Great, but Different from Most Marie Lu Books
I LOVE Marie Lu's books. I pre-order her books pretty much as soon as they pop up on Amazon.com (often both Kindle and hardback editions). So of course I was excited to get a copy of The Kingdom of Back before it came out.
This is a different book than any of her works. It's historical fiction about the two Mozart siblings as they grow up, and the imaginary world they created (Nannerl and her brother actually did make up stories about a place called The Kingdom of Back). Because of this, the beginning has a much slower start than her other series. There's no real love interests to ship, big fight scenes, or political intrigue, like you'll find in almost every other one of her stories.
What you will find, however, is a dreamlike quality to the prose that is very beautiful (the Kingdom of Back may be a dream... or maybe it's reality). You'll find a lovely sibling relationship. You'll find relatable characters like Nannerl, who wants to be remembered after she's gone, and is tempted to do the wrong thing in the pursuit of popularity. There is a compassionate attitude towards the struggles of these characters that you'll find in other Marie Lu books. Finally, as someone who loves history, I found the accuracy of this book great (I looked up a lot of things, and it listed the wrong death date for Empress Maria Therese, but that was probably artistic license).
The last 1/3 of this book was fast-paced and kept me turning pages. I wept during the last few chapters. And the last line was amazing. The cover was gorgeous and deeply symbolic. This is going to be a beautiful finished copy. The maps were so pretty.
If you're looking for something fast-paced with amazing ships, there are better Marie Lu books to read. The Kingdom of Back was a beautiful book in a different way, and I will definitely be reading my finished copies at some point (yes, I pre-ordered both the Kindle and hardback editions).
This is a different book than any of her works. It's historical fiction about the two Mozart siblings as they grow up, and the imaginary world they created (Nannerl and her brother actually did make up stories about a place called The Kingdom of Back). Because of this, the beginning has a much slower start than her other series. There's no real love interests to ship, big fight scenes, or political intrigue, like you'll find in almost every other one of her stories.
What you will find, however, is a dreamlike quality to the prose that is very beautiful (the Kingdom of Back may be a dream... or maybe it's reality). You'll find a lovely sibling relationship. You'll find relatable characters like Nannerl, who wants to be remembered after she's gone, and is tempted to do the wrong thing in the pursuit of popularity. There is a compassionate attitude towards the struggles of these characters that you'll find in other Marie Lu books. Finally, as someone who loves history, I found the accuracy of this book great (I looked up a lot of things, and it listed the wrong death date for Empress Maria Therese, but that was probably artistic license).
The last 1/3 of this book was fast-paced and kept me turning pages. I wept during the last few chapters. And the last line was amazing. The cover was gorgeous and deeply symbolic. This is going to be a beautiful finished copy. The maps were so pretty.
If you're looking for something fast-paced with amazing ships, there are better Marie Lu books to read. The Kingdom of Back was a beautiful book in a different way, and I will definitely be reading my finished copies at some point (yes, I pre-ordered both the Kindle and hardback editions).