Before starting Toshikazu Mawaguchi’s Before Your Memory Fades, I took a photo of it in a coffee shop. In fact, I specifically took the book (which I knew I was not gonna read straight away) to the coffee shop to take a photo. It’s a book about coffee shops what can I say.
I took my typical coffee cup and book flat-lay but it didn’t seem quite right. So, in the spur of the moment I took another photo. In this one, I took a picture of the book with the coffee shop’s inspirational neon wall art (I think you all instantly pictured the exact vibe of this cafe). This motivational (or cheesy is you’re no fun) quote was a sign in itself… and not just because it is literally a sign. Unbeknownst to be, this book would strike a cord and resonate with my life.
I should have expected the book to pack an emotional punch. I have previously read the first two books in this series. Both Before The Coffee Gets Cold and Tales from the Cafe were fantastic reads. I even felt inspired to write a review of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. And yet I was unprepared for the tears and gasps this book would produce.
‘he realised that no matter how difficult life seemed, it could be completely turned around by a single epiphany’
Kawaguchi is known for tugging at your heart strings. All three novels in this series are formed of episodic intertwining chapters that detail one persons choice to travel in time.
At Cafe Donna, someone can return to the past… if they follow a few rules. These rules which include being unable to change the past and you have to rerun before your coffee gets cold, puts off a lot of visitors. Yet the stories in all three focus on a couple of examples where people are so desperate to return to the past that they go back anyway.
The people who travel in time have specific goals in mind. Their determination is admirable, if at times concerning. The strength of emotion it takes to travel in time, corresponds to the strength of emotion this book generates.
As mentioned, this book was a sign to me. Sometimes you read a book at the exact perfect time in your life, and this is certainly one of them for me.
‘You must, absolutely must… become happy Ok? Can you promise me?’
At the moment, I am on a journey. And in this journey, I have to choose myself and I have to choose life. The book reminded me to do this by showing me various people realising the same thing. Both ‘The Daughter’ and ‘The Comedian’ centre around characters who intent not to return to the past. They want to travel to the past to achieve their final wish before they say goodbye to their lives in the present.
The stories may sound depressing, but they are far from it. Interwoven into each story is an endless stream of beautiful and gut wrenching quotes. In fact it might be the most quotable book I have ever read. You could very easily steal multiple lines of this book to provide an inspirational Instagram account with a years worth of content. I never do this but I found myself literally gasping out loud when reading this book. I couldn’t help highlighting this book, because the book highlighted many key concepts for me.
Before Your Memory Fades is the perfect emotional read. Fans of self help books, Matt Haig, TJ Kline’s latest two novels will love this book. Its genre might be nearly incomparable to them, but they pack the same punch. I highlight recommend everyone read this book. Unless you haven’t read the first two yet. In that case, I encourage you to grab a cup of coffee, get cosy in bed, and get absorbed into the world of Cafe Donna.
Do you want a swoon worthy romance? Do you want a relationship to root for? Do you want to become deeply invested in a love story that does not concern you? If so, I would recommend you read This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
Yes, you’ve heard me right. For a great romance, I am recommending you read a sci-fi novel.
This is How You Lose the Time War is not the most accessible novel. If you are used to reading contemporary rom-coms, it might not be what you are used to. The novel does not ease you in with a relatable world and quirky characters. Instead, the novel throws you in the deep end. You might say that, it thrusts you into a strand of time. The novel not only starts in the middle of the action, but it also does not have the most traditional characters. In fact, I have no idea what any of the characters in this novel look like and I only have a basic understanding of the wider world the novel takes place in. This might be strange to say as I have read the novel three times and wrote an essay on it. Yet, the joy of the novel is that it makes almost no sense but perfect sense at the same time. You don’t need to understand the ins and outs of the world because the romance is what draws you in.
At its core, This is How You Lose the Time War is an enemies to lovers romance. Red and Blue work for rival time organisations and are working against each other to manipulate the time line. This science fiction element forms the background of the novel. The intricacies of time and politics in the novel are almost unimportant. What matters is that the wider world has forced Red and Blue to be enemies.
