Before We Say Goodbye Review
By Nic Daniels
Hello, audacious readers! I hope you took time to fully enjoy the May flowers and happy new Audacity year! Look forward to another year of new, exciting, and thought provoking books. Last month, we explored finding love when you least expect it in Courting Samira by Amal Awad. This month, we’re returning to Tokyo after a year away for the fourth installment of the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.
In a small alley in Tokyo, there’s a small café that allows patrons to travel back in time. Many have come out of curiosity and left due to the strict rules but a brave few always accept.
Rather than a sequel, this book is a prequel that takes place between Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Tales from the Café. Café owner, Nagare, is dealing with being a new dad while grieving his wife. Kazu, Nagare’s cousin and the café’s waitress, has yet to process her feelings around the loss of her mother. Still, they are steady and nonjudgemental guides to the new set of patrons going back in time. A husband goes to the past to tell his wife an unspoken truth; a woman says goodbye to her beloved dog; a daughter goes to make amends with her late father; and woman gets a re-do on her proposal.
In each story, the characters carry guilt from their final visit with loved ones and want a chance to change that moment. In this set of stories, the tales are less about grief and more about letting go of regret by getting the other side of the story. Kadokura feels that he was selfish for constantly leaving his wife while he traveled around the world for his job and wonders if she was happy. Sunao feels immensely guilty for being asleep when her dog, Apollo, passed. Hikari feels like her rejection of her boyfriend’s proposal left things unresolved, which made her feel stuck after he died. Michiko wishes she wasn’t so cruel during her father’s last visit.
Yet, on the other side of these conversations, while difficult and heart-wrenching, the people (and dog) on the other side were more than forgiving; they were understanding. Kodukura’s wife reassures him that she was happy; Sunao finds out from her husband that Apollo passed peacefully and not in pain; Hikari discovers her true feelings and is able to say the answer she wasn’t ready to admit before; and Michiko is able to reconcile with her dad.
I think the point that Kawaguchi was trying to make this with this book more than the others is that we can get so caught up in our perception of an event that we fail to take into consideration the other’s experience. They carry unnecessary guilt because they never got out of their own head and asked about the other’s feelings.
The truth of the matter is when someone truly loves you, they fully accepted you through the good and bad. You don’t have to give them the perfect answer or be who everyone says you should be to them. That love is only defined by the relationship you build between each other. And if or when you find that person that can love you for exactly who you are, never forget how lucky you are.
I hope you enjoyed Before We Say Goodbye. I'll be sharing all my thoughts and feelings on the upcoming IG live with founder, Jessica Wise. Feel free to comment your thoughts below and, until next time, don’t forget to read audaciously!
