Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by helliem
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Katabasis is exactly as advertised based on its comp titles—Dante’s Inferno meets Piranesi—but its execution doesn’t quite live up to either of those works for me. Alice and Peter weren’t immediately compelling protagonists, but as their characters were explored a bit more, they became more sympathetic and layered. Still, I wanted more interaction between these characters in the present part of the narrative. The real standout character for me, though, was Professor Grimes. His motivations and actions were consistently clear and well-developed throughout the novel, and he is such a great example of an unlikable but utterly compelling character.
Kuang’s conception of hell starts with a lot of promise, and it was fun to trace where she chose to stay with and diverge from Dante. As the journey progressed, though, the setting mostly loses focus, and hell becomes increasingly bleak and forgettable. The plot itself was good; the subject matter and themes were presented very clearly and there were moments that elicited strong tension, elation, and despair while I was reading. The pacing was a little strange, however, as a good deal of the book’s important moments occur in flashbacks that interrupt the action. While these moments provide crucial context to characters’ actions, it feels like there could have been another way to structure things that didn’t throw off the story’s momentum so much.
Katabasis feels like it was written like an academic paper. It presents a can’t-miss-it thesis, which the story feels compelled to reiterate after every important plot moment. Every decision in the present narrative is justified with supporting evidence in the form of a lengthy infodump or flashback. While this makes for an intellectual and thought-provoking book, it doesn’t really create a wholly entertaining narrative.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an ARC of this book.
Kuang’s conception of hell starts with a lot of promise, and it was fun to trace where she chose to stay with and diverge from Dante. As the journey progressed, though, the setting mostly loses focus, and hell becomes increasingly bleak and forgettable. The plot itself was good; the subject matter and themes were presented very clearly and there were moments that elicited strong tension, elation, and despair while I was reading. The pacing was a little strange, however, as a good deal of the book’s important moments occur in flashbacks that interrupt the action. While these moments provide crucial context to characters’ actions, it feels like there could have been another way to structure things that didn’t throw off the story’s momentum so much.
Katabasis feels like it was written like an academic paper. It presents a can’t-miss-it thesis, which the story feels compelled to reiterate after every important plot moment. Every decision in the present narrative is justified with supporting evidence in the form of a lengthy infodump or flashback. While this makes for an intellectual and thought-provoking book, it doesn’t really create a wholly entertaining narrative.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an ARC of this book.