A review by usedtotheweather
Matrix by Lauren Groff

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A 'heroine's journey,' the narrative voice dreamy and rich. Groff's narrative tone creates a vivid picture of the High Middle Ages that is seen only through a wooly veil of time passed, creating a visionary world that is both deeply immersive and also set apart, cloistered, from this world of the 21st century.  A feminist, adult, Redwall: the tale of a convent brought from poverty to abundance, with loving descriptions of labor, odd individuals, and food. Like Beautiful World Where Are You (which I read just prior), Groff's novel is interested in what religious structures can offer, what hierarchy and order can provide and produce.  This novel, though, is ultimately more radical in it's religious turn, focusing on a woman who uses the apparatus of religion as well as finding herself shaped by it.