Review of Seven at Two Past Five
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Justina Remison
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Review of Seven at Two Past Five
[Following is a volunteer review of "Seven at Two Past Five" by Tara Basi.]
Tara Basi’s Seven at Two Past Five is a one-of-a-kind ride through a surreal world that’s as strange as it is thought-provoking. At its heart is Abi, a button maker whose life seems trapped in a suffocating routine. But nothing about her world is ordinary—it’s full of bizarre rituals, mind-bending trials, and peculiar characters that feel like they’ve walked straight out of a dream. Or maybe a nightmare.
Every day, Abi faces the terrors—horrific, nightmarish events that haunt her evenings, only to vanish when she wakes. Her life, clockwork in its precision, takes a sharp turn when her usual blue envelope doesn't show up; instead, she receives a black one, which kicks off a series of strange and unsettling encounters. From the mystifying Marys to Zero, a young man who claims he is her son, the journey of Abi will be far from predictable. Along the way, she gets thrown into absurd courtrooms, confronted with inscrutable judgments, and faced with big, existential questions: Who is she? Why does she create? Can she change her own reality? Well, read this book and see if those questions were answered.
I won't lie; what makes this book really interesting is Abi herself. She starts off, apparently, a no-nonsense worker, residing in bunk-bed-coffin number seven and making her way every morning to her workhouse at—you guessed it—two past five. However, as her story develops, we follow her in her change to a woman who grapples with cosmic truths and her status as the source of all her nightmares. Abi's resilience and hunger for answers make her a character you can't help but root for, even when the odds seem impossibly stacked against her.
One of the most memorable moments for me is when Abi meets Liberté, a figure who drops the ultimate bombshell: the Terrors aren't just random horrors—they're her own creations. Abi is revealed as the Great Artist, being able to shape the very aspect of existence. She comes in front of an astronomical choice: destroy her creation, erase all records, and clean the slate with a purge, or pass final judgment. Each option flushes with the consequences attached to the universe, with Abi in her moment of weighing her options as heart-wrenching and extraordinary.
Another standout feature is how the amazing author blends its fantastical, surreal world with deep, meaningful questions about identity, purpose, and redemption. It's as if Franz Kafka and Samuel Beckett decided to collaborate on some wild fever dream, but with a touch of hope threaded through the chaos. Abi's story kept me thinking long after I turned the last page, and that is why this book gets a full 5 out of 5 stars from me. If you like stories that give you a different point of view and, at the same time, keep you hooked because of their weirdness, then this one is for you. The book was well-edited and error-free.
******
Seven at Two Past Five
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Tara Basi’s Seven at Two Past Five is a one-of-a-kind ride through a surreal world that’s as strange as it is thought-provoking. At its heart is Abi, a button maker whose life seems trapped in a suffocating routine. But nothing about her world is ordinary—it’s full of bizarre rituals, mind-bending trials, and peculiar characters that feel like they’ve walked straight out of a dream. Or maybe a nightmare.
Every day, Abi faces the terrors—horrific, nightmarish events that haunt her evenings, only to vanish when she wakes. Her life, clockwork in its precision, takes a sharp turn when her usual blue envelope doesn't show up; instead, she receives a black one, which kicks off a series of strange and unsettling encounters. From the mystifying Marys to Zero, a young man who claims he is her son, the journey of Abi will be far from predictable. Along the way, she gets thrown into absurd courtrooms, confronted with inscrutable judgments, and faced with big, existential questions: Who is she? Why does she create? Can she change her own reality? Well, read this book and see if those questions were answered.
I won't lie; what makes this book really interesting is Abi herself. She starts off, apparently, a no-nonsense worker, residing in bunk-bed-coffin number seven and making her way every morning to her workhouse at—you guessed it—two past five. However, as her story develops, we follow her in her change to a woman who grapples with cosmic truths and her status as the source of all her nightmares. Abi's resilience and hunger for answers make her a character you can't help but root for, even when the odds seem impossibly stacked against her.
One of the most memorable moments for me is when Abi meets Liberté, a figure who drops the ultimate bombshell: the Terrors aren't just random horrors—they're her own creations. Abi is revealed as the Great Artist, being able to shape the very aspect of existence. She comes in front of an astronomical choice: destroy her creation, erase all records, and clean the slate with a purge, or pass final judgment. Each option flushes with the consequences attached to the universe, with Abi in her moment of weighing her options as heart-wrenching and extraordinary.
Another standout feature is how the amazing author blends its fantastical, surreal world with deep, meaningful questions about identity, purpose, and redemption. It's as if Franz Kafka and Samuel Beckett decided to collaborate on some wild fever dream, but with a touch of hope threaded through the chaos. Abi's story kept me thinking long after I turned the last page, and that is why this book gets a full 5 out of 5 stars from me. If you like stories that give you a different point of view and, at the same time, keep you hooked because of their weirdness, then this one is for you. The book was well-edited and error-free.
******
Seven at Two Past Five
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Eve Code by Mariett Ramm
