What do readers think of The Seven O'Clock Club by Amelia Ireland? Write your own review.

How do others help us heal ourselves? The four strangers who meet weekly at seven o'clock have each suffered a loss they cannot heal on their own. Genevieve, their capable group facilitator, tries a new approach with them. Through rotating points of view, each member tells pieces of their stories as well as takes turns narrating their group sessions. The narration is heavy on the telling, lighter on the showing.

This storyline was a slow burn for me. I found the first 3/5ths a little uneventful. But reader patience pays off with the reveal of Genevieve's special strategy. The twist—that I did not see coming!—redeems the slow first half of the book and gives the last chapters new energy.

This book grabbed me right away. The 4 main characters were well written, interesting and intriguing. In fact, I couldn't put the book down. However there is a big reveal in the plot, and it threw me. At that point I lost interest and the story lost credibility for me. As the plot dealt with grief, I was interested, as like most readers it is a topic I have dealt with and struggle with.

I hadn't known this book was Science Fiction when I requested it, so I thought the plot was a bit farfetched, but intriguing. However, the book redeemed itself by showing the power of group therapy and how helpful it is in showing how each person deals with sadness and self-loathing. And by showing this, it helps people validate their feelings and realize they are not alone in the world, and we are more alike than different.

Four grieving people of different walks of life respond to a wanted participation in an experimental grief therapy. They feel stuck in their lives living with this grief.
These four people are extremely different and the author has the reader feeling as though you know them intimately.
The book is staged so they go through the usual stages of grief until the end. The final part of the story comes as a surprise. I had mixed feelings about the author using high tech at the end.
I loved how phycological this story was written. It would be a good book for book clubs to discuss. A book not soon forgotten,

I would recommend this book to a young book club, whose interest is in fantasy. Our senior book club would not enjoy reading this particular genre. I was totally surprised when the real story setting was revealed. I didn't see it coming... The short chapters about specific characters are a good technique to make the reader focus on each character. The character development of Victoria and Andrew is missing any foundation to make the plot plausible. As Victoria moves through the story, her persona and actions are incompatible. Spoilers are not allowed but having Miss Prim, Proper, and Person-in-charge clean disgusting messes and scale fire escapes was totally unbelievable. Arthur is a one-dimensional character. Callum was a well-developed character and consistently evolved throughout the story. I liked the different characters and wanted to see how the author ended their stories!