This was my first fantasy book by R. F. Kuang. I loved the interplay between real science concepts and magic. I found myself googling many concepts and people to realize most were real. The world of academia was described in such great detail that I felt like I was a grad student with all the pressures that comes with. I loved the complexities of Peter and Alice, and how their insecurities caused tension in their relationship. The world and levels of Hell were also interesting. I do feel like some aspects of the journey through Hell were verbose and slow, which is why I did not give the book five stars. That said, the ending of the book came together perfectly. I will definitely go read R. F Kuang’s other books!

Dear god she does it again. I have no words for how much I adore this book. The beginning 15% took me a little longer to get into but then it all fell into place. R.F. Kuang never lets me down

I wanted to enjoy Katabasis so much more than I did. Two university student journey into Hell to bring back their professor - for purely selfish reasons of course.
But it would up feeling like as much of a slog as their own journey probably did at times. Overall, it as fine. But it could have been told with a lot less exposition and bloated wordplay. AS the story would pick up, the storyteller, it seemed, would find a way to slow it down.
I did enjoy the magic system and some of the descriptions of hell, but with those things as a basis, the adventure seemed like ti could have been a lot more .. well.. adventurous.

What an undertaking.

R. F. Kuang is a delightful person and so very intelligent. And, much like Babel, she makes sure you know it in this book. It's so very different from Yellowface, but so very much like Babel. Magical realism, dark academia...

But is it good? I quite liked it, but I think that it will feel like a bit of a slog for more casual readers. The book could likely be half the length if it were plot only, but Kuang spends a lot of time referencing philosophers and classical texts to drive her point home. For some this will be interesting or, at the very least, a neutral addition, but for others I suspect it will look like she's showing off her knowledge or will bore them to tears.

The characters are great and the easy she portrays hell is fascinating. I love that she pulls in fictional accounts of hell and frames them as non-fiction reference material in the world of this book. The pressures of academia are displayed satirically as is her way. I expected nothing less.

Overall, this is not a casual read. This is a book you pick up when you want something heavy and meaty, something to think about and discuss.

Any literary trip to Hell is as much an interior monologue as an exterior adventure. Kuang has obviously done her research on different ideas of what Hell is interpreted as in different cultures, but I feel like this novel is a little muddled in the middle. It bogged down some for me as a reader. It's definitely an achievement, but one I wish had been tightened up a bit.

I am a big fan of R.F. Kuang's books and frankly, her brain scares me a little. When I heard she was writing a dark academia story about a journey into hell, I was fully on board and excited.

I might be an outlier here, based on all of the other reviews I've read, but my favorite parts of Katabasis were the academic ponderings about hell and the criticisms about academia itself. I also really liked the magic system and I thought that the rivaling chalk preferences was a nice touch. I feel like I didn't really grasp how the paradoxes worked, but maybe that was intentional.

I am in agreement with a lot of the reviews however when it comes to the portrayal of hell itself and issues with the characters and plot structure. I think that the book was lacking in atmosphere and could have been more emotionally compelling. I think that the characters are difficult to relate to because their true motivations and complexities aren't truly revealed until almost 60% into the book. I appreciated that they were both intense academics, but not everyone is going to identify or empathize with them, even after everything is revealed. I kind of hoped that in each level of hell, they would have to reckon with the aspects of the sins within themselves, but I can see how that angle has been covered within the texts the author recommends as prerequisite.

All in all, it's not my favorite book of hers but I did still enjoy it and will recommend it to customers and followers. I'll always recommend RF Kuang, she is an auto buy author for me and a real staple in contemporary fantasy.

Alice has to go to Hell. It’s maybe sort of her fault that Professor Grimes is dead. If she wants to get her dream job in magick, she needs to beg the Ruler of the Underworld to bring her dissertation advisor back to life. Never mind the price of admission is sacrificing half her remaining lifespan. What’s worse is her infuriating ex-boyfriend Peter — naturally gifted at magick and “unfailingly nice” — insists on joining her. But even in a world that treats Dante’s “Inferno” and mythic odysseys like travel guides, Hell will force Alice and Peter to confront dark truths about themselves, Professor Grimes and academia at large. When “success in this field demanded such a forceful, single-minded capacity for self-destruction” with faculty and cutthroat graduate students stooping to cruelty at every turn, no wonder Hell looks suspiciously like a university campus. After R. F. Kuang’s 2023 novel “Babel” turned the dark academia genre on its heels, “Katabasis” is poised to do the very same. The author is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Yale.

thank you so much for the approval- i cannot wait to dive in, this is one of my most anticipated reads of the year! i will be sure to leave a review on GR/retailers to come! 💞

4.75 ⭐

"𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲, 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁."

Katabasis is a slow, immersive read, lulling you in with trepidation and uncertainty, presenting the vast land of the underworld and all the challenges that come with it. It prompts your reasoning about the afterlife, linking concepts of hell from various religions, cultures, and scriptures. R.F.Kuang has a philosophical way to go about the world building, using logic and ancient ideas about magic to build her setting, without making it seem boring or like textbook material.

Although the book was plot-centered, we still spent a lot of time in between chapters learning about the characters. We have Alice Law, brilliant, passionate, and incredibly driven. We learn about how she discovered her love for magic, her determination to work in academia, and how she'd (quite literally) be willing to venture into hell and back for the sake of it. I found her ambition admirable, and at many times, personally relatable, especially soaking in her issues with professor Grimes, her internalised misogyny, watching her finally snap- I have never rooted for a character as much as her, and I deeply admire how Kuang was able to craft such a complicated character, shedding light on both her issues and strenghts. It was particularly interesting to see her resolve and unravel, to see her tremor on the edge of insanity, where all her doubts were stripped away, leaving her with the raw truth of her life- It made her character seem much more human, reminding us how harrowingly fragile human life is.

And then we have Peter, as much as I loved him, I wish we spent a bit more time learning about him, because we're only told his side of the story later on, we have to rely on Alice's not-entirely-reliable account of her relationship and interactions with him. We learn about his moments of vulnerability, his unabashed niceness, and with- I won't say much to avoid spoilers- his brilliance and drive rivaling hers, Peter was a perfect balance to Alice; it was clear they needed each other to survive.

There is one other character, Professor Grimes, whom I would love to talk about, but I think I'll have to update my review and mention him later to avoid spoiling the reading experience further.

Now for the plot- here I have a slight problem. The first 75% was well paced, the book is slow and immersive, not rushing anything and allowing everything enough time to settle in, but during the later quarter, I felt like the book was being a little dragged. The plot became slightly repetitive, especially once the air of mystery was dissolving, and it was becoming apparent how the book would end. I also feel like that portion would've been better spent with another perspective from Peter instead, since his character could've been better developed.

Another thing to mention, just as a heads up, this book, like Kuang herself has mentioned, is NOT a romance. Alice and Peter's relationship developing into romance is entirely a subplot, and especially towards the end, there is not a lot of time spent on it.

I truly loved this book in spite of the small issues. I think Kuang delivered pretty well, and I hope she keeps improving in her future projects. Keep an eye out for when it hits the shelves on 26th August, '25 💗

R.F Kuang continues to amaze me with how wonderful and immersive her writing is. I find myself so attached to these characters throughout their journey! I have also learned so many new things concerning paradoxes that took me far too long to truly understand and still kind of don't. Regardless, every book I read by R.F Kuang quickly becomes a new favorite and this is no exception! The mixing and blending of different authors and myths surrounding hell worked really well in this story and had me looking more into the background of what was being discussed to really understand what was going on. I love a book that encourages outside research!

I read a disappointing book focused on the underworld right before Katabasis, so I went into this read with trepidation. Very quickly, I realized that Katabasis would not disappoint. 

The start of the book, surprisingly, reminded me of the Love's Academic books. Like those books, Katabasis dove right into an academically-focused quest. But, unlike those books, Katabasis emphasizes the dark in dark academia. 

Alice Law studies Magick at Cambridge. When her advisor and the world's greatest magician dies, Alice decides to venture into Hell to save his soul. Just as she is finishing her pentagram to start her journey, Alice's academic rival, Peter Murdoch, walks into the classroom, shares that he's been researching the same mission, and decides that they should go together. 

As Alice and Peter begin their expedition, they quickly realize that their weeks of research and years of Magickal study could not have prepared them for Hell. 

Like Babel, this R. F. Kuang book is incredibly smart. It had all of the dark academia vibes that I could possibly want. It's not a straightforward story and near the 3/4 mark, I somewhat faded but that feeling did fit well with the plot so I'm not fully complaining about it. This story wrapped up well- which I really didn't think it would (mostly during the section where my interest faded). A lot of the book is spent with Alice and Peter trekking through Hell. There's adventurous moments, for sure, but I could see a reader finding it slower (maybe even monotonous), especially during that near the end section. However, overall, I really enjoyed it, found it very clever, and loved the characters more and more as I learned about them. It's definitely not a light book- in theme or size. There are many dark moments which, for me, often led to reflection.

Another great, but dense R.F. Kuang novel. If you can commit to the plot, the intricacies, and stay focused, I highly recommend.

Firstly, I’d like to say that I LOVED Yellowface and enjoyed Babel, but, oh boy…

Ugghhh, this pains me to write this review… I don’t hate it. Ok? I don’t. It’s NOT that bad. But I don’t love it. And that makes me sad because I wanted to love it soooo badly.

So, you got two academics (magicians -think pentagram drawing, not wand swishing) that travel to Hell to rescue their professor’s soul so they can graduate university after all their years of hard work.

Traveling to Hell was fun and I enjoyed Kuang’s take on what it might actually be like but PAUSE! Pump those brakes, babycakes. Every inconvenience or challenge was overcome too easily. I wanted more angst. More teeth. I wanted to feel ravaged and wrecked. I wanted to fight for my life.

While this is fantasy, it’s a lot more heavy on the logic, theories, mythology, and paradoxes. It’s a constant comparison and analysis of every expert and philosopher that’s come before us, examining if what they said still rings true.

I also think that Kuang is on to something when putting Chinese, Egyptian, Hinduism, and Greek belief systems right next to each other. That was fun. It brought up some heated conversations with friends. I sure love a good debate.

Oh, and amongst all the academic stuff, there is a storyline of love and trying to answer the question of what is the meaning of life. Is life worth living or should you just stay in Hell?

For fans of dark academia that want to go to Hell.

👀 Who would you be willing to travel to Hell for?
My kids, most definitely, but not a teacher.
Nope. Nope. Nope.

Thank you so much, Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

TW: blood, torture, punishments

Alice Law has sacrificed everything in order to become one of the brightest minds in the fields of Magick, all to work with Professor Grimes at Cambridge. When he dies in a magical accident, that could possibly be her fault, she's determined to take a trip to Hell in order to retrieve his soul, After all, a recommendation letter from professor Grimes could open many doors and help her find work in the world of Magick. Even her rival, Peter Murdouch came to same conclusion, though, so they are forced to join forced in order to survive Hell. Following the tales of philosophers and writers, like Orpheus, Dante and so on, Alice and Peter descent to Hell, with their chalks necessary to draw pentagrams and make spells. But Magick works differently in Hell and not everything is like what they read.
Alice and Peter will meet Shades, deities, courts of Hell, punishments and so on in their search for Professor Grimes, even discovering things about themselves and each other. They will have to rely on one other in order to survive the unknown. Or die trying.

Katabasis is one of the best book I've read in a very long time. I love Dante's Inferno so much and this book is filled with references to writers, philosophers, myths and deities and I loved it so much. R.F. Kuang introduces a new way to use magic, here called Magicks and entire university dedicated to its studies. Pentagrams drawn with particular chalk in order to make spells, theories and theories about Hell and its souls and a chilling, creepy and very realistic tale of what Hell could be, based on various sources.
The story follows Alice and her rival Peter in their journey, between flashbacks from their pasts that let the readers know more about their relationship and what drives them to travel Hell in order to recover a soul of someone they didn't even like that much.
With care and sensibility, R.F. Kuang talks about university's pressure, between professors' abuses and deadlines, between badly eating and feeling sick for anxiety, between stress and overachievement and the pressure of it, too, about people being pitted against one other, all in the wonderful city of Cambridge, between rage and jealousy.
Alice and Peter are wonderful and complex characters and it was a pleasure getting to know them page by page, so I won't spoiler anything here, but Kuang did an amazing job with characterization and the setting is absolutely fantastic and mystical.
I absolutely recommend this book. I'm gonna collect every special edition of it!

3.5
I love RF Kuang but this has to be my least favorite… the premise was super interesting but the layout/format ruined the execution. It was hard with the jarring transitions from past to present. Perhaps if there was alternating timeline chapters, rather than straight, abrupt info dumps, the material and story could’ve been easier to connect to/understand

“And together they emerged, to rebehold the stars.”

THANK YOU to netgalley and harper collins for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

MY GOD!! this was absolutely the best book i’ve read this year. absolutely spellbinding and thrilling and just so perfect and satisfying. i cannot tell you how many times i gasped out loud during so many points of this book. alice and peter’s growth through some pretty crazy hardship was so beautiful to read, and i truly felt like i was traveling alongside them. i understand the constant explanation of logic and paradoxes might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it added to the story so much alongside the religious and philosophical connotations of hell. this was beautifully written — possibly my favorite book by rf kuang.

alice and her story were so heart wrenching to me as she truly faced and battled with mental health issues. these were written so seamlessly into her character and made her so real in my mind. peter, as well, especially with his story of battling chronic illness. these characters will most likely be in my brain for a very long time.

what an absolutely beautiful book. this will be sticking with me for a while and i can’t wait for release day!!

I will automatically read everything RF Kuang writes! I did not finish this book because I want to wait until I have a finished copy in my hands. However, as a longtime English nerd, this book scratches my brain in an excellent way because I get to nerd out over all my old favorites.

I knew I was going to love this book, but I didn't know how much I was going to love this book!!

It is not a sequel to Babel, so readers don't have to be familiar with that story to pick up this one. While the author makes many references to Dante's Inferno as well as other classic titles, readers don't need to know those either, though it is fun when you do.

In this book two Oxford students must travel to hell in order to rescue their professor. Without him, their academic dreams are in peril. In order to bring him back, they must survive themselves. I absolutely love the two main characters and the dynamic between them. This book is long, and it can be heavy at times, but it doesn't feel that way as you are reading it. The pacing is superb. I could not put it down.

I cannot wait to hand this to every reader I come across (both in the library and in my day-to-day life).

I have many thoughts about this book. I love the magick and worldbuilding. I liked the characters (aside from the ones you aren't supposed to like). And I liked the references to the classic literature of Hell. That being said this book took me forever to get through (dare I say-a bit like slogging through hell?) But there were so many good parallels between hell and academia that anyone who has experienced school will get a laugh.

I was excited to dive into this after The Poppy War books, but this didn't quite hit for me. Kuang's writing is still sharp and thoughtful, and there are moments of brilliance and poignancy, but it felt more distant and less emotionally gripping than earlier works. The pacing occasionally dragged, and I struggled to connect. I respect the idea, which is dark and intensely fascinating & unique, but it just didn't land for me.