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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
At times it was a pretty engrossing story. It definitely felt closer to hearing R F Kuang’s personal voice than Babel did. Much more a story about grad school than one about hell (imo) — which is not a bad thing, just not exactly what I expected. The stories from inside vs outside hell felt disjointed in the first half of the book. It felt like they may have been better as separate books. Hell seemed at times like more of a setting than driving force (idk if that makes sense). But it felt more clear once everything was mainly just in hell. Some aspects probably went over my head because I don’t know/haven’t read many of the philosophers / accounts of hell she references. But it’s not too overly worried about mechanics which I liked. I didn’t always love the prose and dialogue but that’s just personal preference.
Overall I would recommend people who are interested read it, but I probably won’t reread 🫶
Overall I would recommend people who are interested read it, but I probably won’t reread 🫶
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
If the shit that comes out during severe constipation, was to turn into a book , it would be named katabasis
It lacks a lot of things to be considered a healthy shit
It lacks a lot of things to be considered a healthy shit
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
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
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Talented doesn’t even begin to describe R.F. Kuang’s writing. If that wasn’t proven with any of her previous works, Katabasis has completely knocked that title out of the park. Rebecca is able to write in this mesmerizing and eloquent way. In classic RFK fashion, she’s not afraid to show you what a well educated writer she is. This book was clearly so well researched and thought out that reading it feels like learning despite the book being fiction. It’s very lore and magic dense in the way that Babel was, but manages to feel less heavy and weighed down by the “smartness” of it. It’s pretentious, but not snobby. Despite all the information packed into this book, the pacing never stalled. Everything was so compulsively interesting, I was eating out of Rebecca’s hand this entire book.
Even more so than Babel, Katabasis was the very essence of what dark academia should be. Rebecca’s characters are cynical academic weapons. They’re geniuses and you can feel every bit of their rising instability as the book progresses. Their hunger, their obsessions, their drive—it all just flys off the page. You recognize all of their toxic thinking and self-gaslighting, but you spiral right there with them. It was such an incredible portrayal of the academy in a fictional and magical alternative. The magic system that is rooted in academia and logic just created this perfect all immersive dark academia read.
While this is Rebecca’s book with the most “romance” please be advised it is still very much so a SUBPLOT. This book highlighted so many of the broken systems in academia as well as following such strong character arcs that break down conquering ones own personal hell and reaching so much growth by the end.
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
meh
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes