Review by Jsovermyer -- Seven at Two Past Five by Tara Basi

[Jsovermyer]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Seven at Two Past Five" by Tara Basi.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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An elderly woman, Abi or Seven as she is sometimes called, lives a simple and ordered life as a button-maker. Every morning she wakes up in her bunk-bed-coffin number Seven. She uses her cherished personal chamber pot. Then climbs down the ladder at exactly Two Past Five to go to her button workhouse. She never sees any other people. Her only communication is the blue envelope with that day’s button order. Every night she has terrible nightmares called “Terrors” that she can’t explain. The story begins when one morning she wakes up and realizes she didn’t have a Terror that night. She feels delighted and rested until she gets to work and finds a black envelope, instead of her normal blue one. She has been charged with Disturbance Potential because of her lack of the Terrors. Abi decides to stand up for herself and appeal the charge. This begins her crazy one-day journey, meeting strange new people and going places that she never knew existed.

Seven at Two Past Five is crazy and insane. It can be described as an adult Alice in Wonderland, or a cross between The Wizard of Oz and Monty Python. It is an outlandish parody of our own world. The cast of characters, like Grunge, the bat man, Sapphria and the Marys, are all odd and bizarre. Each new situation and person that Abi encounters on her appeal journey is worse than the last. Will Abi appeal her sentence? Will she ever understand the meaning of the Terrors and why they are so important? Will she ever find out her true name? These questions will keep you guessing until the end of the book.

The author, Tara Basi, is a master of description. I could see, feel and smell the places to which we traveled from her vivid and creative depiction. She has a great imagination. The names for her locals like The House of Pointlessness, Sphincter Court and hallways named No Way, Absolutely No Way and You Must Be Joking are humorous and inspired. I also liked how she used songs by the Beatles, Rolling Stones and other artists adding changed verses to give clues to what was happening.

Abi is a very well-developed character. She starts out as a quiet woman who always obeys the rules of her life and is on time to the second. As more and more crazy demands are placed upon her, she tries her best to comply and then finally rebels at the absurdity of it all. I could feel her frustration and fear at a situation that she could not control and did not understand. Abi is an endearing character. She is polite even in the worst situations and worries about the safety of people who treat her badly. Her court-appointed appeals process administrator, Zero, is another great character. He is the only nice and caring person. He is also funny because he speaks in a kind of hippie-speak that most of the other characters don’t understand. It adds to his appeal.

The world in this book represents an extreme version of our own world. There are a great number of rules and an enormous amount of paperwork involved in Abi’s appeal and subsequent trial. Everyone can be bribed, especially the witnesses. The media and the shopping channel are the most important things to most of the characters. They are only interested in showmanship, not the truth. This story portrays the court, the church, scientists, and the press all in a negative but humorous light.

I genuinely liked Seven at Two Past Five and don’t think it needs any improvement. It is comical, unique and imaginative. It is also filled with deep meaning and caused me to question my beliefs and understanding of life. I found no grammatical or spelling errors in it and believe it has been professionally edited. Because of these points, I am rating Seven at Two Past Five as 4 out of 4 stars. I would recommend it to anyone who likes imaginative fantasy stories, outrageous characters and thought-provoking symbolism. People who are offended by religious satire would not like this book. Also, because of some sexual situations and obscene language, this book is suggested solely for adults. If you have an open mind and enjoy deep philosophical ideas, then I think you will really like this book.

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Seven at Two Past Five
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[Jsovermyer]

This was a very strange story, but I really enjoyed it. If you like unusual fantasy stories you should give this a try.