Review by Laura Bach -- Seven at Two Past Five by Tara Basi
Posted: 25 Feb 2019, 15:40
[Following is a volunteer review of "Seven at Two Past Five" by Tara Basi.]
4 out of 4 stars
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I’ve never seen myself so eager to pick up a book until I stumbled across Seven at Two Past Five by Tara Basi. I was immediately hooked by its Kafkaesque style and the gorgeous cover. It was a memorable experience, and I hope more and more people will read this book.
Abi is also known as “Seven”. Two Past Five is the time she has to leave her bunk-bed-tower to go to work. Not a second sooner or later. Not that she would ever dare to test that. She is just an old button maker. Every night, the Terrors come to her sleep. These nightmares are part of her life. The intrigue starts when one night, the Terrors fail to disturb her sleep. She wakes up fresh and dances while walking to work. At her workhouse, she finds a note that tells her she is to be punished for missing the Terrors. She insists that she is innocent and continues to fight this absurd justice system. Will she have a successful case against the tyranny of the world?
Abi is a wonderfully written character. You don’t expect a button maker to be brave, but Abi is curious, smart, and cunning. What makes her so likable is the way she gets readers to empathize with her. You know she is innocent, so you rot for her to get her justice. Abi knows other people exist because every day, while she is working, someone changes her sheets and cleans her chamber pot. You will be charmed by the way Abi describes her lonely grey world. You discover the world through her eyes, so you know as much or as little as she does. Her entire universe is the little room and the workhouse. Or at least that’s what she thinks.
Besides getting her justice, another plot develops in finding out Abi’s real name. Characters give hints of some other name Abi undoubtedly has without her knowing. The action takes place in a single day. That single day changes Abi’s life radically. While she previously never met another person, she now meets a lot of new and mysterious characters.
I recommend Seven at Two Past Five to everyone who enjoyed "The Trial" by Franz Kafka and "1984" by George Orwell. In the beginning, Abi is living a controlled life just like in "1984". After a while, the story becomes full of absurd events that can be easily linked to "The Trial". Compared to "The Trial", the fresh and modern perspective of Tara Basi made me enjoy this book even more than Kafka’s. Everyone who enjoys a bit of darkness and chaos should check out this book. I don’t recommend it to religious people that easily get offended.
The book is more diverse than I initially expected. It treats subjects from science to religion. I was surprised to find a bit of string theory in there at the same time I was searching the web about it. The vocabulary is also extended from my usual one, bringing up a lot of words that I had to check, for example, “to confabulate”.
The ending gives a deeper meaning to the story than I could ever imagine. I was left speechless, so I had to tell a friend all about it, even if it was the middle of the night. I congratulate Tara Basi for the performance of imagining and writing this scenario.
I’ve only found insignificant errors that don’t deserve mentioning and are hardly visible. Summing-up, the book has an astounding plot, a well-constructed main character and narrator, captivating writing style, and a great twist at the end. Adding the professional editing to this recipe, we get a well-deserved 4 out of 4 stars book.
******
Seven at Two Past Five
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Laura Bach's review? Post a comment saying so!
4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
I’ve never seen myself so eager to pick up a book until I stumbled across Seven at Two Past Five by Tara Basi. I was immediately hooked by its Kafkaesque style and the gorgeous cover. It was a memorable experience, and I hope more and more people will read this book.
Abi is also known as “Seven”. Two Past Five is the time she has to leave her bunk-bed-tower to go to work. Not a second sooner or later. Not that she would ever dare to test that. She is just an old button maker. Every night, the Terrors come to her sleep. These nightmares are part of her life. The intrigue starts when one night, the Terrors fail to disturb her sleep. She wakes up fresh and dances while walking to work. At her workhouse, she finds a note that tells her she is to be punished for missing the Terrors. She insists that she is innocent and continues to fight this absurd justice system. Will she have a successful case against the tyranny of the world?
Abi is a wonderfully written character. You don’t expect a button maker to be brave, but Abi is curious, smart, and cunning. What makes her so likable is the way she gets readers to empathize with her. You know she is innocent, so you rot for her to get her justice. Abi knows other people exist because every day, while she is working, someone changes her sheets and cleans her chamber pot. You will be charmed by the way Abi describes her lonely grey world. You discover the world through her eyes, so you know as much or as little as she does. Her entire universe is the little room and the workhouse. Or at least that’s what she thinks.
Besides getting her justice, another plot develops in finding out Abi’s real name. Characters give hints of some other name Abi undoubtedly has without her knowing. The action takes place in a single day. That single day changes Abi’s life radically. While she previously never met another person, she now meets a lot of new and mysterious characters.
I recommend Seven at Two Past Five to everyone who enjoyed "The Trial" by Franz Kafka and "1984" by George Orwell. In the beginning, Abi is living a controlled life just like in "1984". After a while, the story becomes full of absurd events that can be easily linked to "The Trial". Compared to "The Trial", the fresh and modern perspective of Tara Basi made me enjoy this book even more than Kafka’s. Everyone who enjoys a bit of darkness and chaos should check out this book. I don’t recommend it to religious people that easily get offended.
The book is more diverse than I initially expected. It treats subjects from science to religion. I was surprised to find a bit of string theory in there at the same time I was searching the web about it. The vocabulary is also extended from my usual one, bringing up a lot of words that I had to check, for example, “to confabulate”.
The ending gives a deeper meaning to the story than I could ever imagine. I was left speechless, so I had to tell a friend all about it, even if it was the middle of the night. I congratulate Tara Basi for the performance of imagining and writing this scenario.
I’ve only found insignificant errors that don’t deserve mentioning and are hardly visible. Summing-up, the book has an astounding plot, a well-constructed main character and narrator, captivating writing style, and a great twist at the end. Adding the professional editing to this recipe, we get a well-deserved 4 out of 4 stars book.
******
Seven at Two Past Five
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Laura Bach's review? Post a comment saying so!
Thanks for honest review!