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thewildmageslibrary's review
4.0
This book is so beautifully written. <3 It very much gave me fairytale feels. I love Nannerl, her drive to be remembered is very relatable. I can definitely see myself reading this again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Medical content and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death
redheadorganist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Blood
rochallor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Blood, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Death
Minor: Physical abuse
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoy it when I learn about an historical figure through a fiction book. Before picking up The Kingdom of Back, I had no idea that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had an older sister. While there are elements of fantasy in this book (The Kingdom of Back is an historical fantasy after all) there’s enough research around Wolferl and Nannerl to tie into their true life story. Well done, Marie Lu!
If there were glaring historical inaccuracies in that part of the book, I would be the first person to call them out. But I’m serious when I say Lu did a fantastic job here – the history was vivid, the music sang, and the fantasy was appropriately menacing. Ironically, the the tone of the book often conjured “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Edvard Greig for me, rather than something Mozart himself wrote, but the classical music element was there regardless.
There are three pieces at the center of The Kingdom of Back. First, we have Nannerl’s ambitions – she’s an extremely talented musician and composer, but as a woman, she will never be able to follow her heart or publish her music as it was “a man’s job” at the time. Obviously today we know this is absolute poppycock, and Lu successfully recreated Nannrl’s internal struggle between the need to behave in a societally acceptable manner and please her father, and her desire to write music. Second, we have the relationship between Wolfrl and Nannrl. The sibling relationship is the thread that pulls the book together and Nannerl’s driving motivation. There were sweet moments and frustrating moments and as a strictly raised older sister to a passionate and free younger brother, I found myself empathizing with Nannerl frequently. Finally, we have Hyacinth’s pact and the children’s relationship to the Kingdom. All together you have a complex story split between two worlds that is constantly testing the loyalty and selfishness of the characters.
Plot-wise, I loved it. The Kingdom of Back is fantastic. Aesthetically, the book reminded me strongly of Wintersong, both in the chilly European aesthetic and the foundation of classical music and their composers. This inspiration is still pretty uncommon in the literary world, and it was a refreshing change of pace. The coexistence of historical and fantasy evoked images of The Magicians or The Chronicles of Narnia – a little magic in the ordinary. While The Kingdom of Back tells a very different story than either of these, it’s the sort of world you are entering when you pick up this book.
The characters and relationships were both intricate and interesting. There’s a scene between Nannerl and her father that adds excellent depth to his character and strengthens the reader’s understanding of their relationship that I really appreciated. I felt the real world characters – even minor ones like Johan – were better developed than the fantasy characters. While I believe this was part by design (Hyacinth is mysterious and duplicitous after all), the lack of depth kept me distant as a reader there was that loss of emotional investment in his part of the story.
My major complaint about The Kingdom of Back is the way the story is told. We spend an awful lot of time in Nannerl’s head and while this perspective feels true to life, it’s also not always interesting for the reader and becomes repetitive. I liked that it was a single POV because it suited Nannerl’s deeply guarded fears and anger, but I think this could have been a stronger book with a little less analysis of her thoughts and a little more immersion into her world.
The Kingdom of Back is different than many of the other things I’ve read by Marie Lu. The more I read her recent books, the more I am convinced that she has grown exponentially as a writer during her career. The Kingdom of Back and Skyhunter are much more impressive novels than Warcross and Legend. Fans of her earlier work may not like The Kingdom of Back as much because it’s such a departure from her YA science fiction, but to miss this book would be a mistake – it’s an excellent work, compelling while be being subtly educational and full of sinister magic. I recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Blood and Death
allyhoo811's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
My admittedly disorganized thoughts after reading "The Kingdom of Back"
Positives (for me):
1) I don't feel this book should be marketed as YA. Yes, the protagonist is a teenage girl, but it feels much more general audience to me.
2) The writing style is beautiful and had a dreamlike quality. I found myself falling asleep on several occasions while reading this one -- not because it was boring, but the cadence of the words just kind of lulled me into dreamland lol
3) This book has some wonderful Dark "Peter Pan" vibes (reminded me a bit of Season 3 of Once Upon A Time in that way). If you enjoy that story, I'd try this.
4) Fans of portal fantasies should check this out.
5) The brother/sister relationship in this story is perfection.
6) I loved that I was never sure what the author intended the Kingdom of Back to be: was it a real place, a dream, I childhood game, or was Nannerl experiencing some kind of mental health issues (schizophrenia perhaps).
Negatives (for me):
1) The last 2 or 3 chapters (after the time jump to post-Mozart's death) really brought the book down for me. They didn't feel necessary to me and really left me confused (not in a good way this time) to the author's intentions for what the Kingdom was and what the theme of the story was. It should have just ended without these chapters included.
2) There are several historical inaccuracies (at least according to some very basic google research). It doesn't greatly affect the story, but if you like researching your historical fiction/fantasy you will find it is there.
Positives (for me):
1) I don't feel this book should be marketed as YA. Yes, the protagonist is a teenage girl, but it feels much more general audience to me.
2) The writing style is beautiful and had a dreamlike quality. I found myself falling asleep on several occasions while reading this one -- not because it was boring, but the cadence of the words just kind of lulled me into dreamland lol
3) This book has some wonderful Dark "Peter Pan" vibes (reminded me a bit of Season 3 of Once Upon A Time in that way). If you enjoy that story, I'd try this.
4) Fans of portal fantasies should check this out.
5) The brother/sister relationship in this story is perfection.
6) I loved that I was never sure what the author intended the Kingdom of Back to be: was it a real place, a dream, I childhood game, or was Nannerl experiencing some kind of mental health issues (schizophrenia perhaps).
Negatives (for me):
1) The last 2 or 3 chapters (after the time jump to post-Mozart's death) really brought the book down for me. They didn't feel necessary to me and really left me confused (not in a good way this time) to the author's intentions for what the Kingdom was and what the theme of the story was. It should have just ended without these chapters included.
2) There are several historical inaccuracies (at least according to some very basic google research). It doesn't greatly affect the story, but if you like researching your historical fiction/fantasy you will find it is there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Terminal illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Xenophobia
paolina's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Just a little too slow and melancholy for me, but beautifully written and imagined.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
malloryfitz's review against another edition
adventurous
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Premise- (3/5) I'm not particularly into classical music, though I did know that Nannerl Mozart existed, and that she was as musically talented as her brother. But I do love a good history-magic mash-up, and I've liked some of Marie Lu's stuff a lot. I know this is a bit of a departure from Lu's usual stuff, which is always exciting to see.
Characters- (3/5) Nannerl is a solid protagonist, and pretty much what you'd expect from the premise. Her identities as a musician, composer, woman, sister, and daughter, are complicated and frequently conflicting. She does a lot of self-growth throughout the book, but remained relatable throughout. It was interesting to see Wolfgang from this perspective, as a child and younger brother, rather than the celebrated, bewigged young man we may usually think of. Hyacinth fit his setting and purpose quite well, although it would've been neat if he had more clearly explained motives.
Plot- (3.5/5) Despite not being very long, there were moments when it felt like things were in a lull, moving more slowly than they needed to. But I really enjoyed the twist at the end--I sort of saw it coming, but I thought that Lu was clever with the way she made it work throughout the story. She also did a nice job of balancing the real-world plot with the storyline of the Kingdom of Back itself. That being said, the historical plot was definitely (perhaps unsurprisingly) a lot less exciting for me and didn't always hold my attention as well. However, the ending was really nice. Also!! It's suuuuuuper cool that (according to Lu's author's note at the end) there is historical record in the Mozart papers of something called the Kingdom of Back!
World- (3/5) My favorite thing about the world of the Kingdom of Back is the way Lu tied it to the children's imaginations. That's such a powerful, wonderful, spooky idea. I liked that we got to see Nannerl and Woferl build pieces of the world in real time, and a lot of those details felt very childlike (in a good way). Some of it was pretty standard fairy-world type stuff, and Lu's historical world didn't have the same kind of depth. Not that I think the book necessarily needed it, but it did feel a bit two-dimensional compared to Back (and maybe that was intentional).
Writing- (3/5) This felt a bit closer to the middle-grade end of the YA spectrum, which is not a bad thing, but did feel sort of evident in the writing. I also think Lu was sort of finding her feet in the historical vein since she's written a lot of sci-fi otherwise. But the writing felt appropriate for the novel! Just not particularly noteworthy for me.
Overall- (3.1/5) The Kingdom of Back pays homage to a lesser-known but much deserving musical genius, but Lu's focus is on Nannerl Mozart's relationship with her brother as much as her musical talent and intelligence. This was a departure from a lot of Lu's previous work, but it was a neat blend of history and fantasy. She crafts a clever plot in the fantastical mirror world of back, while dealing with issues of historical sexism and the complexity of family relationships. The writing felt a bit young, and the subject material didn't quite connect with me on a personal level. The world building also felt stronger and more exciting for Back than for historical Austria. But I think Lu very much has accomplished her purpose in bringing Nannerl Mozart to life, both as a skilled musician and composer and as a caring sister and complicated person.
Characters- (3/5) Nannerl is a solid protagonist, and pretty much what you'd expect from the premise. Her identities as a musician, composer, woman, sister, and daughter, are complicated and frequently conflicting. She does a lot of self-growth throughout the book, but remained relatable throughout. It was interesting to see Wolfgang from this perspective, as a child and younger brother, rather than the celebrated, bewigged young man we may usually think of. Hyacinth fit his setting and purpose quite well, although it would've been neat if he had more clearly explained motives.
Plot- (3.5/5) Despite not being very long, there were moments when it felt like things were in a lull, moving more slowly than they needed to. But I really enjoyed the twist at the end--I sort of saw it coming, but I thought that Lu was clever with the way she made it work throughout the story. She also did a nice job of balancing the real-world plot with the storyline of the Kingdom of Back itself. That being said, the historical plot was definitely (perhaps unsurprisingly) a lot less exciting for me and didn't always hold my attention as well. However, the ending was really nice. Also!! It's suuuuuuper cool that (according to Lu's author's note at the end) there is historical record in the Mozart papers of something called the Kingdom of Back!
World- (3/5) My favorite thing about the world of the Kingdom of Back is the way Lu tied it to the children's imaginations. That's such a powerful, wonderful, spooky idea. I liked that we got to see Nannerl and Woferl build pieces of the world in real time, and a lot of those details felt very childlike (in a good way). Some of it was pretty standard fairy-world type stuff, and Lu's historical world didn't have the same kind of depth. Not that I think the book necessarily needed it, but it did feel a bit two-dimensional compared to Back (and maybe that was intentional).
Writing- (3/5) This felt a bit closer to the middle-grade end of the YA spectrum, which is not a bad thing, but did feel sort of evident in the writing. I also think Lu was sort of finding her feet in the historical vein since she's written a lot of sci-fi otherwise. But the writing felt appropriate for the novel! Just not particularly noteworthy for me.
Overall- (3.1/5) The Kingdom of Back pays homage to a lesser-known but much deserving musical genius, but Lu's focus is on Nannerl Mozart's relationship with her brother as much as her musical talent and intelligence. This was a departure from a lot of Lu's previous work, but it was a neat blend of history and fantasy. She crafts a clever plot in the fantastical mirror world of back, while dealing with issues of historical sexism and the complexity of family relationships. The writing felt a bit young, and the subject material didn't quite connect with me on a personal level. The world building also felt stronger and more exciting for Back than for historical Austria. But I think Lu very much has accomplished her purpose in bringing Nannerl Mozart to life, both as a skilled musician and composer and as a caring sister and complicated person.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, and Medical content
Minor: Death
ashleybeereads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
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