This is a heartwarming, but also heartbreaking, read, about people who can travel back in time to see someone from their past from this one cafe in Japan, but they must return back before the coffee placed in front of them has turned cold. Oh, and there's a bunch of other rules too... 

I love the slightly quirky storytelling style and I wonder if this is something I'll find more of as I read more Japanese literature. I had a fondness for the cast of characters, but I also felt like I wasn't given enough to fall in love with them. There was a certain distance that I felt, though that may have been down to the writing or translation style.

As with most novels that contain a theme of time travel I had questions about the mechanics described and I felt that some details could have been offered to fill in potential plot/concept holes. However, I pretty quickly decided to just go with the flow and accept what was written down at face value.

This book really makes you think about, and lament over, all the things that are left unsaid in this world. Things that might make someone smile, improve someone's day, heal strained relationships...

I hope that more people read this book if only because it might lead to more of us telling one another how we feel and not letting the opportunity to have these important conversations pass us by.