950 reviews for:

Katabasis

R.F. Kuang

4.1 AVERAGE

ruby_99's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark 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

emmcc_bibliobee's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Couldn’t stop thinking about this book since I finished (and agonising over how to rate it) - 5 stars! 

nivedha's review against another edition

4.0

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my expectations were through the roof. she didn't meet it though. kind of felt like it was so unnecessarily dense and bland at times. 

rachchop's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous emotional reflective tense

connor___'s review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark 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

chloelmills's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous dark informative mysterious 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

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Was lucky enough to receive an ARC. 
It is undeniable that R.F Kuang is a brilliant writer. Her prose, her lyricism, her use of language is astounding.

The plot however…. Underwhelming & honestly, boring. 

Without giving away spoilers, there is zero chemistry between the two ‘lovers’, Alice has more chemistry with Elspeth (you’ll see) than Peter, and the only time I enjoyed the story and pacing was when Alice, FINALLY, was out of the male gaze, and on her own!! (About halfway through). 

And yes, there is the layers of learning in this book, (which felt spoon fed, like a baby, rather than simply leaving it there for the reader to learn) like in Babel.

‘Academia is racist, misogynistic and facist’, among other moral quandaries, but the thing that made that so impactful in Babel, was ALSO the incredible plot.

I’m really sad to give such a low score, but I just really didn’t like this. 

I’m keen to see more in depth analysis from academics, once the book is released. But for now, I’m basing my rating on these superficialities, which are also important to a book.

willel's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

aimeecait16's review against another edition

5.0

dark reflective tense fast-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

joshniesse's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

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Get in, Dante—we’re going to Hell, and R.F. Kuang is driving! But it’s not all doom and gloom. Katabasis is a playfully clever descent into the underworld of contemporary academia, complete with enemies-to-lovers tension, razor-sharp satire, and a surprisingly deep dive into the nuances of grief, regret, guilt, shame, and the haunting, hollow shallowness of ambition and pride.

stonefruit_books's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated