I’m grateful to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyage for providing an eARC of Katabasis by R. F. Kuang, a book I eagerly anticipated! I was so excited to see this book available to review and was quick to snap it up. I quite literally devoured Kuang’s other novels Babel and Yellowface and could not wait to dig into this one. From the start though I realized this wasn’t quite like Kuang’s other novels. It was unique and thoughtful just like I’d come to expect from this author but clear that this novel was something a little different. It took me much longer than I’d like to admit to finally finish the book but I don’t think that detracts from my enjoyment of it. Despite the slower pace, I found the book to be engaging and interesting. If you’ve read Kuang’s other novels, you’ll appreciate Katabasis, but be prepared for a uniquely measured pace.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Into the Depths of Hell
Alice Law is a Cambridge graduate student studying Analytic Magick. She’s sacrificed almost everything to be the one of the brightest minds in the field and it has paid off. At Cambridge she studies under the greatest magician in the world, Jacob Grimes. He’s often demanding and sometimes cruel but undeniably a genius and being his advisee is hell on Earth. But a recommendation from Professor Grimes will open any door in academia and Alice is well on her way to that goal. Then Professor Grimes dies in a gruesome accident. With no other option, Alice must make the perilous journey to Hell to find her advisors soul, drag it back to the land of the living, and get the recommendation she damn well deserves.
A Little Different Thank I Was Expecting
To be honest, I am not sure what to think about this book. The book jacket summary lays out Cambridge student Alice Law’s exciting journey to hell with one simple objective: bring back the soul of her dead advisor. But the story that follows is part exciting adventure to hell, part reflective journey of self-discovery, and part unexpected love story. None this was bad but I sometime thought I knew where the story was going or saying only to be thrown a curve ball in the next chapter and have to rethink my expectations!
Probably because it was so unexpected, this book was not one that I found myself obsessively picking up to read but it also wasn’t a book that I found easy to put down. I’d pick up the book right before bed only to realize I’d stayed up until 2 in the morning reading and force myself to go to bed. But after those late-night reading sessions, I’d sometimes leave it untouched for a few days.
Ultimately, I felt a sense of satisfaction when I reached the final chapter, as the story intertwines philosophical insights and (if only fleetingly) vivid action!