The Kingdom of Back

I was SUPER excited when Marie Lu’s The Kingdom of Back showed up on Bookish First! Thank you thank you thank you Bookish First and Penguin Teen for this ARC! I have a lot of things to say about this book. But first, if you want the chance to get amazing ARCs like this one, you can sign up with Bookish First too (my referral code is 56cf541090ca608b4 if you want to help me out). I bought this one with points that you can earn on the web site, but you can also win books too (I have good luck with their drawings).

The Story

Nannerl was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s older sister. She was a gifted composer and clavier player in her own right, but because she was female, once she grew up and married, it was no longer appropriate for her to pursue her musical gifts. She invented an imaginary land called The Kingdom of Back which she shared with her brother.

The above paragraph is true and if it stopped there, would be a nonfiction book. A boy in The Kingdom of Back, Hyacinth, started visiting them through dreams… or were they real? Nannerl doesn’t want to be forgotten, and Hyacinth promises her that she’ll be remembered forever–if she completes a few tasks for him. The tasks test her bravery, and ultimately, what she truly thinks is important in life.

What I Loved

I love history, and The Kingdom of Back is full of it. I knew prior to reading this book that Nannerl and Wolfgang had an imaginary place called The Kingdom of Back, because in my NaNoWriMo19 book, my main character plays one of Nannerl’s compositions, and I had to research them. In real life, her works supposedly don’t survive, but my book is set in the future and they discovered them. I looked up some of the history to see if it was true, and almost all of it was (the only discrepancy I saw was when the Empress Maria Theresa died of smallpox, and who cares). Something I found interesting was that the Queen of the Night and Hyacinth are both characters in Mozart’s works.

The characters in this book were great too. Nannerl was a complex character who is torn between various desires: the desire to please her parents, the desire to be remembered, her love for her brother. This story has a great sibling relationship. I had feelings about the father and the brother and the mother. Hyacinth himself had an interesting transition.

This book had some beautiful prose, almost in the vein of Laini Taylor at points. There were places where the story had this dreamlike feel to it that was absolutely gorgeous. Oh, and the maps and the cover! The photo of the cover doesn’t do the actual cover justice. The maps are going to be part of the front and back papers of the finished copies, and they are gorgeous. I hope they’re printed on blue paper.

Finally, The Kingdom of Back had a beautiful message. The message is especially applicable for artists: most of us want to be remembered, for our work to live on. It also has a message for girls, who have historically been invisible and in some places, still are.

What I Liked Less

I have a what I liked less section for a Marie Lu book? I know, that’s shocking. Although the beginning is beautiful, it does have a slow start. For a while, I considered giving it four stars. The final 1/3 of the book was exciting and I didn’t want to put it down though. The last couple of chapters made me weep. And oh! The final line took this book full circle and it was so lovely.

This book is unlike every other Marie Lu book I’ve read. There were a few similarities to her short story “The Journey” (from A Tyranny of Petticoats) and some fantasy elements from The Young Elites (including some similar phrasing), but for the most part, this is a completely new genre for Ms. Lu and although you might like some of her other books because you love dystopians or fast-paced fantasies with morally gray villains, this is different. This is like a historical fantasy with a little Brothers Grimm mixed in.

There really wasn’t much shipping going on in this story. One of the things I like about most Marie Lu books is that she usually has a couple I can root for. It’s not in this book.

Conclusion

I liked this book. Will it be my favorite Marie Lu book this year? My guess is that I’ll like Skyhunter later this year more, mainly because it’s going to be in a different genre with (I’m guessing) a little bit older characters and probably a little more kissing. Am I happy that I’ve pre-ordered both a Kindle copy and a hardback of this book? Yes. The finished copy is going to be gorgeous and I’ll definitely reread this book at some point.

So the question is, will you like The Kingdom of Back? If you like historical fiction, beautiful, dreamlike descriptions, and don’t mind slower pacing at the beginning, probably. The book shares its beautiful insight and compassion into people and their emotions that other Marie Lu books have. Don’t expect a lot of fighting, political intrigue, or couples you love to ship; if you need that, we’ll probably see that with Skyhunter later this year.