Book Review: The Seven O’Clock Club by Amelia Ireland
The Details
Media Type: Ebook
Title: The Seven O’Clock Club
Author(s): Amelia Ireland
Publisher: Berkley
Pages/Length: 368 pages, Hardcover
Release Date: April 15, 2025
Source: NetGalley
Add it on: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm
Four strangers are brought together to participate in an experimental treatment designed to heal broken hearts in this surprising and heartfelt debut novel from author Amelia Ireland.
In a perfectly ordinary building, four strangers who couldn’t be more different meet for the first time. Their skepticism of this new kind of grief therapy—and the unnervingly perceptive group leader—means they’re all wary, but as the weeks go by, they find themselves returning again and again, pulled to work toward healing, even if it means first facing the pain head-on.
A sharp-tongued lawyer who has no intention of letting down her walls, a fragile young woman looking for a place to belong, a musician at the top of his game who’s one drink away from losing it all, and an interior designer facing the crumbling of her picture-perfect life—this unlikely group slowly opens up, not only to the possibility of a happier future but to friendship, change, and even romance.
When a shocking revelation reveals the real reason they were chosen for this group, it shakes the very foundation of what they thought they knew. What began as a journey designed to heal turns out to be a much greater test of friendship, strength, and love as they realize happiness is just outside the door…if they’re brave enough to seek it.
The Review
Before I fully start this review, I have to be honest and let you know that this entire thing is going to be pretty gushy. See, what made me pick up this book in the first place is that The Seven O’Clock Club deals with grief. As someone who recently lost a sibling, these kinds of books always end up on my TBR because they’re a safe and relatively comfortable way to process things. I’m sure we’ve all been there in some capacity. Your brain doesn’t want to let you process yourself, but processing through fictional characters? Totally okay. As you might expect, I did a lot of crying throughout this book.
Ireland brings together the most adorably mismatched group of humans that you’ve ever met. From Victoria, our older and very much no-nonsense participant, all the way down to former rockstar Callum who swears he’s only there to revive his career. Each of our four participants are united by one thing: grief. Deeper than that, the inability to let go of that grief long enough to actually process it. The ask of the group is simple. Show up, share, and hopefully heal along the way.
What happens on these pages is pure magic, let me tell you. I appreciated so much that the story doesn’t start straight off by telling us why each of our MCs are there. Instead, you really get an opportunity to get to know them on personal level. As the story progresses, they fight, they laugh, they bond, and there is understandably a ton of emotional dialogue exchanged. By the time that Ireland actually has the characters share their pasts, and what is holding them down, it feels like that much more real. I truly felt for every single one of these people. I wished I could be part of their group.
Then, just when you’re sure that you know where things are going and you’re feeling really good about their progress: a twist. A twist that I truly didn’t see coming, and it floored me. That’s what pushed this book from a 4-star read straight up into the 5-star read territory. I absolutely refuse to spoil this for you. However I can tell you that it just felt so right for that twist to happen. The ending almost gutted me, but man. It was so perfect. There’s not a bad thing I can say about The Seven O’Clock Club. I hope that you give it a spot on your TBR.
