This is everything I've come to expect from an R.F. Kuang book: it is thoughtful and thought-provoking, inventive and intriguing. It has a similar academic tone to "Babel" but is uniquely its own with world and story. Likewise, due to the difference in magic systems, it is a little easier to read as the linguists are a little more accessible but it is still incredibly brilliant, as are the characters and their development. I can't say enough good things about this book.

What a wild ride! I am continually impressed at how R.F. Kuang is able to build layers upon layers of symbolism in each of her books, and Katabasis is no exception. I loved all the allusions to other works and myths surrounding Hell/The Underworld and there is an obvious tone of desperation throughout the novel. Yes, it would be helpful to have read Alice in Wonderland or Dante's Inferno before, but it's definitely not needed to understand the plot. I feel like that's all I can say without giving spoilers away, but if you've ever experienced the rigors of graduate school or the competitive world of academia then you'll relate to this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Unlike some people, I have not read Dante's inferno or any other real life works mentioned in this book, so I quite enjoyed the educating bits, however, for someone who has read those passages, it definitely would've dragged on. And don't get me wrong, i love me a complicated character and a complicated relationship, but Alice seems to just hate this guy for no real reason. Otherwise, this was a fun and enjoyable read. I did find it funny on occasion and did find the ending satifying, but it not my favorite from this author.

4.75 ☆
R.F. Kuang pushes the ceiling higher once more. With every new Kuang novel, I admittedly grow a little nervous. Will the pretentiousness and toil of Babel (despite how intriguing it was) continue? Will I have to have Wikipedia open simultaneously to have any hope of comprehending Kuang's niche references? It's a coin toss. So, when she announced Katabasis, with all its twists on Hell and Cambridge academia, I was mentally preparing myself to follow through on the Wikipedia research. Katabasis, however, was truly one of a kind.

It's hard to introduce the concepts that Kuang introduced to us. It's hard to keep me entertained for more than 400 pages straight (this is around 550). And yet. And yet...

Alice is exactly the protagonist I've been waiting for. She's ambitious, she's intelligent, but she also perfectly encapsulates that voice in the back of your head that craves academic validation or has some not-so-feminist commentary. It was astonishing to see how well she mimicked my internal dialogue and see her anxieties and decisions come to fruition. I thought the nuances of her character manifested especially well in her relationship with Peter. Peter, Peter, Peter. I'm sure we all have someone like Peter in our lives that we perhaps hate. Thankfully, R.F. Kuang gave us a protagonist who also experiences this mix of admiration, envy, and resentment, and it's both comforting and validating to see Alice grapple with these feelings.

Side-note: there was some really complex feminism commentary in here that gave me some food for thought. Feminism entangled with academia, with self-worth, with male validation--so much to unpack.

I'm seeing some criticism for this novel claiming that the lack of influence in side characters was reductive to the overall story, leaving little influence or impact on the protagonists nor the plot of Katabasis. Gotta heavily disagree with that because A) the whole point of Hell is that the entities Alice meets have this sort of "empty" or insubstantial essence to them--emphasizing the fleeting, impersonal nature of the dead, and B) the structure of Alice's journey through Hell and meeting guides, villains, etc, I believe is meant to mimic that of an Ancient Greek myth, where the protagonist sets out on a quest and encounters all sorts of wacky individuals (like c'mon, how can we remember all the people Odysseus faced in The Odyssey).

All I have to say is Bravo Kuang--I'm sorry I doubted you, and I can't wait for your next treat. Who would've thought that Kuang got me out of a reading slump this year!

HOW IS THIS MY FIRST R.F. KUANG!? This was freakin' awesome! Kuang weaved in some pretty complex ideas but made them very palatable. Love the idea of the descent into hell, and a little romance to top that right off. 5 stars, no notes, ordering a copy!

WOOF. This is my first Kuang and I will be eagerly reading the rest of them. This nailed both the good and the bad of graduate school (spoiler, it's mostly bad) and was just very, very smart! I ate it right up.

Beginning the journey into the world of Katabasis and its trek into a world where no sane mortal would think to walk: Hell, I had extremely high expectations.

The world of academia, Analytic Magick, and the postgraduate life of Alice Law and peer, Peter Murdoch venture together on a perilous journey through the eight courts of Hell to retrieve their Advisor, Mentor, and Professor. A premise that held lots of promise and atmosphere to get completely and utterly lost in.

My reading experience had its peaks and valleys. While the opening scene seemingly begins with a “bang” I often lost touch with the characters and plot with Kuang’s use of flashback and memory to fill in blanks.

This use of storytelling is not always offputting for me, however, I felt a more streamlined and flowing narrative would have done wonders for the reading experience. When plots were thrust back in time, they seemed to be only a blink of an eye in the scheme of things and were quick to disappear. I felt I did not get nearly enough personal time with our protagonists to fully empathize with past traumas, rivalries, and why their present situation was so dire in the first place.

Kuang’s prose is undeniable throughout the entire novel, but this often made the book’s complexities overly complicated and at times dull and difficult to grapple with.

