The Kingdom of Back

Title : The Kingdom of Back

Author : Marie Lu

Number of Page : 336

Publisher : G.P. Putnam's Sons Bfyr

Two siblings. Two brilliant talents. But only one Mozart. Born with a gift for music, Nannerl Mozart has just one wish--to be remembered forever. But even as she delights audiences with her masterful playing, she has little hope she'll ever become the acclaimed composer she longs to be. She is a young woman in 18th century Europe, and that means composing is forbidden to her. She will perform only until she reaches a marriageable age--her tyrannical father has made that much clear. And as Nannerl's hope grows dimmer with each passing year, the talents of her beloved younger brother, Wolfgang, only seem to shine brighter. His brilliance begins to eclipse her own, until one day a mysterious stranger from a magical land appears with an irresistible offer. He has the power to make her wish come true--but his help may cost her everything.

Review:

Marie Lu is one of my favorite author. I will read whatever she writes. But, the premise of this book is very interesting that I don't really care who the author is. Historical fiction retelling about Mozart siblings, focusing more to the sister who was not as famous as the brother. Damn! What an idea! 

Nannerl Mozart lived under his brother's shadow. She was the one who learned piano first (it was called clavier in this book to be more authentic since piano in German is Klavier) and her brother outshined her quickly. At the age of five, Woferl (Wolfgang's little name) could already compose a sonata. Why am I so useless? The sad thing was that women at that time could not compose music. They could learn piano, but their main purpose was to find a husband. Nannerl was always envious of her brother because of this. The society made her feel trapped. All she ever wanted was to be remembered because of her music. 

The two kids were so close. Nannerl liked to tell bedtime stories to Woferl about a faraway kingdom that first emerged in her dreams. Woferl named it the Kingdom of Back. But, everything that Nannerl or Woferl imagined about the kingdom were real. They went on adventure and experienced magic in that kingdom. Outside of the magical parts, they still have to practiced piano and appeared in concert across Europe together. The relationship between the siblings were not always smooth, but I could feel the love and loyalty they had toward each other. The feelss!!!!

The only complaint I have for this book is that the other characters outside Nannerl and Woferl were one dimensional and only present just for the sake of it. Even the parents felt like ghosts, especially the mother. They never knew what happened in their children's lives. The interactions between Nannerl and her father or mother did not feel organic and realistic. Maybe it just follows the typical middle grade stories or it is how family relationship and behavior in 18 centuries looks like. 

Oh, I need to mention about the Kingdom of Back. The places were so cool. The Starfisher Realm where you could board the hook underneath the star and went up to the cloud, the forest where all the trees were upside down, the white sand beach under the two moonlights... So magical #sigh

4/5