Like reading a biography of Mozart where magicians come out to play. Nicolo Zen is a recently orphaned venetian boy whose only possession is a magical clarinet that only he can play. After disguising himself as a girl in order to join an orchestra made of up of orphans, his adventures really begin. The kind of off-kilter, slightly sinister magic you might remember from The Night Circus, but also a compelling portrait of Venice and Vienna in the early 18th century.

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Actual Rating: 2.5 stars

Oddly, this book reminded me of a shoujo manga (La Corda d’Oro) that I was sort of obsessed with for a while, despite the fact that it was absurd and based on a romance video game. Whatever. So in this series, a fair of music gifts a girl a magical violin and enters her in a competition with the most skilled music students at her school. The violin basically makes her a prodigy. This same basic premise is where we start with The True Adventures of Nicolò Zen. Nicolò was gifted a magic clarinet, and it defines his life.

The True Adventures of Nicolò Zen is a rather strange book, and different from a lot of what is on the market today. The book follows Nicolò from 14 through adulthood, although latter largely comes in the last chapter. He goes from childhood to being an independent adult. What started as a middle grade quickly shifted through YA to a more adult focus. The premise is quite unique, as are the settings.

The historical aspects of The True Adventures of Nicolò Zen were delightful. It’s set predominantly in Italy, in various cities, but also in Vienna. There’s a mixture of high society and the most destitute, and both the good and bad of each economic level is shown. Vivaldi is a character in the novel, which definitely made me want to look up his and other classical pieces. There’s some interesting musical history in here. I never knew the clarinet was so much more recent than many of the other instruments, and I enjoyed learning its history.

The first part of the novel was my favorite. Orphaned when his entire family dies of malaria, Nicolò leaves his small island and heads to Venice. At first he begs for money, but then he begins to play his clarinet to earn enough for a small room, shared with two creepy guys. He comes up with an idea: pretending to be a girl to get into the orphanage for females who play musical instruments, at which Vivaldi worked. Males don’t often genderbend in fiction, so that was a refreshing change, and convincingly done.

Though I loved the concept, I felt like Nicolò was lacking in development. He was traveling in this marvelous landscape, but he bored me. He goes through life far too easily, despite all the terrible things that happen around him. Ultimately, all of his problems are resolved through the fantasy plot line, which involves a bunch of magical brothers all over the world. The fact that they took care of everything made it feel like Nicolò never grew up or changed, and I wasn’t sure why Nicolò was the protagonist. What am I meant to get from this?

The True Adventures of Nicolò Zen will be most appealing for historical readers who want to travel the 18th century landscape of classical music in Europe. That’s the real highlight of the novel. ( )

14-year-old Nicolo Zen finds himself homeless and penniless after the rest of his family dies of malaria. Making his way to Venice, he attempts to support himself as a street musician, until he realizes that there is an orphanage for girls that features a talented orchestra. He buys a dress, and is accepted. But girls are disappearing from the orphanage, and after his friends become involved, Nicolo is shown to be a boy and evicted. This is just the beginning of his adventures as he meets a famous magician, becomes famous himself and rescues his friends from their unseemly fates. ( )