely impossible not to sometimes judge books by the cover, but honestly I lean into it – why not? I don’t see what’s wrong with judging books by its cover, unless you’re choosing not to read one purely off how the cover looks – that would be strange. But isn’t it only natural to pick up a book that looks attractive? I have always wondered this. Let me know below if you don’t see the big deal of judging a book by it’s cover! I think the real message is more like: don’t only judge a book by it’s cover, right?

Ironically, even though I have been reading more books recently, I have been mostly reading off eReaders or on my phone. Ergo, I don’t really see book covers – at least not in real life. But moving onto the actual question, I do like a variety of book covers! Of course the beautifully illustrated artworks are nice, but also simple geometric or minimalistic designs also appeal to me. Here is an example of that:

I feel like this cover really fits that simplistic yet cool design with the whole mirrored effect (even if it’s not a true mirror image). When I first saw this, I was definitely intrigued and wondering, what might this book be about? And if you read our anticipated books of Feb 2021 post, you would know that I am indeed looking forward to this book! But this cover though, yes please.

Another one from our anticipated books for February, but I also enjoy this beautiful Norse mythology inspired design. these kinds of illustrations really speak to me, and make me want to pick it off the shelf! Any book that makes me want to pick it up classifies it as a beautiful book, for me.

As for styles I would stay away from… I really wouldn’t say there are any covers I would specifically not pick up. There are certain covers I just wouldn’t gravitate towards, such as:

Like I’m sorry, I enjoyed this book, and luckily I wasn’t reading a physical copy, but this kind of design cover with a non-descript background (seemingly meaningless) and just big block text is really not the kind of design that entices me. I still completely enjoyed this book (stay tuned for the review!) and would recommend it, but I can definitely say its cover wasn’t a selling point for me. I read its synopsis and decided to give it a try, and I have no regrets, so even if I don’t like its cover, it really didn’t affect my opinion of the book.

As much as I look at and judge covers, I pick many up, read the synopsis and put it back down, so it’s actually hard for me to remember beautiful covers that I’ve seen. Unsurprisingly, I actually like a lot of mystery/thriller novel covers. They’re usually a little bit suspenseful and creepy, and just gives me those you-know-it’s-a-thriller vibes.

Like c’mon, tell me that doesn’t scream thriller. I would say this kind of design definitely appeals to me. I like it when a book kind of gives you a glimpse of what you might find inside, and these kinds of covers just promise a great thriller (and usually do!). I find that it just really helps to set the whole mood of the book if the cover also matches the theme. It gives it more of the holistic feel. Of course it doesn’t have to match. But covers (and also titles!) have a huge impact on how the book is framed, as it’s literally the first thing you see and read. I definitely appreciate it when an cover is well thought out, and reflects what might be inside, or provides something to contemplate while reading the book.

Of course, a literal interpretation is also evocative. When I read a title and see that the cover is a literal representation of its title, that is definitely also extremely captivating, as doubling up on the meaning gives it that little extra bit of emphasis:

I just love it. It really gives it that extra oomph. Reminds me of those puzzles that use pictures to depict an idiom literally. So much fun. And if you haven’t seen our review for The Woman in the Window, go check it out. Spoiler alert: it’s rated 5 Drink Me Potions, and Andge and I both give our opinions on it! For me, this book definitely stood out on the shelf at the local bookstore, and fun fact, Andge helped buy this book for me. Just the cherry on top that it happens to have a great cover and be a great story as well.

And that’s a wrap from me for this week! Hopefully you enjoyed my insight into book covers. What are your opinions? Do book covers matter? A lot, or not at all? Feel free to discuss and comment below, and once again don’t forget to follow the original creators!

4.5 star, adult

Review: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole
Little Fires Everywhere | Rakuten Kobo Australia

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned–from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren–an enigmatic artist and single mother–who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town–and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood–and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I picked up this book, but I was honestly blown away by what I read! Immediately after picking it up, my friend told me: it’s slow-paced, but with amazing character development (I totally agree). Well alright, I thought, I can handle slow-paced. But in all honesty, I was fascinated by the story from the get-go, and didn’t look back at all. It was a complete page-turner for me, and this novel truly has a lot to offer.

Little Fires Everywhere follows a couple of protagonists, but it mainly follows the story of teenaged Pearl and her mother Mia moving into Shaker Heights, a peculiar community with tightly controlled rules and regulations to maintain the image of a perfect community. They rent a house from the affluent Richardsons, and slowly but surely, the juxtaposed family lives (think Parasite!) mix together until the point where one cannot tell whose has melted into whose. This idyllic situation gets torn asunder when the community is divided on the custody of an Asian baby – which is better for the baby: a struggling single biological mother who abandoned her or an affluent white family so very desperate for a child?

This novel truly explores all the intricacies of such a situation, and just how complex it can get between the ethics, legalities and human empathy. Meanwhile, trouble stirs between the Richardsons and their tenants when the town conflict arises. Little Fires Everywhere is truly an apt title (and is in fact, mentioned on like, the third page) and fires and flames are a huge theme throughout this whole story. Ng makes great use of imagery and symbolism, and I truly enjoyed how the story was so cleverly woven together. If you keep an eye out, there are so many little tidbits to catch, and what could be more exciting than all these Easter eggs left for you by the author?!

As part of the Asian community myself, I quickly found myself wondering what I myself would have done or thought in that situation, and I was honestly just as stumped as everyone in the book. I can understand both sides, and see the unfortunate situation that has arisen between two equally desperate parties. I thought this issue was well addressed and really explored an issue that is more rare in the literary world, and so in that sense I am glad that Ng brings it to life in such an interesting manner. I think regardless of race and background, you too will find yourself caught in the situation presented, unable to fully decide which side should have the upper hand. Find out for yourself on this exciting adventure!

There’s also a TV series based on this book (I believe only on Hulu) – if any of you have read the book and watched the series, let me know! I am unable to access Hulu here, but I would love to know how the adaptation is. Please comment below if you know!

Overall Recommendations:

Another book I would highly recommend! Little Fires Everywhere follows the story of a poor nomadic family renting from an affluent one in a quirky town full of rules, which ends up divided over the custody of an abandoned baby. Full of deep characters that are explored ingeniously, and complicated intertwining relationships, this novel also includes some discussion of racial issues and politics! I would especially recommend this to Asian readers, as I think the conflict at hand would be truly relatable, and is not a topic often explored. But regardless, I found that this was a beautiful and evocative story, truly highlighting the highs and low of humanity.