The Kingdom of Back

Initial Thoughts: Really enjoyed this! There's a great YA female protagonist, beautiful scenery, a focus on family relationships and commentary on how much art we've missed out or how many artists have been forgotten because of discrimination. It's a solid YA historical fiction novel and the first book I've read by Marie Lu that I think I've enjoyed!

Spoiler-Free Review:

The story follows Nannerl Mozart, the elder sister of Worfel Mozart, and her childhood with her young brother in a world made of music, composing and the magical Kingdom of Back. The narrative is very much Nannerl's and focuses on her story rather than her famous brother, and her struggles with society at large and how her relationship with her brother is strained because of this.

Nannerl is a brilliantly smart character, and evidently extremely talented and creative in her own right. She is able to recognise how she is limited and constrained by the society she lives in. She's an incredibly complex and flawed character who feels very human, and Marie Lu makes you really feel for her as the reader - her struggles invoke a great deal of emotion.

Lu also focuses heavily on the sibling relationship between Worfel and Nannerl. Their relationship also feels very real and very human, and is the first accurate portrayal of a sibling relationship I've seen in a long time. This also played very heavily into the feminist themes and discussions in this book.

The book is very much a character study of Nannerl, so you truly learn a lot about her rather than anything else. So if you're not into character driven stories perhaps this isn't for you.

Saying that however, the plot is not lacking because of the focus on Nannerl's character. The Kingdom of Back brings an interesting plot line with fascinating world-building and the story unravels slowly throughout the whole book. There is some action but also a focus on politics and manipulation, and the characters and different creatures in the kingdom were compelling. Every scene with the kingdom held my interest and intrigued me - I always yearning to know more. The writing style in this was stunning and the way Lu described the scenery of the world Nannerl inhibited was enchanting.

There was also a great commentary focus on feminist themes within a historical context, that in ways still unfortunately rings true and relevant to this day. Whilst I may have enjoyed a deeper dive into these themes it was still well done and enough for me to enjoy the novel.

This was a compelling read and one I believe we need more like in YA.

Spoiler Review:

Marie Lu I was not expected this.

This was the first Marie Lu book I've read and really enjoyed, and I think she should be writing more like this - I think this could be a great market for her. To take stories of people lost in history or who were silenced years ago because of their gender, race, sexuality etc. and bring them to the YA genre and teach us all about them. It could be a great niche for her to take on because she did it so
well with this.

The story focuses heavily on Nannerl and her silenced voice and art. It's a read that invoked such anger and grief in me because as the reader you're left to wonder what great music she could have composed and created, and what we have missed out not only from her but others who were also never given the chance to speak.

Nannerl grew a lot in this book, from a young nine year old girl who was unsure of herself to a young woman at eighteen who had come to realise who she would be and had accepted it. She's complex with great traits like intelligence, ambition and creativity, but she can also be selfish, malicious and she sure knows how to hold a grudge; but she is human in this book. All her flaws are explored fully and as a reader we understand why they exist - they are the product of a woman trapped somewhere she doesn't want to be.

Nannerl is forced into a role she doesn't wish to take for a lot of the book, a role she believes diminishes her and means she will be forgotten, and to be remembered is the most important thing to her. It's truly the source of all her struggles in this book, and causes tense relationships within her family and home life but it also drives her to the point of illness and sometimes desperation that shows through with naivety.

Eventually, by the end of the novel Nannerl comes to accept she can't take on society as a whole and win, and be the woman she thinks she is destined to be. Perhaps some would see this as giving in and giving up, but I don't think it is because of that last conversation with the Queen in the Kingdom of Back. Nannerl and her talk about how she can still go into the world and make changes and help people even if all she can become is a wife - it sounds like a vow and a promise to fight against society, especially the society present at the time when Nannerl was alive.

Another great aspect of this book is the lack of focus on romance or romantic relationship. Nannerl appears to have crushes, but that's all they are - and that's pretty normal for a straight teenage girl. But these crushes are never a focal point of the narrative, and they never become more important to Nannerl than her music (her one true passion), nor her brother.

The constant shifting dynamic between Nannerl and her brother was fascinating to read as well. It read like a true sibling relationship, and it was nice to read a YA book were the focal relationship was one between two siblings rather than that between two lovers It was fascinating to also learn a lot of the relationship shown in this book between the two of them was based on truth, as Worfel is said to have looked up to his sister and admired her for her composing and music, Lu made sure we understood this too and it was great to learn.

The Kingdom of Back was a fascinating world and one I learnt is based on something Nannerl and Worfel actually created themselves. It was enthralling and the way Lu described it was magnificent, I've never before read a book with fantasy elements like this and been able to picture a world so vividly but I could - it's truly a testament to Lu's writing. The characters in the kingdom were fantastic and there was a great story there that really fed into Nannerl's narrative and helped us to understand her and her motives.

My biggest complaint of this book is possibly the pacing. The start of this is slow and whilst it does pick up, it does slow again at times when the narrative switches back to our world as the plotlines based there rather than in the Kingdom of Back can be repetitive. Whilst that is reflective of the real world it does cause some imbalance with the pacing throughout the novel.

This is a great YA standalone and one I would recommend to YA readers. I'm also desperately hoping Lu will write more books like this in the future as I think she could do great things by taking voices that were silenced and making sure there are heard.

Read my full review here: https://moonlitbooks.home.blog/2020/04/11/kingdomofbackreview/