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curseofachilles 's review for:
The Kingdom of Back
by Marie Lu
I feel so guilty because in my latest review I literally said the pacing is too slow and now I am telling you the pacing here is too fast.
Okay not exactly too fast. Let me clear it up. You know in historical fiction novels where the author took the time and patience for the world building? It was irritating in the beginning because where the heck is the PLOT?! But then I stumbled across this book and... yeah, we need more world building inside historical fiction novels; even if it would be like 500 pages... even when the plot drags a little. That’s what I meant with ‘the pacing is too fast’. We need the world building guys.
Secondly, I know Marie Lu intended to make readers feel the magical feeling when we read this book. The Kingdom of Back, which also serves as the title, is as strange as it is; and like the name, everything is backwards. It’s literally a world out of a children story book. I’m going to get back to this later.
Now the plot of this book isn’t exactly slow slow, but it’s a little boring since not much happened. It’s literally just Nannerl and Woferl visiting a kingdom that might or might not be real, and there, they act as saviors of the kingdom, but even then, the time we spent with the Kingdom of Back is too brief because everything happened too fast and we didn’t have time to get used to this world. I know this genre is out of Marie Lu’s usual writings (she usually writes sci-fi) and the pacing would work really well in sci-fi but sadly, it doesn’t work for a historical fiction novel.
Okay, so. The book is set in two worlds, the real world, and the Kingdom of Back (which may be imaginary or not; it depends on your interpretation). Our first introduction to the Kingdom of Back was so fast and I couldn’t really grasp the magic of this world. Even though we spend more time in the ‘real world’, the world building doesn’t fare any better either. I usually love books set in the past, but the world building truly needs a lot of work.
I do sympathize with Nannerl a lot. I could feel her struggles to be a woman living in the 18th century where people literally think a woman’s job is to breed children and take care of their husbands. In fact, Marie Lu did Nannerl’s inner monologues so well done that it’s one of the key redemption points of this book for me.
Another key redemption point is what happened in the second half of the book. I don’t know what to say of the first half; the pacing was fast but it was boring because again, not much happened, but the second half... MY GOD. The plot doesn’t improve a lot, mind you, but the characterization and the relationship between Woferl and Nannerl are so beautiful. That ending? CHEFS KISS.
I don’t know what to say. A part of me disliked what happened in the book because of the plot, but I also feel some... genuineness from this story. It’s easy to pretend that this is what actually happened to musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (and his tragic death at the age of 35) and it’s also easy to pretend that what happened in this book is real. I do think the world building needs a lot of work but if Marie Lu ever decides to write anything that is not sci-fi or kids with superpowers, I’m open to it as well.
Okay not exactly too fast. Let me clear it up. You know in historical fiction novels where the author took the time and patience for the world building? It was irritating in the beginning because where the heck is the PLOT?! But then I stumbled across this book and... yeah, we need more world building inside historical fiction novels; even if it would be like 500 pages... even when the plot drags a little. That’s what I meant with ‘the pacing is too fast’. We need the world building guys.
Secondly, I know Marie Lu intended to make readers feel the magical feeling when we read this book. The Kingdom of Back, which also serves as the title, is as strange as it is; and like the name, everything is backwards. It’s literally a world out of a children story book. I’m going to get back to this later.
Now the plot of this book isn’t exactly slow slow, but it’s a little boring since not much happened. It’s literally just Nannerl and Woferl visiting a kingdom that might or might not be real, and there, they act as saviors of the kingdom, but even then, the time we spent with the Kingdom of Back is too brief because everything happened too fast and we didn’t have time to get used to this world. I know this genre is out of Marie Lu’s usual writings (she usually writes sci-fi) and the pacing would work really well in sci-fi but sadly, it doesn’t work for a historical fiction novel.
Okay, so. The book is set in two worlds, the real world, and the Kingdom of Back (which may be imaginary or not; it depends on your interpretation). Our first introduction to the Kingdom of Back was so fast and I couldn’t really grasp the magic of this world. Even though we spend more time in the ‘real world’, the world building doesn’t fare any better either. I usually love books set in the past, but the world building truly needs a lot of work.
I do sympathize with Nannerl a lot. I could feel her struggles to be a woman living in the 18th century where people literally think a woman’s job is to breed children and take care of their husbands. In fact, Marie Lu did Nannerl’s inner monologues so well done that it’s one of the key redemption points of this book for me.
Another key redemption point is what happened in the second half of the book. I don’t know what to say of the first half; the pacing was fast but it was boring because again, not much happened, but the second half... MY GOD. The plot doesn’t improve a lot, mind you, but the characterization and the relationship between Woferl and Nannerl are so beautiful. That ending? CHEFS KISS.
I don’t know what to say. A part of me disliked what happened in the book because of the plot, but I also feel some... genuineness from this story. It’s easy to pretend that this is what actually happened to musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (and his tragic death at the age of 35) and it’s also easy to pretend that what happened in this book is real. I do think the world building needs a lot of work but if Marie Lu ever decides to write anything that is not sci-fi or kids with superpowers, I’m open to it as well.