Despite working against each other, Red and Blue start to communicate with each other. They leave each other letters which start off goading and full of banter and evolve into the most romantic lines of fiction you will ever read. Alongside this, the characters evolve. My personal favourite part of the novel is watching Red come into herself and embrace her inner thoughts. When you think of science fiction, you will probably think about some of the most famous evolutions or transformations of all fiction. But forget Frankenstein, The Fly, and X-Men. The sci-fi evolutions we should be talking about are in character development.
Because This is How You Lose the Time War is a novel focused so much of characters (both their relationships and their inner selves), it manages to be the perfect romance novel. It is forbidden love done perfectly. I’d say read the novel even if it seems intimidating. This might annoy sci-fi fans, but forget the world and just focus on the romance.
I love romance. I love science fiction. I love science fiction romance (About Time is a great film and This Is How You Lose The Time War might be the most romantic book I’ve ever read. So surely you’d think that The Time Travellers Wife would be perfect for me. At least that’s what I thought when I read the book last year. Yet, I was very disappointed.
Mainly because this book is not a romance. It is a metaphorical tale about child abuse and grooming. The premise is literally a man telling a young girl that they are destined to be together and her falling for it until they eventually get married. That is the most problematic plot ever. It is so problematic that it only could have only been published in the early 2000s. It had to be published in the era of toxic fictional relationships. Yet, at least other novels from this period (like everyone’s beloved Twilight) are fun.
I am absolutely baffled how someone could have decided to make an adaption of this story in the post-me-too era. In fact, I feel like what was needed was an anti-Time Traveller’s Wife TV show. Now is the perfect time to explore just how toxic the romances we grew up reading and watching were. Seriously Netflix needs to get onto this concept cause I’m sure it would be a massive hit with the 20plus-year-olds who survived this era.
There is a chance that this book is perfect… at least perfect for me. I’ve never had such a positive feeling about a book that I have preordered before (and certainly not one I had signed). I am so glad that this one delivered everything I wanted and more. This book will hold a special place in my book collection (and my heart) for years to come.
I have previously read three Emily St. John Mandel books, and this one is probably my favourite. I was first introduced to her writing when I picked up The Glass Hotel on a whim and I started off strong. I found myself immersed in the plot and in love with the atmosphere. (Irrelevant sidenote: since reading this novel, I have come to the conclusion that I love stories about hotels. This is super niche, but one of my favourite comfort shows is Schitt’s Creek, I could talk about The Shining for years and years, and The Grand Budapest Hotel is an unforgettable film with an even more unforgettable soundtrack – it is basically the only film score I will rave about.) It is therefore no surprise that while Station Eleven is everyone else’s favourite Mandel novel, The Glass Hotel was mine. Until I read The Sea of Tranquility, which truly changed the game… or rocked the boat.
However, The Sea of Tranquility is perhaps not a novel for everyone. It is designed for an Emily St. John Mandel reader. In this novel, she essentially creates her own extended universe. However, the Mandel-universe differs from others like the MCU. Unlike these films, her novel is not a desperate attempt to make as much money as possible. In fact, Mandel’s decision to her unite her novels might have made them less profitable. Even though it can be read on its own, I wouldn’t recommend reading it without having read at least The Glass Hotel, and maybe even Station Eleven too. To appreciate the full complexity of the novel, you need to immerse yourself in her writing.
The Sea of Tranquility is almost impossible to describe. It is a novel that initially appears to have no protagonist. It starts much like Cloud Atlas. It includes vignettes that later connect to a more recognisable plot. While none of her novels are chronological, this novel has even less of a familiar structure. Like her other novels, The Sea of Tranquility follows multiple threads across time. Yet, in her other novels, these strands are plaited together by repeating characters. At first, The Sea of Tranquility feels completely unconnected, her reader cannot decipher why Mandel is choosing to tell these stories. It reads more like a book of incomplete short stories than a novel.
