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charavel

369 points

0% overlap
Level 3
My Taste
My Brilliant Friend (The Neapolitan Novels, #1)
The Buried Giant
Sabriel (Abhorsen,  #1)
The Tent
The Poisonwood Bible
Reading...
The Book of IChildhood (The Copenhagen Trilogy #1)

charavel finished reading and wrote a review...

17h
  • Katabasis
    charavel
    Oct 25, 2025
    3.5
    Enjoyment: 3.0Quality: 3.5Characters: 4.0Plot: 3.5

    Sorry 🫣

    Sometimes I fear I’m hardest on authors I already love. Babel is such a treasure and dense in all the right ways. I found myself caught up in disappointments reading Katabasis. The magic system didn’t feel as integrated (mostly because babel’s was just so cool), the pacing dragged, I didn’t love the characters as much, and mostly I was disappointed by the missed opportunity to play with the layers of hell more. Dont get me wrong, there is plenty to appreciate here, but as much as I wanted to love this it just didn’t pull together for my personal reading pleasure.

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  • Post from the Katabasis forum

    22h
  • Katabasis
    Thoughts from 94% (page 507)
    spoilers

    View spoiler

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  • charavel commented on a post

    1d
  • The Left Hand of Darkness
    Excellent Worldbuilding Unable to Override Overall Dry and Boring Story

    The humanoid biology the author has created here with its resultant culture is genius and very interesting. That said, the story itself is not very interesting and she leans so heavily on invented and dry language that when I forget about the book for a few months (because the story is not engaging) and come back to it, the incessant fabricated language can make it a slog. I started this book a year or so ago and am maybe half way through. Just not enjoying the read.

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  • charavel commented on a post

    2d
  • Babel
    Just Starting

    Intellectually I know books don’t have an expiration date but I feel so behind in not having read this particular dark academia entry. I’m finally getting it!

    I have friends who’ve loved this and disliked it, so I’m hoping I land on the loving it side. Language. Colonization. Oxford. Academia. Original magic system. Seems like a green light to me.

    This’ll be my first read from the author. Yellowface next most likely.

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  • Post from the Katabasis forum

    3d
  • Katabasis
    Thoughts from 77% (page 416)
    spoilers

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  • charavel made progress on...

    3d
    Katabasis

    Katabasis

    R.F. Kuang

    76%
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    charavel commented on a post

    6d
  • Katabasis
    Thoughts from 71% (page 382)
    spoilers

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  • charavel finished reading and left a rating...

    6d
  • The Thief (The Queen's Thief, #1)
    charavel
    Oct 19, 2025
    4.0
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

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  • Post from the Katabasis forum

    6d
  • Katabasis
    Thoughts from 71% (page 382)
    spoilers

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    comments 3
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  • charavel made progress on...

    6d
    Katabasis

    Katabasis

    R.F. Kuang

    70%
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    charavel made progress on...

    1w
    Katabasis

    Katabasis

    R.F. Kuang

    67%
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    charavel commented on a post

    1w
  • Katabasis
    Thoughts from 52% (page 283)
    spoilers

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  • charavel commented on a post

    1w
  • Katabasis
    Thoughts from 62% (page 335)

    Literally my biggest pet peeve is adding a new perspective this far into a book..

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  • charavel finished reading and left a rating...

    1w
  • Catch-22
    charavel
    Oct 18, 2025
    3.5
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

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  • Post from the Katabasis forum

    1w
  • Katabasis
    Thoughts from 62% (page 335)

    Literally my biggest pet peeve is adding a new perspective this far into a book..

    6
    comments 1
    Reply
  • charavel wants to read...

    1w
    In the Country of Others

    In the Country of Others

    Leïla Slimani

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  • Childhood (The Copenhagen Trilogy #1)
    Thoughts from 15% (page 15)

    “I look up at [my mother] and understand many things at once. She is smaller than other adult women, younger than other mothers, and there’s a world outside my street that she fears. And whenever we both fear it together, she will stab me in the back.”

    Complicated mother/daughter relationships 🫶

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  • charavel made progress on...

    1w
    Childhood (The Copenhagen Trilogy #1)

    Childhood (The Copenhagen Trilogy #1)

    Tove Ditlevsen

    16%
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