Another case of TikTok made me buy it...except I did not enjoy it.
Synopsis: A small cafe tucked into a corner in Tokyo holds a little secret. If you sit in a certain chair, drinking a certain tea, you might be able to zip back in time for just a little bit until the coffee gets cold. However, there is a trick, no changes can be made and you cannot leave the seat. This story follows four little tales of people taking on this adventure to: confront the man that left them, receive a letter from a husband with Alzheimer's, seeing a missed sister, and meeting a daughter they never got to.
Plot: The plot was interesting enough. I love time travel and the little quirks that went along with this particular circumstance I found interesting, albeit making the time travel itself a little pointless. My main issue was that this just didn't captivate me in the ways I was hoping. This had all the potential to be an emotional and impactful read, but I just found myself mostly bored, unfortunately. I seem to consistently always have issues with novellas and shorter books just because of the lack of fulfilled plotlines–and with a collection of shorter stories, it made that even harder for me. After the first story, the newness of the time travel and cafe seems to wear a bit with each one, leaving the last story almost immemorable and quite repetitive with phrases and concepts. I think this one suffered greatly from being overhyped personally.
Characters: The characters were very forgettable. Because of how short this book is, and because you are introduced to new characters in every section, this only hindered my attachment to the characters. I wasn't fully able to connect with any of them, maybe besides the workers of the cafe. Each character's storyline really does have great potential combined with their particular reasons for seeking time travel, but I found each one surface level and lacking substance to elicit the emotions that I felt it was expecting to.
Willing to give his other work a go, but a big letdown for this one.
2/5 stars.
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