However, around the halfway mark, Mandel finally ties her disparate stories together through Gaspery-Jacques Roberts. As a time-traveller tasked with exploring a weird artistic loophole he unites the novel. At this point, the book became impossible to put down. I ravished the end of the book. I lived the dream of basking in the sunshine while reading a perfect novel. The atmosphere was beautiful and well, tranquil.
‘This is the strange lesson of living in a pandemic: life can be tranquil in the face of death’
Emily St. john Mandel
This does not mean that I did not enjoy the beginning of the novel, don’t get me wrong I loved the entire thing. But understanding the connections between her sections transformed the book from a simple walk in the woods to a transcendent experience that needed to be captured.
Throughout the entire book, Mandel writes with her trademark luscious style. The entire book is just beautiful to read. It is incredibly quotable. Olive’s section includes the type of impactful ruminations you would expect from an author’s perspective. In this section, Mandel narrates the experiences of an author who wrote a pandemic novel going through an actual pandemic (I can only guess where she stumbled upon the inspiration for this narrative). Olive forces you to reflect on your own pandemic experience. But it is not all doom and gloom. Amidst, her reflections that ‘in any given crowd, serval people will be incredibly sick’, Mandel weaves in little comments that offer the reader a wave of irony and humour. You can’t help but laugh at her thoughts like ‘but obviously Marienbad was fiction’. The line between fiction and reality is blurred for Olive, just like Mandel blurs the lines between the narratives we are reading and the lives we are living. Its commentary on the pandemic would perhaps appeal to fans of Ali Smith. Like Smith, Mandel’s jibes skim the water like a pebble on the ocean.
Saying this, the most impactful lines definitely manifest once we have dived into the head of Gaspery-Jacques’s mind. Learning about his marital failures, his search for purpose, and his kindheartedness, makes an already resonant novel unforgettable.
It’s very rare for a book to make me cry, but this one did it. It has so many lines that will resonate with me through time. I truly don’t think I can forget this book or its language. It is literary fiction at its best. It makes you think by offering subtle images that can transfer into messages for life. By focusing on him, Mendel anchors the book on his experiences. Through her short chapters, Mandel forces her reader to think about existential questions… but in an inspiring way. After all, ‘a life lived in a simulation is still a life’.
I absolutely loved that it reminded me of some of my favourite sci-fi stories. It reminded me of the OA, Sense8, Cloud Atlas, This is How You Lose the Time War and much more. I often forget why I love sci-fi and this has proved that it is because of connection. Sci-fi can offer beautiful relationships and interconnected plots at the same time. It makes me want to read more sci-fi, dive back into those beloved stories, and reread this book immediately – while writing this review, I took a break to reserve the audiobook from my library. I can’t wait to dive back into the book and discover even more hidden paths and connections.
Just before I entered the cinema to watch this film, my friend told me this was meant to be the best film ever made. That’s quite a lot of information to digest about two seconds before watching a film you know hardly anything about. My expectations for this film went from low to high in those two seconds.
I tend to go into films knowing approximately nothing about them. For this film, all I knew was that it was a sci-fi film and that it was apparently the best film ever made. That is exactly the right amount of information to know going into this film! I reckon if you knew much more than this, the film would lose some of its affect. Ironically, to enjoy this film, it is best to know nothing nowhere in due course.
So if you haven’t watched this film, I would advise you to stop reading here so you can watch it. Watch it this exactly instant if you can. Literally, right now! I enjoyed this film so much that, immediately after leaving the cinema, I messaged just about everyone I knew to instruct them to watch it. And the day after, I spent all day at work animately waxing lyrics about its perfection. So, run (or parkour) your way to your local theatre and bask in the glory of Everything Everywhere All At Once.
‘I Was Just Looking For Someone Who Could See What I See, Feel What I Feel’ — Jobu Tupaki.
