The Kingdom of Back: Meh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I love Marie Lu. The Legend and The Young Elite series are both great and so entertaining. When I saw she was releasing a new fantasy book that was unlike her other novels, I was excited. Her stuff is good so I assumed The Kingdom of Back would be the same. But mostly, the book was just meh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

The Gist

A historical fiction with a twist of fantasy, The Kingdom of Back introduces us to a person that most people have forgotten with time – Maria Anna Mozart, otherwise known as Nannerl.  Nannerl is Wolfgang Mozart’s older sister and her greatest fear is being forgotten. Always trying to win her father’s approval, Nannerl slaves at the piano to be the perfect musician. When Woferl (Wolfgang) begins expertly playing and composing music at such a young age, Nannerl feels jealousy – jealousy that Woferl is gaining all of her father’s attention, jealously that Woferl is gaining all of Europe’s attention, and jealousy that Woferl will not be forgotten by history.

When she wishes to be remembered, Hyacinth, a dark fairie prince from The Kingdom of Back, hears her plea and grants her her wish if she agrees to help him win back his kingdom. Between playing in front of royal audiences and going on dangerous quests to help Hyacinth, Nannerl will be forced to question how badly she wants fame.

The Tale of Meh 

This book was pretty slow and the fairy tale aspect didn’t really intrigue me all that much. The last fourth of the book picked up the pace a bit and the story got a little more interesting but I still felt letdown by the whole thing.

What I liked:

• The writing. Marie Lu can really make words work for her. Her writing, the prose specifically, in this book was beautiful. The detail, the imagery, and the cadence were all there to really bring a story to life. I just wish the story had been more interesting.
• Lu’s attempt at attacking misogyny. I say “attempt” because Nannerl understands that she should be praised as much as Woferl and she stands up for herself once or twice but we get to the end and find out she lived her life exactly as she was expected to. She didn’t really pave the way or do anything she wasn’t supposed to. It was disappointing to say the least but I like that Lu gave Nannerl some backbone, especially when it came to her father.

What I didn’t like:

• There were a few parts of the book that I didn’t feel really added anything to the overall story. I think good historical fiction books use the history to bolster the story. Here, I think Marie Lu read some letters from different people in Nannerl’s life and wanted to throw them into the story.
• “He tells you to play, so you play. He tells you to curtsy, so you curtsy. He tells you what you are meant to do and what you are meant not to do, so you do and you do not do. He tells you not to be angry, so you smile, you turn your eyes down, you are quiet and do exactly as he says in the hopes that this is what he wants, and then one night you realize that you have given him so much of yourself that you are nothing but the curtsy and the smile and the quiet. That you are nothing.”
  • This quote exemplifies Nannerl’s relationship with her father. I mentioned in the things I liked section that Nannerl got some backbone to stand up to her father. But Lord! She continued to want his approval and unwavering attention, even at the potential expense of her brother’s life. Girl, get a grip! I really wanted to see Nannerl grow more into her own person and it just didn’t happen.
•  The pace. Think of a tortoise on a slow day kind of slow. 
• The fantasy was kind of thrown in there sporadically and I never felt like the author found a rhythm with it. 

Overall, the book wasn’t my favorite. It could have been a cool take on a historical fiction but I just didn’t feel like the story flowed with the fantasy. There are better fairy-tale like stories out there. All I have for this book is a shoulder shrug. If you’re looking for more reviews, click here.