Kuang handles a number of difficult themes, some executed very successfully while others did not quite hit the mark. I would be doing this book a disservice if I didn’t express the admiration of it all.

While this book may not have been 100% for me, there was a giant part of me that very much wanted to love this one, however, I could not fully achieve that.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. As with every R.F. Kuang book I have read it is slower paced and has a lot of world building but its so worth it. I wish I had read Dante's Inferno before I read this but I feel like I learned a lot about Dante's Inferno and other texts via reading this story. I like that the layout of Hell was very similar to the university they were accustomed to. I wonder if had they journeyed to Hell but been in a different profession or had a different focus of their life (other than being a scholar) if the Hellscape would have reflected that instead of a college. I was definitely invested in Pete and Alice's relationship but not specifically invested in the romance between them as much as the fact that they were the two most current victims of their professor. They had the unique perspective into each others lives based off the way that Professor Grimes treated them both like crap and ultimately disposable (though for various reasons). I enjoyed the ending however I did get confused on how that particular ending was achieved based on Alice's wording that was very specific and should have meant that the ending we got was not possible. I even went back to re-read it and see if the other character (non-specific due to spoilers) changed the request and they did not so I'm not really sure how we got the ending that we did. The only explanation I can think of is that she only needed permission for one because of what happened to one of them.

If you love RF Kuang, you'll definitely love this latest book. Full of fun, arcane, nerdy references and comments on the state of academia (as well as gender dynamics), this novel reads like a modern Dante's Inferno. Though it does feel bogged down in the middle occasionally, and the ending is earned (though part of me feels like it's a cop out), I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Alice, a Cambridge graduate student studying magic, must go to hell to rescue her advisor if she wants to land the post-doc professorship of her dreams, and it turns out she's not the only one. Peter, her frenemy and only other advisee of said dead professor tags along as they search all the rings of hell which uncannily ring of chthonic academia.

But the living don't belong in the underworld, and they must confront much about themselves if they ever want to see the land of the living again. For fans of classic literature, academia, and all things dark.

OMG THIS BOOK!
Kuang absolutely nails such an amazing book here. I thoroughly loved the premise to the plot twists.
The original idea about 2 college students going to hell to get their professor so they can get jobs was such a fun idea. What I didn't know going into this is how much I would laugh, cry, and be genuinely shocked at how layered the plot got!
The ability to write such a complex book with math, equations, and a sprinkle of magic got me thinking that I could go back to college and apply for a masters program!
Overall very satisfied book and I'll be thinking about this book for a while.
Thanks to Harper Voyager for the ARC!

Katabasis isn’t a romance. It’s a love story about trying to love yourself in a system built to break you.

This book is what happens when mythology collides with burnout. When descent isn’t into a fiery underworld, but into academic bureaucracy, deadlines, and the quiet annihilation of your joy, rest, and identity.

It asks: What if hell isn’t a place, but a life lived for other people’s approval?

You don’t need to know the myths behind it. But catching the Aeneid and Dante’s Inferno threads adds a sting. The more dangerous story Katabasis takes aim at is the one we’re told every day—that success demands suffering, that burning out means you’re doing it right. Now do you need to have read all of these references, no, but it really does make your journey so much more enjoyable.

Katabasis pulls that apart. It’s not asking “Will they fall in love?” It’s asking whether you can love yourself when all you’ve been taught is to perform. Whether the grind is worth what it takes from you.

This isn’t a comfort read. It’s a confrontation. And if you let it, a reckoning with who you are when the striving stops.

10/10 stars !!! Thanks Harper Voyager, Netgalley and R.F. Kuang for an E-Arc in exchange for my honest reveiw. I loved everything about this novel, the dark academia vibes, the Rival to lovers, charaters, the descriptive writeing about the biome of hell and the complex thoughts of mortality that brings us up at 4am. This was my most anticipated read of the year and R.F.Kuang didn't disapoint!!! this is a keeper on my physical shelves for sure when it comes out in print :)

I *loved* this book. I went into it a little skeptical because I've heard so many conflicting opinions about the way RF Kuang's writing style comes off (as in sometimes it feels too smart/dense) but I felt like it was really understandable and the things I didn't already know I could easily search or get a basic understanding via context clues.

First off, the sheer amount of research that must have gone into this book is mind boggling. I cannot fathom how much effort it took. The way that Kuang weaves together so many stories of Hell across different eras, religions, and cultures is a masterclass in knowing what you're writing.

If you've ever been in higher education or an academia setting you will likely relate to Alice to an uncomfortable degree. The extra scrutiny that "outsiders" (re: people who are poor or have no family in academia/professional circles) get and the extra effort women have to put in just to get half the recognition is all too real. Honestly Alice and Peter both felt like if you took Ali Hazelwood characters and dropped them into a dark academia fantasy setting (in a good way).

The journey that Alice and Peter take through Hell is so incredibly entrancing. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. The version of Hell that Kuang creates - borrowing from centuries of myth and literature about it - honestly feels like it could take the place of Dante's Inferno in high school English classes. It's so well thought out and perfectly encapsulates what these circles could really be like.