I think what surprised me the most about Everything Everywhere All At Once is that it is a film about appreciating others and allowing yourself to connect to them. At the beginning of the film, you would never guess that this film was going to be an emotional rollercoaster. The film starts by introducing the audience to the Wang family. This family are the epitome of the dysfunctional family – they couldn’t be less in sync if they tried. Evelyn is struggling to keep control of the family laundrette. Waymond is preparing for divorce. And Joy just wants her sexaulity to be recognised. The family is coming apart at the seems. In fact, they have completely unvarelled. They are three pieces of lose string.
The camera movement reflects this disconnection. When following Evelyn it matches her frantic pace. It relentlessly tilts and pans. The audience’s eyes are (just like Evelyn) unable to sit still. In contrast, the camera is much more static when Waymond and Joy are in the shot. The opening of the film is jarring to watch because the family are ajar.
The later sections of the film are jarring in another way. Once the characters enter the IRS building (to sort out the family’s finances), the plot never stops. It is a washing machine stuck on high spin speed. The viewer is introduced to Alpha Waymond (a superhero-esque version of Waymond from an alternative universe) who high kicks the plot into a face-paced action-adventure. Evelyn (and the audience) learn that she is the universe’s (or multiverse’s) only hope to prevent Jobu Tupaki from destroying it. Waymond requires Evelyn to versejump (tap into her alternative selves’ skills). To do this, you have to do something you rediculous. Something you would never normally do. This concept provides the film with the majority of its humour. It forces the characters to step out of their comfort zone and make the (I don’t think I’ll ever be in the cinema and hear as many audible groans as when two men insert phalic statues into thier annus).
This sounds conviluted, but somehow when watching the film everything makes as much sense as it needs to. It the audience is confused, it is on purpose. Everything from the everything-bagel, Raccacoonie, and the hot-dog finger universe somehow makes sense within the bazzarness of the film. This is the magic of Everything Everywhere All At Once. It might be a jigsaw puzzle with no guide picture, but you are somehow content with the knowledge that you are missing a piece.
At first, it seems like the biggest shock will be the revelation that Jobu Tupaki is none other than Evelyn and Waymond’s daughter Joy. Yet, just while you are adjusting to this unmasking (or un-hooding), you are propelled into even more uncharted teritority. This is the point where the film becomes insanely emotional.
You perhaps could have guessed that the film’s plot would, like all good theme park rides, include sharp turns and mindbending loops – after all, it is a sci-fi film that starts in a realistic setting. However, you just wouldn’t guess that these new dimensions and loops would be emotional. Yet, it is not just the plot that takes unexpected directions, it is also your emotions. Your emotions are thrust upon an unifamiliar path you watch this film. I’m not one to cry at films (the last film I cried at was Aladdin 2019 and gin very much influenced those tears), but even I found myself holding back the tears. I was about two seconds away from having an existential crisis, before luckily the film rose to new heights and elevated my mood.
The audience is told that the familiar version of Evelyn is the worst version of her. In this universe, she has essentially made all the wrong decisions. She could have been much more successful if she had zigged instead of zagged. Essentially, if she had not married Waymond, she could have been an action star with money, talent, and glory. This sounds incredibly depressing. And, at this point in the film, I started to become a nihilist. But, just when you are about to dig yourself a hole to lie down instead of fight, the film delivers a life affirming message through a simple plot twist.
By revealing that Jobu Tupaki is not trying to destroy the world, she is just trying to connect with her mother, the film suddenly becomes the feel-good movie of the decade. The film is about recognising and accepting your family for what it is. It forces you to remember that love your life and the people within it. For a black comedy, this message is anything but black. It is as bright as a sunny day. Like a summer’s morning, the film takes you out of your seasonal depression and elevates your mood. You leave the cinema with a new lease of life – I literally told everyone I know that I love them.
Everything Everywhere All at Once makes you feel every emotion everywhere all at once. I left the film feeling sad, happy, happy-sad, and sad-happy. My emotions (much like the plot of the film) defied linear logic but did not leave me feeling confused. I was emotional and content with this and my life.
Words and Dragons 