⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars

The Kingdom of Back is a historical fiction about Nannerl Mozart, the older sister of Wolfgang, who has the wish to be remembered forever.

This story is super fascinating! From the very first sentence I was hooked. The book has been on my shelves for some time, and I’ve read it as part of a readathon this month. I had completely forgotten what it was about, and I was pleasantly surprised when I started this book. Since I knew nothing of Mozart having a sister, I thought it was complete fiction, but after learning he really did have a sister, I looked at the book different. The fact that this book is based on the fantasy world the siblings had come up with during the long traveling days was amazing to me.

This book combines historical fiction, the feelings of a woman in 18th century Europa and all that happened around her, with fantasy. The fantasy aspect came later in this book and was woven in quite beautifully. I didn’t understand why she did this fairy tale like quests at the beginning, but it came together wonderfully at the end.

The unfairness of being a woman and all the things you couldn’t do “as a woman” in that time really made me keep on reading. I kept hoping for Nannerl that everything would come together, and her dream would come true. I was angered, frustrated and saddened reading about the struggles she went through.

Overall, I really liked this book and had a hard time putting it away. The magical feeling reading about the music the Mozart sibling made in this book had me playing classical music throughout reading it. I also think not knowing what to expect when starting this book really made it that much better!