Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Matrix by Lauren Groff

17 reviews

thewritebooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This read like a quiet masterpiece.

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.

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careinthelibrary's review against another edition

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emotional informative mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0


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bronzeageholly's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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challenging relaxing medium-paced
  • 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

4.5

I don’t usually like books that don’t use quotation marks because it confuses me and I end up rereading sentences. The writing and prose was beautiful; I have many passages marked! 

It could be a bit slow for my liking and the second half was harder to get through. I liked the references to Melusine, who I’ve heard about prior when reading other books about the war of the roses!

I thought the ending was really well done. Overall an enjoyable read that I devoured in three days despite being slow for my taste! I had read one of Geoff’s works earlier in the year and hated it so I’m happy I gave her a second chance. I’m curious now to see how I like her other works. Highly recommend if you like stories about powerful women challenging that status quo (especially in the world of religion)!


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roseltov's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Aaaargh, this was a really strange read. I found it hard to finish because I feel like the cadence and pace very much benefits from being read in larger chunks. It’s not a book to read in small pieces, I don’t think. I read the last 100 pages in one sitting and enjoyed it, but I hadn’t super loved the middle section, so that’s potentially why.

It also took a while for me to get used to the writing style. There are no speech marks, which I found quite distracting to being with. There are also a lot of antiquated and religious words used, which made it harder to read to start off with.

Having said that, there was plenty to love. The world was painted richly, perhaps too viscerally at times - it was a little gross in places. But I’ve finished the book with a fully realised image of the world in my mind, and a weird love for the strange band of characters.

This book isn’t easy, but I would recommend it.


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dr_aimz's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective relaxing sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75


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apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • 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

3.0


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have_a_doris_day's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • 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


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prettiestwhistles's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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balth_the_chaotic_good's review against another edition

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

3.75


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