Katabasis was my most anticipated book of the year; I have been really excited about reading this one. While I think it is a good novel, unfortunately, I do not like it as much as Babel. And I wanted so much to love Katabasis, but I really do not care much for the novel’s protagonist, which seems to be a thing I experience with dark academia novels.

Katabasis is about an American PhD student named Alice Law who is studying Magick at Cambridge under Professor Jacob Grimes, who is considered one of the greatest magicians in the world. When Grimes is killed in a magical accident, Alice decides to journey to Hell to rescue his soul, not only because she feels responsible for his death, but because she needs his recommendation to secure a good job after she completes her degree. As Alice is about to open a portal to Hell, a fellow student in Magick – and her rival – Peter Murdoch shows up and decides to tag along to Hell with her to rescue Grimes.

When Alice and Peter arrive in Hell, they are surprised to find that Hell is a university campus, which is kind of funny if you have ever experienced the hellish situation of writing a twenty-page paper the day before it is due like I have. But seriously, though, what does Hell being a university campus say about Kuang’s views on academia, considering she has two master’s degrees and is currently working on a PhD?

Kuang’s version of Hell is terrifying, not because it is full of demons and monsters torturing human souls, which are called Shades, but because of the seemingly futileness of trying to redeem oneself so you can leave Hell to be reborn into a new life. For example, the First Court of Hell is Pride, which in Katabasis is a university library full of scholars who must figure out the meaning of “the good” before they can pass on. How does one define “the good” when good means something different to everyone? No wonder the Shades are having mental breakdowns.

Although Alice and Peter are still living when they enter Hell and do not have to travel through all eight courts to find Grimes, that does not mean they have an easy stroll through Hell. In addition to grappling with their own morality, they also have to contend with the minor deities that inhabit Hell, and the Kripkes, a family of magicians whose single-minded pursuit for magical knowledge has turned them into monsters who torture the Shades and murder any living beings that make their way into Hell so that they can drain the bodies of blood to use for casting spells.

Alice is a protagonist that I do not particularly like, which would not necessarily turn me off from a book, so long as I can empathize with her. She is not a good person; she is selfish and mercenary. She is a woman in a highly competitive academic environment run by men, the hallmark of which is misogyny. She is a scholarship kid competing against a silver-spooned nepo baby like Peter. She is a naïve young woman so blinded by the brilliance of her advisor, Professor Grimes, that she is constantly making excuses for his cruel treatment of her. All these things I can understand, but Alice is also *minor spoiler* a willing participant in the torture and killing of animals, including cats, and that I cannot forgive. This might seem silly to some people, but as a proud cat mom with an extremely visual imagination, I can barely tolerate reading about animals that die. I had a really hard time getting past this and almost gave up on Katabasis, thinking that Alice was exactly where she deserves to be. I wish more of the story had been told from Peter’s perspective to take a break from Alice. But I kept reading and thankfully Alice is almost able to fully redeem herself in my eyes by the end.

Katabasis is a philosophical novel in that it is full of different philosophical paradigms that Alice and Peter discuss and debate as they make their way through Hell. Philosophy is not everyone’s cup of tea, it certainly is not mine, but it actually makes for an interesting and thoughtful read and is suited to a journey through the Eight Courts of Hell. Despite my misgivings regarding Alice, I still recommend this novel if you enjoy Kuang’s other novels.