Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Matrix by Lauren Groff

10 reviews

rednikki's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

One recommendation in fiction – both books and film – is that "and then" storytelling is kind of boring, while "but – therefore" story is very interesting. This story starts with a but-therefore...and then most of the rest of it is "and then."

I generally bounce off books where all dialogue is paraphrased, but I was very interested in the period and the setting so I gave it a go. And man, I wish I had not. Most of the characters have very little personality, and they can be identified either by a skill or a deformity. (A couple of characters have Exactly One Quirk. Someone is very rude! Or someone is insane! Or someone is always very sweet! But only a few characters have a personality trait.) As a result, I mixed up the characters a lot.

The author lingered on gruesome death a lot. I get it, "it's 1183 and we're all barbarians!" (to quote The Lion in Winter), but it kind of felt like torture porn.

There were still interesting aspects to the book, and it would probably have been a 3.5 from me if it weren't for the last five pages.

The new abbess throws the old abbess's book of visions into the fire, and then (to paraphrase, just like the author does) a little cloud of smoke goes up and it adds to climate change, which in just over a thousand years turns the land to cinders and kills everyone. This is the second litfic book I've read this year that ends with "climate change, everyone dies." And BOY did it feel tacked on when it's a book set in the 12th century.

Are publishers now mandating that sort of ending or what?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and War

fictionandfauna's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

 This book left me speechless. Truly. 

 

Matrix is the second novel by Lauren Groff that I have read, and following on from the masterpiece that was The Vaster Wilds, I was not sure what to expect as to whether she’d stay true to the style of TVW or whether Matrix would stand its own with a unique spin. 

 

Well, stand alone it sure does. 

 

As is true to Groff’s consistent theme of strong female characters thrust into harrowing situations, Matrix is, at times, difficult story to read. We follow Marie who is sent to live in a convent at the young age of 17 following the death of her royal mother. Marie is the byproduct of r*pe, and so is deeply shamed within her family. 

 

Initially resisting the abbey, she soon finds her element and begins to rise up through the ranks until she assumes the ultimate power of abbess and baroness to the crown. 

 

Marie is a powerful force to be reckoned with, who brings wealth and abundance to her women, but always at a price. 

 

Every decision she makes has an often fatal consequence, although ultimately benefiting the wider abbey. 

 

Groff is such a phenomenally talented, lyrical writer. Matrix took me on a visceral journey across the broad spectrum of emotion. From joy to anguish, I felt it all, right alongside Marie. 

 

The care and attention that Groff dedicates to researching her subject matter was abundantly clear in Matrix. It had me wondering if it was perhaps based on a true story because it felt so incredibly real and inspired. 

 

Groff’s work is not for the faint of heart and carries some heavy trigger warnings, so readers should take care. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

edamamebean's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Probably the best book I’ll read all year. It’s small in scale—never leaving the abbey—but it’s proportions are mythic. The writing is so beautiful that I had to stop and underline often. Lauren Groff is not only a good writer, she’s also a wise one. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

deebee223's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Torture, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, and Dementia

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape, Vomit, and Religious bigotry

literarylion's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Pros:

• A unique and refreshing take on historical fiction, especially medieval historical fiction
• Strong character development 
• Groff's grasp of medieval verbiage and phrasing is precise but not overwhelming to the point of seeming cheap

Cons:

• Extremely slow; frustratingly so at times
• The pacing and structure are a bit muddied; I wasn't clear on what separated each section from the next
• Pretty dense

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Sexism, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, War, and Classism

Minor: Rape and Alcohol

c8lin's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, and Death

Moderate: Ableism, Rape, and Terminal illness

stevie's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

caseythereader's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

Thanks to Riverhead Books for the free advance copy of this book.

- MATRIX is gorgeous, painful, and powerful. Groff's writing carries you along its current through Marie's ups and downs, power grabs and moments of softness.
- This book is an ode to matriarchy, female friendship and sapphic love, and how these support systems propel us through even the bleakest of times.
- Though at times the poetry of the writing felt like it kept the reader at a remove, I still felt deeply for these women, cheering their victories and mourning their losses with them. Even if you know next to nothing about Marie de France or Eleanor of Aquitane (as I did not) this book is still quite engrossing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War

daisyandherbooks's review against another edition

challenging hopeful inspiring relaxing slow-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? Yes

4.0

“For this community is precious, there is a place here even for the maddest, for the discarded, for the difficult, in this enclosure there love enough here even for the most unlovable of women.”

✨Matrix by Lauren Groff✨

This book was probably one of the most poetic books I’ve ever read. It is definitely a piece of literature

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent