Marianna Moore's Reviews > Katabasis

4.5⭐️ “Hell is a classroom”

Wow wow wow. I absolutely adored this book!! And this is why I will always say go into books with an open mind, especially popular new releases with A LOT of differing opinions. I know a lot of people didn’t like this book and found it to be too info dumpy and reads like a textbook with all of its literary references and philosophical underpinnings, and honestly that take is entirely valid. I totally understand by people either love or hate this book and I just so happened to be in the camp that LOVE IT!!!

I think one of the main reasons why I loved this so much is that it resonated with me so so deeply. As someone who spend 6 years in higher education, who thrived off academic validation and for praise and approval from my professors, being in Alice’s head made me feel so seen and heard. RF. Luang really said, hey, all of you who have ever lost yourself to the need for perfection and approval in the world academia, who sacrificed your mental and physical well being to the point where you don’t even recognizing yourself anymore… I see you and I hear you. And GOD did I feel seen. Reading this made me feel like a student again and brought back so many memories both good and bad, it was quite healing.

I adored this plot, it sucked me right in! The parallels and prose and depth to this world and these characters made it so easy for me to so deeply invested in the story right away. Peter and Alice have my whole heart, their romance (though subtle) was perfect, this is everything I want from rivals to lovers. This is also EVERYTHING I WANT from dark academia. This is also exactly how I prefer to read a soft magic system. The magic is there and it’s intriguing and easy to understand and fit into the world, yet it is not used to solve problems and accelerate the plot. Some people might not like this aspect but it’s perfect for me.

The depression representation too!!! Don’t even start with me, it was so perfect it actually made me emotional because of how much I related to Alice’s struggles. This is the type of mental health rep I want from books.

“She was not one of the depressives who lay stinking in bed; she could not just lie there, the stillness hurt worse. Moving staved the agony.“

Two lost, damaged souls, unknowing victims of the same trauma, with minds so big it can be overwhelming, wander to hell together to bring back their professor…. What could go wrong?

“I wish I were the night, so that I might watch your sleep with a thousand eyes.”