The Seven O’Clock Club by Amelia Ireland
My rating: 10 of 5 stars!!!
How to describe this beautifully engrossing, immersive story? It was almost impossible to put this book down – it was that good.
These descriptors come easily to mind: intelligently written, highly imaginative, empathetic, unflinching examinations of weighty issues like grief and depression, and, above all, the importance of reaching out and banding together as a group for support.
Four people respond to an ad seeking participants in a group therapy study. These four participants range in temperament from the ferociously strong, middle aged Victoria, to the young and sweetly docile Mischa. Beautiful Freya is a shadow of her former vivacious self, and Callum has hit rock bottom – thanks to the usual overindulgence in drugs, sex and partying – after his meteoric rise to the top of the music industry.
Each of these four are having issues with grief, despair and anger: Each has experienced a profound loss or life changing event that has effectively put the brakes on their everyday lives and plunged them into emotional and physical inertia.
You might think that this is one big cry-fest, but Callum and Victoria, in their own unique ways, provide much needed comic relief to temper the weighty emotions and themes in this fascinating story. The characters became very real to me – Amelia Ireland’s skillful layering of the various back stories and the stages of the group study kept you turning the pages for more.
There were several “I did not see that coming” moments: no spoilers, but this story had just about EVERYTHING in it: drama, suspense and even a mystery or two to solve. I exclaimed out loud more than once, so well orchestrated were those bombs dropped as the plot unfolded! (Do not be fooled by that somewhat “cozy” title: this is anything but cozy!)
I highly, highly, highly recommend this great read: I’m rating this one a 10 out of 5 stars because this story so obviously came from a true, lived experience and I was sorry to have turned the last page. (This appears to be Amelia Ireland’s debut novel. Well done!)
My thanks to the author, Amelia Ireland, her publishers, and NetGalley for an ARC of this beautifully written, heartfelt novel in exchange for an honest review. I loved it!
(Expected publication date: April 15, 2025)
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