Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Timanttisilmä by Kate Quinn

5 reviews

caitlinemccann's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ravensandlace's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark inspiring tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Title: The Diamond Eye
Author: Kate Quinn
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: hardback library book
Series: NA
Star Rating: 3 stars

tw: misogyny, teen pregnancy, pedophilia, guns, war, blood, rape, injury, death 

I am so disappointed. I so badly want to like this author. She writes about topics that are incredibly interesting to me. The last book I read was about women breaking codes for the Allies in World War II. How awesome is that? This book is about a Russian woman sniper who killed over 300 Nazis. You can’t tell me that doesn’t sound cool to read about. Especially if you are interested in World War II like I am. But alas, I am having a heck of a time trying to like her books. 

One of the positives about her books and this book in particular is she writes about females in history that everyone should know about. This one is about Mila, a Russian sniper who took down over 300 Nazis, like I mentioned above. I like to think I have a pretty extensive knowledge of World War Two but I never heard of Mila. Although, when I did a small Wikipedia deep dive, there were some discrepancies on whether or not she actually did kill as many Nazis as she said she did. There was mention of some issues of whether or not she was in the places she said she was. But I admit, I didn’t read too much more about it. Propaganda was very prominent during World War II so I’m not too sure what to truly believe. 

I liked Mila well enough, although I did think she was a little rough around the edges. But then again, she grew up during an extremely difficult time in Russian history. So I can forgive that. The amount of misogyny she had to endure made me so mad. Is it that hard to believe a woman can be a sniper? Apparently, in America, it is. I especially couldn’t stand Mila’s ex-husband. He made me so mad. Not to mention, he turned out to be a real piece of garbage. We also did get a POV of the man who assassinated Teddy Roosevelt. I thought that was pretty interesting but his POV was boring.  

Overall, while I didn’t love this book, it was okay. I just found myself to be pretty bored during most of the book. I really want to keep reading her books, however. She has such interesting novel topics, but there is something about her writing. I think maybe she just puts so much detail in her books that it just becomes too much and it’s hard to wade through. I just don’t know if I can look past it. I shall give her books one more go because I decided whether or not to give up on Kate Quinn. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

saliwali's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ka_ke's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

My thoughts and feelings regarding the Diamond Eye are difficult to explain. 

On the one hand, I chose one hell of a time to pick it up seeing as Russia has cruelly invaded Ukraine and they have been at war for 1.5 years at this point. Therefore, I find myself unable to sympathize with Lady Death and the Russian people as they struggled through Nazi invasion. 

On the other hand, the Diamond Eye is an excellent lesson in the theory of intersectionality and my understanding/belief in it. 

Lyudmila is a Russian woman, a student majoring in history, a single mother whose husband abandoned their family. She is then forced to become an infamous sniper for the Russian army.

So while I can support a woman doing what she feels is right and proper to protect herself and her country, I am torn by my disgust at the present day uncalled-for actions of Russia against the citizens of Ukraine. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kimveach's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny informative tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I love Kate Quinn's storytelling.  It wasn't as good as The Rose Code for me, because I find code-breaking to be more interesting than being a sniper.  However, the history was new to me and I always enjoy that.  The best parts of the book for me were the parts that were fiction (the author tells you at the end which parts are which.)  I would recommend this for anyone who likes her books or has an interest in the Russian side of WWII.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings