The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

Summary from Goodreads:

Two siblings. Two brilliant talents. But only one Mozart.

Born with a gift for music, Nannerl Mozart has just one wish--to be remembered forever. But even as she delights audiences with her masterful playing, she has little hope she'll ever become the acclaimed composer she longs to be. She is a young woman in 18th century Europe, and that means composing is forbidden to her. She will perform only until she reaches a marriageable age--her tyrannical father has made that much clear.

And as Nannerl's hope grows dimmer with each passing year, the talents of her beloved younger brother, Wolfgang, only seem to shine brighter. His brilliance begins to eclipse her own, until one day a mysterious stranger from a magical land appears with an irresistible offer. He has the power to make her wish come true--but his help may cost her everything.

In her first work of historical fiction, #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu spins a lush, lyrically-told story of music, magic, and the unbreakable bond between a brother and sister.

Review:

This book was not what I was expecting it to be. I love Marie Lu’s suspenseful dystopias. And while I read the summary for this book before reading it, I was not expecting the beautiful language I received. I guess I thought I’d be reading a high-stakes historical thriller….I don’t know why exactly. It’s just what I’m used to. I was pleasantly surprised here. This was not that.

This book was beautiful and a lot slower. It was a lush, musical fairy tale. It read like a classic fairy tale. It sucks you in. It’s dark and magical. It first reads as a feminist historical fiction novel, the best kind of historical fiction. And just when you think you understand the rhythm of it all, bam…there’s a magical fairy world where the trees are upside down, and brother and sister must complete dark quests like deceiving underwater witches.

There’s also this crazy musical prodigy element to the story. Getting into the heads of two musical prodigies is just fascinating. Watching children make musical masterpieces is just beyond fascinating. I loved watching the brother/sister relationship develop and grow, and I super loved watching them encourage each other. I like the explanation for why people know Mozart just by the last name. I also love that the brother and sister didn’t always get along. Their relationship seemed real. They were competitive, but supportive.

I love all the interwoven historical facts with magical elements. The tidbits of fantasy made the dark realness of things like sickness at that time period easier to read (especially while reading this book during a pandemic…).

The one thing that was kind of missing from this book was romance. In fact, it almost mostly reads as a middle grade book because the main characters are children for most of the novel. There’s a slight romantic element, but it’s mostly nonexistent. However, I guess the characters are teens for the last bit of the story. And then there’s an epilogue at the end (23 years later). So age, and timing is a little strange. But, I guess it makes sense in regards to fairy tales in general. It reads more with the timing of a fairy tale.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It’s unlike Marie Lu’s other books. But, I still loved this. It’s more fairy tale than historical fiction. But, I loved the historical fiction elements as well. Learning about musical prodigies was really interesting. I did feel like romance was missing.  But, otherwise, this was a really interesting, magical escape. I give it a 9/10.