amazing does not begin to cover how much i loved this book. a descent into hell involving academia? obsessed. i was someone with a weird fixation on dante's inferno growing up so this felt meant for me.

beautifully and brilliant written. a exploration into hell and what each level means to the main character. i enjoyed that as we dove deeper into hell we also dove deeper into the mind of Alice.

r.f. kuang can do absolutely nothing wrong in my eyes. even if i do not love the story or the characters there is something that pulls me back in. i still need to read babel and im not sure that this beats out the poppy war but it is truly something special

This is now the third book I’ve read by this author and I can confidently say without a doubt: R.F. Kuang is the smartest writer in history. I have never read such a clever prose that makes you fully believe the fantasy you’re reading as factual. Her worlds are inspired by or even set entirely in our real world, with true facts entwined with the fantasy components she has created. Sometimes making you question, “Is anything of what I’m reading true or is she just that good at making me believe it is?” Which isn’t to say that this felt like reading a textbook. The world building in Katabasis through the eyes of Alice, and even Babel that has a lot of dialogue from lectures, never feels like you’re just collecting the information to get to the plot. I felt like I was truly in these characters’ minds learning and absorbing the information with them in a way that was not only entertaining but utterly addicting.
I did not read the books that inspired the author to write Katabasis, and although it sounded like a fun project to prep for such an anticipated release, I may come back to them later on just because I loved this so much. R.F. Kuang said in an interview: “I have written this story so that you can go in not having read any of the reference texts and still have a good time.” Just so you know that this is entirely readable without having the prior knowledge to guide you and not to be intimidated before going into it as the incredible writing stands on its own.
It’s no secret that I love dark academia fantasy books. R.F. Kuang does dark academia SO WELL, with the best vibes and atmospheric details that make me yearn for life at an academy. I also absolutely loved the romance subplot in this. The MMC is vulnerable and flawed and I couldn’t help but love him the second he appeared on page. The main character, Alice, was severely relatable to me and her personality and thoughts hit me in the heart. Alice is the definition of a “this is me trying” coded character. She’s a stressed student with anxiety and is struggling to stay afloat when everything keeps going wrong.
As soon as I heard the premise for this book, I knew it was gonna be right up my alley. But I don’t think I was quite prepared for how deeply personal this book would be to me. After one chapter, I had already highlighted 34 quotes and I was ready to give this masterpiece 5 stars. I love all things dark and morbid: death, hell, reincarnation, you name it. It’s not surprising that a book with two graduate students venturing into hell to retrieve their professor’s soul would have death woven into every sentence, but I was still blown away by it all the same. Katabasis just felt so *me* and I loved every second of it.

Katabasis is a well-researched novel—and it never lets you forget it. The main premise follows two students who descend into Hell to save the soul of their professor. In this version of our world, magic is widely known and deeply explored, but the majority of the story takes place in Hell.

And, unfortunately, Hell is boring.

My main critique is that the underworld, as a setting, feels painfully lackluster. I’ve read fantasy novels where the world-building is so rich and immersive that the setting becomes its own point of view. But in Katabasis, Hell feels as bland and uninspired as an untoasted bagel. Kuang clearly did her homework—meticulously so—and much of that research makes its way into the novel. But rather than enriching the story, it often bogs it down, derailing the plot for pages, sometimes even entire chapters.

I will say the characters are nuanced and well-crafted. However, they simply don’t do enough heavy lifting to overcome the novel’s other shortcomings.

I wish a journey to Hell didn’t feel so forgettable—but here we are.

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!