I really adore Marie Lu's books. I read both Warcross and Wildcard in a day. Yet when she announced Kingdom of Back, I wasn't too sure about it, having read another goblin king adaptation of Mozart, Wintersong. But I read the first look on Bookish First, and though I didn't win the arc there, I got excited about it. I ended up getting Kingdom of Back in a trade, and read it.
It wasn't great. There's no romance. There is simply a girl named Mozart who is good, but not as good as her brother. And the author does not rewrite history, Nannerl is resigned to a quiet life as someone's wife, an unknown footnote in history while her brother goes on to stardom.
It is an interesting take on Mozart (though again, less interesting after Wintersong), but ultimately the plot falls through. We see glimpses of a fairy kingdom, and a mysterious prince, but when everything is explained, nothing makes much sense.
It wasn't great. There's no romance. There is simply a girl named Mozart who is good, but not as good as her brother. And the author does not rewrite history, Nannerl is resigned to a quiet life as someone's wife, an unknown footnote in history while her brother goes on to stardom.
It is an interesting take on Mozart (though again, less interesting after Wintersong), but ultimately the plot falls through. We see glimpses of a fairy kingdom, and a mysterious prince, but when everything is explained, nothing makes much sense.