Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Matrix by Lauren Groff

8 reviews

gwenswoons's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

A little hard to rate a book like this, which is objectively magnificent in the writing, masterful in every way, but which I didn’t actually enjoy reading. I’m in awe of Lauren Groff, to be sure — I buy absolutely everything, but this is actually only my second time reading a book of hers. The emotional difference between this and Fates and Furies (a real favorite of mine) is so enormous, but so too are the character differences, the sense of place and time, the entire pace and identity of the storytelling. Matrix is spectacularly executed but was just a hard/slow read for me in the intense ancient religious setting (though it’s not, of course, a book that places religion on a pedestal — Groff is too deeply an analyst and an intellectual for that), even though the characters are vivid and flawed and interesting. I think this book is totally remarkable for the writing itself, but that I’m not ultimately its best reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

elanilanella's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This isn't the sort of book I would normally read. I came for the novelty of reading a book about queer nuns, and found myself increasingly interested in the runnings of the abbey and Marie's relationship to her faith. 

I found that I had to really pay attention while reading this book, because each sentence was so gorgeously and meticulously crafted. The writing was different than anything I've ever read. I loved the way Groff would show and not tell, and I adored how the dialogue was done. Groff really captured the duality of the wealth and opulence and holiness of characters at the time alongside much dirt and gore, and using words like 'c*nt', 'p*ss' and 'sh*t'.

The only reason I'm not giving this book 5 stars is because there were times I had to reread a sentence over a few times before I understood it, and there was so much jargon I didn't understand (though, I also felt this added to the feeling of it being a Medieval book). Sometimes something really important would be hidden in a very long sentence filled with other things so that if your brain wasn't turned on you might miss it. When I didn't miss it however, I adored it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Rape

Minor: Rape

eliya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

This book was a challenge for me. 
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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• 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

4.25

Review:

Admittedly, it took me nearly 200 pages to really start to get used to Matrix by Lauren Groff and its poetic, fluid, somewhat stream-of-consciousness writing style as well as its unique storyline that often produces more questions than answers. Even then, it was not until the end of the story that I fully appreciated the book for what it is. At the heart of the story is the character of Marie, an admirable but flawed nun whose ambition leads her to transform a starving, poor abbey into a magnificent, self-sustaining wealthy fortress. Marie’s character arc is wonderfully executed, and I appreciated the large cast of supporting characters as well.

 

My favorite part of Matrix, however, is its thematic exploration of religion, feminism, ambition, power, sapphic love, and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. This is the sort of book that I could read many times over and glean new meaning each time; it is the type of book that begs to be analyzed in a literature class. Groff trusts in the intelligence of her readers and never oversimplifies or hits the reader over the head in order to make her point.

 

 

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like Matrix if:

·      You go into the book with an open mind

·      You are someone who is interested in themes of religion and queerness

·      You enjoy poetic writing styles

 

You might not like Matrix if:

·      You dislike flowery writing and fluid plot structure

·      You prefer exciting plots and clear explanations for events

 

A Similar Book: 

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladsone. Similarities between these books include:

·      Beautiful, lyrical, intelligent prose

·      Friend/enemy relationship between two strong women from different worlds

·      Themes of feminism, queerness and humanity’s relation to the natural world

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Miscarriage, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and War

balth_the_chaotic_good's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

msjenne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ashareadsbooks's review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, and Abandonment

Minor: Genocide, Torture, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, 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

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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