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A review by starryeyedenigma
The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu
3.0
The Kingdom of Back is inspired by real life story and events of musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his lesser known but equally prodigious sister Nannerl Mozart. Apparently, in one of Mozart’s biographies, there were speculations, that Nannerl was equally or maybe even more talented than Wolfgang and wrote some of his compositions. But because women were not allowed popularity in any fields during 18th Century, other than being wives and mothers, Nannerl’s story and even her existence was lost to history!
So Marie Lu took this premise and weaved this beautiful story that felt like diving into a story of Hansel and Gretel, who discover a hidden kingdom like Narnia. Only, this kingdom has its own villain and is dark. I cant say more without divulging the plot of the story, but I really enjoyed the fairy tale fictional account of the Mozart siblings.
Marie Lu’s writing is simple and she doesn’t complicate her world building in this book. There aren’t many important characters and the story keeps its focus on Nannerl, Wolfgang, their father Leopold and the mysterious faery Hyacinth. There are a lot of tasks and twists throughout the story, that keep the pace interesting. I liked the fact that this story focussed completely on sibling relationship and that there was no unnecessary romance added to the plot.
The only thing I felt was that the story was too simplistic and I had guessed where it was going and how it was going to end even before I reached half way. Maybe its because I’ve been reading so many exceptional books with multiple characters and personalities and world building and plot twists, that I might have subconsciously compared this book to the others. Its unfair to do that, but it mattered nevertheless.
That said, I do feel that there were a lot of hidden metaphors in the story, about finding yourself, fighting your demons and standing up for yourself in this feminist fictional account of the Mozart siblings.
So Marie Lu took this premise and weaved this beautiful story that felt like diving into a story of Hansel and Gretel, who discover a hidden kingdom like Narnia. Only, this kingdom has its own villain and is dark. I cant say more without divulging the plot of the story, but I really enjoyed the fairy tale fictional account of the Mozart siblings.
Marie Lu’s writing is simple and she doesn’t complicate her world building in this book. There aren’t many important characters and the story keeps its focus on Nannerl, Wolfgang, their father Leopold and the mysterious faery Hyacinth. There are a lot of tasks and twists throughout the story, that keep the pace interesting. I liked the fact that this story focussed completely on sibling relationship and that there was no unnecessary romance added to the plot.
The only thing I felt was that the story was too simplistic and I had guessed where it was going and how it was going to end even before I reached half way. Maybe its because I’ve been reading so many exceptional books with multiple characters and personalities and world building and plot twists, that I might have subconsciously compared this book to the others. Its unfair to do that, but it mattered nevertheless.
That said, I do feel that there were a lot of hidden metaphors in the story, about finding yourself, fighting your demons and standing up for yourself in this feminist fictional account of the Mozart siblings.