** spoiler alert ** 
 I was wavering between 4 and 5 stars for this book, but went with 4 because I think I was just going for 5 because I was so pleasantly surprised. I'm not an opera fan. I'm terribly gauche, I know (I don't like sushi, either). My sister bought me the book for Christmas because it was on my to-read list, but I wasn't excited to read it because I couldn't imagine getting into an opera/hostage book. But when I found myself with nothing else to read one day, I started it and was surprised to find that it grabbed me from the beginning. 
 I enjoyed the descriptions of how music affected the characters in the story, even without an appreciation of opera in particular. Pachett's description of the setting drew me in, as did her presentation of the various cultural and language differences. The only thing I was uncomfortable with was the ending, and this was just because I knew the whole time it had to end as it did, and I still let myself get attached to the characters and feel disappointed. I don't fault Pachett for this. Had she given me the ending I wished for, I would have criticized her for it because it would have been totally unrealistic.