Reviews

Sarah Court by Craig Davidson

raeroy's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I found it interesting overall. The author describes things in unique ways that make me think. I did find it a like hard to get into because of the style. I'm both happy to know the outcome of the many stories and feel like not having an epilogue could have been good too as it would leave me wondering how things turned out and I could imagine my own endings for each. Abby's injury is what drew me in and I had to know what happened to her. I enjoyed the squirrel rants at the beginning too.

nosfredatu's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Parfois un peu confus, mais je crois que c'est voulu. Des belles trouvailles au fil des pages. Un auteur à découvrir.

spookyemily's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

the_original_shelf_monkey's review

Go to review page

5.0

Through every tale, there are hints of unnamable corruption, usually in the guise of animals or elements of the corporeal body, reminding me of nothing so much as filmmaker David Lynch and his genius at creating unclassifiable dread. Red spider mites teem in a deer’s eyes, “so many as to give the impression it’s weeping blood.” A can of paint has “the hue of diseased organ meat.” Squirrels abound in Sarah Court, somehow playful yet harbingers of some interior evil a la the sinister owls in Lynch’s Twin Peaks. “The owls are not what they seem.” And in several tales there is the presence of a perplexing transparent box holding “a squirming mass the size of a medicine ball.”

While Davidson wreaks some sinister havoc on his characters, there is a grounding in reality that keeps Sarah Court from becoming weird for weird’s sake. There is an outlying supernatural element, but Davidson’s horror is far more the horror of character, of people causing unconscious destruction through their own ill-conceived desires. No resident of Sarah Court gets off unscathed; there are emotional cripplings, physical disfigurements, and mental implosions. There is also good, a desire to rise above the fray, making the climax of each story almost overpowering in each person’s sad realizations of their weaknesses.

Read the rest of the review here.

anndouglas's review

Go to review page

3.0

Intriguing and disturbing. Well-written and intricately woven so that all of the subplots come together beautifully in the end.
More...