Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Every time I clock in to read an R.F. Kuang novel I have the same thought: Maybe I should return to get my doctorate. As I’m reading, however, I’m all at once reminded of the Horrors that exist within academia. Then I read a little more and think: Maybe I should go back! Repeat until I’ve finished the book. Katabasis is such a fascinating read, not just for its contents but for R.F. Kuang’s unerring ability to blend fiction and her obvious meticulous research of the concepts she includes in her books. The way her mind works is just incredible. She always circumvents the narrative you expect from reading the synopsis of her books. I found Alice to be a fascinating narrator, and I kept thinking about what a room with Alice, Robin, June, and Rin would look like. I absolutely would watch from a very far distance. This book was beautiful, harrowing, heart-wrenching, and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time to come. Shout out to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the eARC!
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Amazing book, especially for those who are familiar with dante
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-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
First, I want to give an enormous thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for this free eARC in exchange for my honest review. Katabasis was my most anticipated book of 2025 and I am so grateful to get to read it early and for free!
Katabasis, by R.F. Kuang, follows two young graduate students who dive into hell to save their professor’s soul. It’s kind of like a dark academia fantasy meets Alice in Wonderland. If you have seen the author’s quote about this also having an enemies-to-lovers romance, that is true but the story is not heavily focused on the romance and there is zero spice.
Alice and Peter are the two main characters, and they are the only characters we really know anything about in the story. I like them both and found them both relatable in their own ways; Peter is just a sweet cinnamon roll. The one chapter we got to hear about Peter’s backstory really helped solidify his character. However by the end of the book we really don’t know anything about Alice’s background before she came to Cambridge, and I think she’s a little weaker than she could be because of that. When there are only two main characters and maybe, if you want to count them, two side characters, I think the MC character development should be bursting at the seams with detail, but that didn’t happen here. Alice and Peter’s relationship itself I did find really cute and had my heart fluttering.
As with Babel, this book will have reviewers arguing over its intellectual and even pretentious nature. While Babel was focused on the study and history of language, the magic system of Katabasis is based on classical philosophy and logic. The entire book is filled with academic references and explanations of logical paradoxes- I personally found these interesting, but also understandably they will bore many readers to tears.
There’s a part of the book (the entire time in Dis) that just became too theoretical and complex for me to grasp. Those chapters were the weakest in my opinion. But overall, I did feel a little like I’m too dumb for this book, and it was hard for me to piece together what Kuang’s main messages were.
The ending was great. I still have to say I will read anything Kuang puts out at this point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Blood, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Animal death, Child death
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-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
“You thought people were giants, and they devastated you by being so human.”
katabasis was one of my most anticipated reads this year and one of my fears is that it might not quite meet my expectations. i beheld the novel with trembling hands, both because of anticipation and nervousness that i might not like it. it is poignant, bizarre, and emotionally raw. a journey into memory, guilt, and the consequences of your own decisions, in addition to the journey to the underworld. rfk’s skillful blending of psychology and magick is what sets it apart. it was not a comfortable read, which i think is intentional.
the book follows alice and peter, two graduate students, as they travel through hell to recover their advisor's soul, fusing dark academia with various allusions. their path is filled with intellectual rivalry, emotional reckonings, and philosophical paradoxes. i love their pair, i love their banters.
however, too much specifics often overshadowed the immersive atmosphere. even though kuang's prose is frequently lovely, it became a thick haze that made it hard to concentrate and follow the plot. often times i just kept on reading despite the many questions left unanswered, this is not usually a bad thing, yet in this book, it kind of is. also, too much info dump was distracting as the story stops abruptly every few seconds to allow her to tell us about lovers in academia who are secretly in a toxic relationship, math formulas, or schrödinger's cat. to add, i was confused rather than interested, because the original reason for the descent into hell was still dressed in a confusing ambiguity. literally, it reads like a textbook, with the plot merely there to keep you from putting it down. i found most of it anticlimactic, like there wasn’t much motivation to their actions, and not enough desirable effects. this was kind of constant throughout the book, which was appalling.
rf kuang said this is a romance book, do i dare say she writes lovers who aren’t lovers better? almost lovers but not quite and will never be. that is her specialty. something about two rfk characters explicitly professing their love is appallingly underwhelming, at least for me. but this line ate so hard: “I wish I were the night, so that I might watch your sleep with a thousand eyes.”
katabasis was not as trailblazing as tpw, not as devastating as tbg, not as emotionally-charged as babel, not as trivial as yellowface. not my favorite rf kuang but this still served! i might, however, not remember anything at all in katabasis in 2-3 business days.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
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
This book was so good! I loved the dynamic between Alice and Peter. I thought that the analysis of academia and its impact on students as well as society was so interesting, especially as someone with a bachelors but nothing higher. The chapters of dialogue were definitely more interesting to me than the chapters of context and background information, but all of it was well written and thoroughly explained. The plot was well rounded, and I don’t feel like anything was left unanswered that should have been wrapped up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship
Minor: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexism
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes