I went into Katabasis with pretty high hopes.  When I heard this one was about two rival PhD students diving into Hell to snag a recommendation letter from their dead advisor, I was sold. A fun plot that didn't take itself seriously sounded nice. Oh, how wrong I was. This is my first foray into RF Kuang so I was woefully naieve. 

The setup is alright: Alice Law is an ambitious, slightly unhinged grad student (aren't they all?), is willing to literally go to Hell for her career. Her academic rival (and frenemy?) Peter Murdoch is just as driven, and their banter is snappy enough to keep things moving. The whole “academia is hell” metaphor isn’t subtle; Kuang practically winks at you through the pages, but it’s clever enough. College IS hell, thank you very much. I’ve had my own hellish academia nightmares (like the time I accidentally emailed my professor a draft with “this is fkn trash” still in the margins), so I sort of with the desperation here. The descent into Hell itself is illustrated with some Dante-inspired flourishes that made me feel briefly smart for catching them.

But here’s where it stumbles for me: Kuang’s need to flex her intellectual muscles. It’s like she’s channeling Cassandra Clare at her most “look how many books I’ve read, I'm so smart and well-read” energy—you know, those moments in her multiple shadowhunter series where Clare name-drops every myth and classic just to remind you she’s done her homework? In Katabasis, there’s a stretch where the characters debate philosophy and math for what feels like eternity, (and not just once or twice) and I swear I could hear Kuang manically whispering, “See? I know Nietzsche AND Gödel's theorem AND the liar paradox!” It’s not that I don’t appreciate a brainy book, but it felt like she was showing off more than telling a story. Sometimes the plot was abandoned for Alice to reminisce on past events that weren't necessary and conversations between her and Peter turned into Debate Team for Cambridge Scholars. I zoned out. 

The action picks up later, and there’s a twisty emotional bit toward the end that almost bumped this to 4 stars. Almost. The problem is, the characters didn’t fully click for me. They're more vessels for Kuang’s ideas than people I could root for. Still, it’s a fun ride if you don’t mind the occasionally too often lecture hall detour. I’d say it’s worth a read if you’re into Kuang’s style. Just don’t expect it to haunt you like The Poppy War did. For me, it’s a solid “liked it, didn’t love it”—kind of like that one coffee shop pastry that’s alright but then you're kinda annoyed you're out $7 when a vending machine Texas cinnamon roll would've had the same mouthfeel for a third of the price.