a universe of exploding stars

Strangers From Hell (2019) EP7

fav books i read in 2025: katabasis - r. f. kuang;

Now that I finished the book I find it kind of infuriating that all the conversations around this book (at least on booktok) are around if R. F. Kuang writes “too academic” and “doesn’t trust her readers” and not that fact that she wrote a beautiful story about not taking life for granted. Elsbeth wanted to be alive again so she could sit outside, and eat yummy food. All Gradus cared about being told was mundane things like music, and what the London skyline looks like. Because those little things we often overlook are what make life amazing. The fact that we’re alive is a beautiful, miraculous thing because of the small things that make it up, and being able to experience those things are what makes life worth it

Of course, not every book is for everyone. But its the specific criticisms she faces : “too pretentious,” “too intellectual,” “spells things out too much,” “villainises white people,” and now “her books are written by AI”... come on. That’s not just about taste, it’s rooted in racialised stereotypes about who gets to be seen as intellectual, complex, or authoritative.

It’s not the writing that bothers them, it’s who’s writing it.

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Edit :

Katabasis full Book Review

Katabasis Reading log : my reaction to a bunch of different quotes

Katabasis, by R. F. Kuang

unlikable but relatable main characters

biting critiques of higher academia

love stories that don't follow the structure of a romance (between two overachieving PhD students)

philosophical debates and the application of classic logic

alice in wonderland and dante's inferno

examining toxic relationships between professor and students

detailed and in depth magic systems

raw examinations of the sacrifices expected of students

Chapter one. Pt.1

“Cambridge, Michaelmas Term, October.

She knew that voice. She knew, before she turned around, whom she would find at the door.”