A review by courtneyfalling
Sarahland by Sam Cohen

dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is definitely a recent standout in the "post-grad angst dark feminist short story collections" genre, but I'm also recognizing it's a heavy genre I keep struggling with, and I think I need to take a step back for a bit before reading anymore. I am glad I got to this before trying to set that moratorium... and maybe this will inspire me to read some of the personal essays and theory from sex workers that I have on my list. 

Sarahland: sexual content, body-shaming, toxic friendship, anti-Semitism
  • For obvious conceptual reasons this makes sense as a title, but I also think this short story sets a solid precedent for the collection and makes sense as the title in that way too. 

Naked Furniture: sexual content (sex work), misogyny, pedophilia mentions/allusions 
  • Grapples with why college-educated leftist femmes can turn to sex work, doesn't really give easy answers on alternate systems/worlds/reasons to live

Exorcism, or Eating My Twin: toxic relationship, transphobia, cannibalism
  • Ugh the voice in this! Sam Cohen crafts amazing obsessive main characters

Dream Palace: sexual content
  • The extra trippy, abstract short stories didn't hit as hard for me

The First Sarah: sexual content, infertility, kidnapping, toxic relationship, misogyny, lesbophobia, incest
  • What a weird but good example of a Bible mythical retelling 

Gemstones: mental illness, sexual content 

Gossip: sexual content, breakup (bad breakup? idk this isn't a toxic relationship but it's something), misogyny, infidelity
  • Probably the most conventional of these stories?

Becoming Trees: suicide (kind of), rape (mention of Daphne story)
  • Very speculative, kind of reminded me of The Seep

All the Teenaged Sarahs: isolation from parents, hazing/toxic friendship, sexual harassment/assault, physical assault, toxic relationship, suicide attempt 
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