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The Kingdom of Back

Marie Lu

Start date: April 1, 2020

Finish date: April 30, 2020

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What Members Thought

Apr 02, 2020 Jenn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, books-i-own, read-in-2020, 4-star-reads, do-you-believe-in-magic, historical-fiction

3.5 Stars

"I am a composer named Nannerl!"

This is the story of Mozart, but not the one you know. There was another, a girl, an older sister. History kind of glossed over her despite her talent and gift. But now she is getting the chance to tell her story - mixed with a little whimsical fantasy.

I won't lie. I'm pretty sure I knew that Mozart had a sister, but that was the extent of my knowledge on that topic. When I heard Marie Lu was writing a book from her POV, I knew I wanted to read it. 3.5 Stars

"I am a composer named Nannerl!"

This is the story of Mozart, but not the one you know. There was another, a girl, an older sister. History kind of glossed over her despite her talent and gift. But now she is getting the chance to tell her story - mixed with a little whimsical fantasy.

I won't lie. I'm pretty sure I knew that Mozart had a sister, but that was the extent of my knowledge on that topic. When I heard Marie Lu was writing a book from her POV, I knew I wanted to read it. This is something completely different from anything we've had from Lu previously. And you know what? I enjoyed it.

Meet Nannerl Mozart, a prodigy in her own right, but because of her sex she is not allowed the same privileges as her younger brother, Wolfgang. While she desperately loves him, she also envies what the world offers him. When we first meet Nannerl, she's a happy child albeit always wanting to please her father. When her younger brother starts to show musical promise, Nannerl is thrilled. And they begin to create wonderful music together. But over time, that joy turns dark and soon Nannerl's inner thoughts regarding her brother are not very nice and jealously rears its ugly head.

So where does the fantasy element come in? During her research, Lu found that on long road trips the siblings would create this magical world to fight off boredom. This place was called the Kingdom of Back. Lu took this fictional world and brought it to life. Welcome to The Kingdom of Back - where everything is backwards and blue. And there's also a mysterious princeling who needs help reclaiming his kingdom and if Nannerl helps him, he will give her her greatest wish: to not be forgotten.

But here's where the story lacked a little for me. The visuals were beautiful but the world lacked any sense of urgency. Maybe because the meetings were so few and far between, but I found that I looked forward to the real life story rather than the fantasy aspect. What I did like however, was how the world was a mirror of Nannerl's feelings. That part was beautiful.

This is not your typical YA book - mainly because there's no romance. But I found I liked that about this book. It was the story of one girls quest to not be forgotten and the lessons she learned along the way.

"No one knows, although some say that she is still locked away in the castle's highest tower, waiting for someone to remember her."

...more

21 likes · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2020 Elle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Kingdom of Back is a very interesting and well-written mix of historical fiction and fantasy. Drawing on the true story of the Mozart children, Nannerl and Wolfgang and their creation of the imaginary world in order to entertain themselves, Marie Lu creates a modern fairy tale that blends reality with a darkly magical world of upside down trees and a mysterious boy named Hyacinth.

The writing is really what carries this book through. It is highly polished and flows easily, helping the story r ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 15, 2020 Keri rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, ya, uno-challenge-2020, book-box, owlcrate

This book was very interesting in how it combined history with fantasy. I really liked that aspect, and I liked the characters of Nannerl and Wolferl well enough. The idea of the Kingdom of Back and how it tied in with their regular lives was interesting also. But I just didn’t really get invested in the story. I started reading and switched to audio about 1/3 through, which did help except the narrators voices were very odd to me. Overall I’m glad I read it and learned about the historical port ...more

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