Katabasis (Deluxe Limited Edition) | 
Fun delivery day for me.
From top to bottom:
Owlcrate's Hemlock & Silver
FairyLoot's Katabasis
FairyLoot's Warrior Princess Assassin
BOTM's Alchemy of Secrets
BOTM's Play Nice
I went to an author event last night for R.F Kuang (moderated by Stephen Graham Jones*, hosted by @TatteredCoverBookStore and Trinity United Methodist church) and it was so fun! She had some fascinating points to make about magical systems, journeys to hell, logical paradoxes, and much more. I've read Yellowface, am partway through Babel, and will definitely be getting the Poppy Wars and the new book she announced last night. 🤩
pickI liked this, and like all of R. F. Huang‘s books it has beautiful writing. It just doesn‘t 100% hit, there are a few too many ideas. It definitely hits the pretentious hell that academia can be when it literally becomes hell. It also has a touch of romance which does not quite hit. There are also some other little elements that she squeezed in that I know had meaning to the author, but did not quite fit within the story.⬇️
pickThis ponderous, philosophical exploration of love, academia, rivalry, existence, magic, science (& more) will likely be a love/hate it read for many people. And then there will be those in the middle like me— it‘s well-written but in the story of Alice‘s journey to Hell to find the professor she killed, Kuang is more focused on philosophy & esoteric discussions than she is character development & emotional depth. In the end, a low pick for me.
so-soFinished this month‘s #TBRtarot right in the nick of time. This new Kuang satire? inspired by Dante‘s Inferno focuses on the perils of academia. Two students go into hell to save their professor but must go through every level. I wanted to care more about the characters but it was hard to get into. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Well. This makes the trip to Costco worth it!
How exciting
Who had "3" in the sweepstake for how many copies of Katabasis would turn up unannounced? ??♀️??♀️
First, let me just say this book is really pretty. Gorgeous edition.
It‘s also really good. Kuang is a fantastic writer & 70 pages in, this is great…except for one thing that is really annoying. She borrowed the name of an object from another really well-known IP for something in her book & it is hugely distracting, pulls me out of the story distracting. It‘s not quite as bad as having the characters armed with lightsabers but it‘s close. Sigh.
pick#audiobook because my pre-order hasn't arrived yet
Loved the story, the characters, the writing! I'm in awe at all the research that went into this book.
panThanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance review copy. While the beginning is slow, once the main character leaves her pretentious, hallowed walls of learning, Cambridge, the plot becomes more interesting. Barely. The satire regarding academia is cutting. This could have been an engaging fantasy novel. Instead, I spent much of the book admiring the author‘s literary knowledge and not much else.
I'm going to hell. So excited for this one!
It arrived. I'm going to hell
I've gone from pretty interested to read this, to can't wait to read this. I'm very excited. And now I know how to pronounce it. Bonus.
So nice to see you and C at this @TrishB
Even during a parade, I find time to read! 🤣📚
This past weekend was Founder's Festival in my town! 💕 Which means I got to be in the parade with the library! It was so much fun and definitely one of my favorite days of the year!
I read a lot of great books in March but Katabasis came out on top #ReadingBracket2025 #BookaBracket2025 @CSeydel
pickR. F. Kuang's done it again! She sure does know how to craft an unputdownable book. I will say, this is very much a book for and of writers and academia. I think lots of other people will like it regardless, but it's set in academia and clearly heavily influenced by Kuang's experiences with it. But a trip to hell to save your abusive advisor? Now come on, that's a premise! TWs hidden in a comment below.
Screaming, crying 😄😵😭
pickThis reader will follow R.F. Kuang anywhere, even to Hell and (hopefully) back, hot on the heels of two rival Cambridge students who must bring their advisor back from the dead to graduate. Katabasis is the ultimate dark academia fantasy about the denial of the flesh, hellish demands, deals with the devil it can take to ascend the ivory tower, to live “the life of the mind”—but above all, a romantic revelation about what really makes life magical.
