Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

[KAYKAYKAY60]

I received this ebook free from Netgalley.Com in exchange for a honest review. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Lilliet Berne is a sensation of the Paris Opera, a legendary soprano with every accolade except an original role, every singer’s chance at immortality. When one is finally offered to her, she realizes with alarm that the libretto is based on a hidden piece of her past. Only four could have betrayed her: one is dead, one loves her, one wants to own her. And one, she hopes, never thinks of her at all. As she mines her memories for clues, she recalls her life as an orphan who left the American frontier for Europe and was swept up into the glitzy, gritty world of Second Empire Paris. In order to survive, she transformed herself from hippodrome rider to courtesan, from empress’s maid to debut singer, all the while weaving a complicated web of romance, obligation, and political intrigue.

Featuring a cast of characters drawn from history, The Queen of the Night follows Lilliet as she moves ever closer to the truth behind the mysterious opera and the role that could secure her reputation -- or destroy her with the secrets it reveals.

I found the book hard to follow at times and was forced to re-read previous passages to remind myself of the characters. That being said, I liked the era portrayed and I loved the opera history woven into the story.

There were a couple quotable quotes ...
"Sorrow seemed to me to be more like a road wound through life, through the days of your life"
"The curse is not that we cannot choose our Fates. The curse, the curse we all live under, is that we can"