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

[MsTri]

[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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Strap on, readers! Delving into Tara Basi's Seven at Two Past Five is like falling into Alice's rabbit hole to the nth power. This story of an old button maker's quest to acquit herself of silly charges brought against her is a fun, confusing, scary ride into the world of the audacious, satirical, and parabalistic.

When Abi - called "Seven at Two Past Five", or just "Seven," by others - awakens one morning without having experienced the Terrors the night before, she's thrilled. But not for long. She is served with a document noting that she has disrupted the order of things, resulting in a Disturbance Potential, for which she receives a Judgement of such. The punishment would be a mere black mark on her bunk-bed-coffin, but she resists, insisting that she's innocent and shouldn't have to endure the nightly nightmares anyhow. After an intense phone argument, she is given instructions on how she may appeal her Judgements. From there, it is all downhill, for getting her appeal is by no means easy, and it causes her to question everyone's sanity many times.

I found myself bonding with Abi nearly right away. For one thing, she has an internal clock that literally ticks in her head, and I've always had a talent for "feeling" the time; that is, if I set a timer for 5 or 10 or even 30 minutes, I'll "feel" that the time has passed just before the timer goes off. I'm also liable to wake up in the middle of the night, knowing what time it is within 5-10 minutes. In addition, Abi refers to sections of her brain as boxes, i.e. she has one box full of rituals, another box full of rules, yet another full of protocols, etc. Likewise, I refer to my brain as a giant filing cabinet, through which I have to rifle to find certain information. Additionally, Abi has never seen or talked to another human before the story begins, and she's content to be alone. While I have interacted with others plenty, I prefer my solitude and would be happy to be a hermit. On the other hand, Abi is obsessed with the ways "such a thing must be done," and I am much more flexible with rules. She's also much more aggressive than I. But who IS she, really? Is she just an innocent old button maker, or is there more to her than meets the eye? Read this tome to find out.

The world that Abi lived in was very interesting, and I found myself in constant awe of the places that Basi created. Things were all the more interesting because to Abi, many of the places seemed as if they had just been built too. The thought that all of these places had been created during the one day in which the story took place left my jaw hanging to the floor a time or two.

At its heart, Seven at Two Past Five is an allegory mixed with parable. It speaks to all the red tape one finds wrapped around themself when trying to accomplish anything in the legal sector. The characters speak either in riddles or sentences of understandable nonsense. If the Hatter was mad, the beings in Abi's world must be livid...or something. Since it's fiction, the goings-on are much more silly and illogical than in real life, but the analogy is clear during the reading. There's also quite a bit of spirituality in the book, and my favorite chapter involved Priest determining whether Abi had a soul. In addition, I really liked Lady Sade's story when she "witnessed" on Abi's behalf.

Speaking of characters, I felt that Basi was very inventive in her creation of persons to fill Abi's world with. Her appeals process administrator, Zero, was kind and always stood up for Abi, even if he was a little too surfer boylike for my liking. The main antagonists, the Marys, were also an interesting bunch, and I really liked Grunge, Abi's solicitor. There were many other characters involved in Abi's story, and all of them served a clear purpose with nobody wasting any ink.

Since there were very few grammatical errors in this tome, I am happy to give Seven at Two Past Five 4 out of 4 stars. I also highly recommend this tale to fans of political satire, parables, and general silliness. As mentioned above, it has many religious overtones, so stay clear if that doesn't appeal to you.

If the judged chooses to challenge this Judgement, then the judged will receive an additional Judgement of Challenging a Judgement. Mounting a challenge would be fruitless and will likely garner further criminal Judgements and ever harsher punishments.

- Mary M, Seven at Two Past Five

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Seven at Two Past Five
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[Kibet Hillary]

This must be really fascinating. I am glad that the author did create interesting places that pull the reader into them. Thanks for your wonderful review.

[Laura Ungureanu]

I can really see how much you've enjoyed this book. I've also liked it a lot and I can still recall the absurd situations Abi was in. Your description is amazing. Thank you for this wonderful review!

[Erin Painter Baker]

The concept of this book just charms me so much, so I love that it is being well reviewed. I definitely want to read it and get to know Abi.

[Aan Granados]

This sounds confusing but intriguing. Even if I don’t like fantasy I appreciate a well written book. Thank you for your review!