A review by afi_whatafireads
Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

WTF Sir Kawaguchi the ending was so uncalled for it definitely left me in shambles . yeeesh.


"Inside every person is an inherent capability to make it through any kind of difficulty. Everyone has that energy. But sometimes when that energy flows via our anxiety valve, the flow can be restricted. The greater the anxiety, the greater the strength needed to open the valve and release the energy.

That strength is empowered by hope. You could say that hope is the power to believe in the future.


The third instalment to the Before the Coffee Gets Cold / Tales from the Café / Before Your Memory Fades series and I for one had definitely enjoyed the little twist that is from the cafe - but I do have some mixed feelings with the mechanics of it (in some sense).

Firstly. Good lord the 3rd instalment became a tad confusing with the back and forth from some aspects in the series. But in some sense, I do get how the author is trying to expand the world and not just being stuck at one place. But there's something odd that I can't exactly place in how much everything is so alligned - unlike the first two books. The stream of events just "happens" for everyone to be there and accepting which makes it at first heartwarming, but somewhat there's an ick feeling I can't exactly name but it was not a good one.

But, one of the winning points in this book for me was the perspective of death itself and how to the living - we can perceive it as something that is horrible and can cause so much grief ; but I liked how the stories gives another aspect to the meaning of death, especially for the ones left behind. The title itself Before Your Memory Fades has a lot to do with the 4-character-centric stories that has been told in the book. Its somewhat a love letter for those who are struggling to hold on to life and in trying to find meaning to hold to memories that can fade anytime as we grapple in the sense to live our daily lives. Its this perspective and the stories of these characters that won me over - despite the technicality issues that I have with the book. The mere concept of death and hope and happiness to the people that is still living, is as important to the people who had passed away.

And it's nice to see characters from the previous two books to be the person-in-charge in here. For me, to go into the third book, you definitely need to read the first two books to understand the easter eggs and knowing the characters. But I liked seeing them together and navigating the cafe with another set of people in another district which gives it quite a fresh air from the first cafe.

Overall, it was not a bad read. I was just very taken aback with the ending which made me want to hurl something. Overall, not a bad read and one that I read in one seating for my #JanuaryinJapan.

Overall ratings: 3.5🌟

Thank you to Pansing Distributions for this copy!