The side characters that you meet throughout the journey are all purposeful and insightful to the larger picture, I honestly would love to see some of them in short stories or bonus chapters. They all teach something to Alice and/or Peter even if it's not immediately obvious.

Rep: Chronic illness, Asian FMC

My only complaint is that I do feel like this book should have TW/CW listed. There were quite a few intense scenes and topics that I do think people should be informed about before deciding whether or not to begin. Some include: suicide (non POV characters), suicidal ideations (POV characters), attempted suicide, gore, animal mutilation, attempted sexual assault, minor sexual assault, emotional manipulation, gaslighting, sexism/misogyny in the workplace, murder/sacrifice of a child (takes place off page mostly)

This story follows Alice Law who is a post grad magick and her fellow peer (and rival) Peter who journey to hell in search of their Professor to bring him back to Earth.

The premise was really interesting to read about because you are thrown into a bunch of stories within stories so it felt like you were always learning something new. However, as the book continued it did feel a bit clunky and overwhelming with text and jargon.

One of my fav parts of the story was learning what each level of hell entailed and all the fun shenanigans it brought.
I also really liked the memories and past stories we learned through Alice. Seeing her character through all her flaws and mishaps made the story more relatable and enjoyable even though there were parts she was not as likable.

Overall, a solid fantasy with such imaginative story telling!

A reader who thrills to morally gray academics, slow-burn rivalries that combust under life-or-death stakes, and the unsettling collision of mythic lore with visceral body horror will find this descent irresistible.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for an early review copy.

R.F. Kuang's latest novel follows two graduate students as they journey to hell to receive letters of recommendation from their graduate advisor. Alice's and Peter's journey takes them on a metaphor of college, as they encounter various different figures and parallels to academia. Kuang does an excellent job of developing the magic system, and explaining on the different philosophies.

I have mixed feelings about this one. While I liked the characters and found their journey through hell interesting, I also found the book to be a bit on the long side and there were a lot of time when the story was dragged down by the philosophical and logic discussions between the characters. It didn’t help that a lot of the discussions went over my head either.

I did like Alice and found myself relating to her and her life quite a bit. She is very determined to succeed and needs her mentor back in order to do so. She is very smart and knows how to do research. She is also used to hardship and following the rules. But she has a lot of doubts about herself and she quite often beats herself up about that. She is kind of hard to like at the start of the book, but as her character develops you understand her better. Peter we don’t get to know as well, until about 60% in and we get his whole backstory in one chapter. It would have been nice to know some of this earlier in the story. There is a romance between the two, and I did like them together, but I just wanted a bit more from that part of the story. It would have made the ending a bit more believable.

The setting was well done. All of the different levels of hell were described so well that it was almost like you were there. I liked the many characters they met in hell and their backstories were fascinating. The pacing could have been a bit better. There were many times when it felt like the story came to a stand still, as discussions about the many different versions of hell, or logic or even math were held between the characters, but for the most part it was pretty steady. The magic system was also not explained super well, I got the basics, but it could have used a bit more explanation. I really liked the ending, I just sort of wish we got there quicker.

The thing that I really didn’t like was all of the discussions around the different accounts of hell. I have never read Dante or any of the other stories about hell, and only have a fleeting familiarity with the Greek version. Also logic and philosophy were never a strong subject for me, I almost failed the one philosophy class I took in college, so many of these discussion went over my head. These sections, while probably important to the overall story, really dragged it down for me. I think there is a small group of readers that will enjoy all of that though.

I think fans of this author will also like this one, especially if you have an interest in philosophy or logic. But if you have not read this author’s other works, you might want to start with one of those. This is a hard book to love, but I did like reading it.

This was a fascinating and richly detailed world to get lost in. I enjoyed this book for the most part, however I found myself getting lost or losing interest during a few of the chapters.
I think people will really love this book!

This was hard to get through. I was so excited for this book it was one of my most anticipated reads but wow it was dense and just a slog to get through. R.F. Kuang is brilliant and you can tell by her writing she is passionate about academics and created a complex narrative revolving around the theoretical mechanics of using science and fictional magick to travel to hell. I’m sure this book will find its niche. I think readers who enjoy books like The Atlas Six and enjoyed Kuang’s previous work like Babel will find this interesting. I think for me it was so wordy and lengthy I felt like I was reading a dissertation. I couldn’t connect with the characters and felt like I was dumped into the very middle of the story almost like this was supposed to be book 2. I found the plot was very weak in the sense that Alice and Peter want to go to hell to get their professor back was just not enough to keep me engaged for 500 pages. This book felt like exactly how it read. The main characters enter hell with no idea what to do so they wander around not knowing what to do for 500 pages. Over all I think this book is very ambitious and I’m sure there will be people who love it. It definitely gave me the feeling of being too uneducated to understand it like I was missing the big picture of this book.

Thank you Harper Voyager for providing me with an eARC