I hadn’t realised until too late that this book is the sixth in the series and perhaps I should have read the first one instead.

I’d heard only great things about the series and so was very surprised with this short novel which was a collection of stories set in a café in Japan. The stories centre around four people who come to the café to take a special seat which transports them into the future or the past. It  is only for the amount of time a cup of coffee turns cold. The stories themselves were charming and heartfelt giving the reason why visitors were there and their backstories. The theme is mostly about love and each character is supported by the owner of the café and his sister. There are some other visitors who help navigate the narrative but they add little value.

It’s a lovely idea and I believe the series concentrates on the various people who come to the café. However, I did find it repetitive in parts such as the rules of the café. It also was not very well written, and the dialogue awkward. This may have been a problem with the translation.

I almost gave up after the second story. But I persisted and found the writing to improve during the third story. I’m not sure why it is such a best seller given the standard . The reader has to be quite tolerant. Perhaps it is riding on the coat tails of the original book and that’s what keeps the readers coming back. I’m not sure if I’d bother reading anymore if the standard of writing is that poor.