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patriciadm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death and Child death
Moderate: Animal death
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
If you are interested in Lauren Groff's exploration of religion and queerness in a story about a French nun who empowers a poor nunnery in 1158, then this would be a good one to pick up but keep an open mind!
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Sexual content and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape
_moomin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I read her Lais for a class last spring and was excited to read a fictionalized story of her life, because her vibrant personality and sharp wit come through in her writing, and she was clearly a super interesting person! I enjoyed reading Matrix--the book is rich in historical detail and the prose is magical. The book explores radical protofeminist utopianism that is perfectly suited to the era (see Christine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies, or Marie's own defenses of women in her Lais). The characters flesh out the world, though Marie and a distant but everpresent Eleanor of Aquitaine are the most fully fleshed out.
The book did feel disconnected from the Marie of the Lais. This writing project of Marie's plays only a passing part in the story, which is focused her role as abbess at a struggling English convent. While the character of Marie in the book is strong and interesting, I think the book might have been stronger if it used the historical Marie as inspiration but didn't make her the main character.
There were also moments when the theology or understanding of medieval religious life didn't sit quite right to me. I'm not an expert on medieval Catholicism, but I read in another review that the author was raised evangelical, which made some of that disconnect or anachronism make more sense.
Overall, Matrix is a good read and a thoughtful, vibrant, and deeply human portrait of Marie de France.
Moderate: Violence, Animal death, Death, and Child death
Minor: Misogyny, Abortion, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Homophobia
incorvusveritas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death
thewritebooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Immediately after finishing this, having cried through the last 15 pages, all I could think about was the beautiful way that all of the themes came together at the end to tell a story of life and loss. We travelled through the role of medieval women in the church, female solidarity and sisterhood, sapphic love and desire, the cycles of the seasons and the catholic calendar, power and greed and the sin of creation, followed by the moral weighting of these sins against these women's souls.
The prose was never dramatic, and by avoiding direct speech throughout, the author adds to the feeling of being another witness to the years marching onwards at the Abbey. The messages in this book were very close to my heart and I would be interested in going back with tabs to track and analyse those themes a bit more, having the hindsight now to see how well they were laid out.
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Child death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Rape, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Classism, Excrement, Death of parent, and Dementia
yikeslou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Death
Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
water_and_shade's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Child death and Death
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Blood, and Animal death
eliya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It took me 15h 21m technically, with the Libby app open whether or not I was actually reading.
I’ve never read a historical fiction book for me, and the beginning was a little slow. Once it picked up, the pace ebbed and flowed, and, I began to appreciate how beautifully it is written. So many passages that I want to keep and remember forever, the word choice and the poetic cadence of Lauren’s Groff’s writing is best described by a friend of mine as “delicious.” absolutely.
I love women and I’m so glad I read this book even though this book is way smarter than I will ever be. Gonna go finish weeping now.
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Cancer, Animal death, Torture, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Slavery, War, Animal cruelty, and Forced institutionalization
leneliest's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent
adymae11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Child death, and Physical abuse
Minor: Mental illness, Grief, Dementia, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Cancer, and Animal death