The Kingdom of Back

If someone had told that I needed a Mozart fantasy historical retelling in my life I'd probably say something intelligent like “ What? Uuhh sure? But why?” And then promptly forget about it because mom brain. So I'm very grateful for 1. The books beautiful cover. 2. The chance to read the First Look on Bookish First that led me to quickly using my points to secure this ARC.
It's my first Marie Lu book (sad, I know), but it certainly won't be my last.
The story was magical but real ( I guess that's where the historical fiction part comes in). Nannerl is a very talented musician with a time where a composing is forbidden for a female. So that means she'll perform until she gets married. She is very hard in herself and wants nothing more than to be really seen by her father and to be immortalized through her music. Insert her little brother, Wolfgang, who is now also showing major talent at a very young age and has the fortune of being a boy.
In between all of this we have Hyacinth and the Kindgom of Back. He comes from a magical land to offer Nannerl her greatest desire. Of course this comes with a price. And it absolutely will begin too.
I thought hard about not giving it four stars and perhaps 3.5 instead. But in the end I didn't. Even though at times the pacing seemed off and I wasn't too big a fan of the ending..it jumped 25 years and to be honest I was caught off guard and I really wanted to be in the Kingdom of Back more...I loved how original the story felt. I loved that Marie made me want to learn more about the real Nannerl. I loved her strength and passion for music but also her and Wolfgang's bond.