Reviews with content warning for Death - Timanttisilmä

While not my favorite of hers, it is excellently written and a good story, as well as, being well researched. I enjoyed the fact that she used a lot of Mila's own biography as source material.

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.

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

Content Warnings

just_jess02's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

Mila’s story is fierce, bold, heartbreaking, infuriating, encouraging, fascinating, and freeing. It is so much packed into a thrilling page-turner. I imagine it would be even more poignant if I were reading it myself rather than listening.

The narration was crisp and stiff- something I didn’t like at first but once I saw how well it fit the story, it was one of the many aspects that gripped me. The dualities of each character created depth and complexity that had me wondering where many moments would lead. Each relationship and interaction was important and necessary. Is it odd to appreciate the efficiency of a novel?

I enjoyed the exploration of what happens behind the facade of strong, courageous, women who cannot show weakness or softness to the public eye. It is so nice to read a book about a female protagonist that is truly through the female experience and challenges the expectations of the ‘male gaze’ while still incorporating the struggles it causes. Mila is unapologetically brash because she has to be and understanding the inside of her mind during those moments made my heart ache and my conscious confused.

This is so well written, well narrated, and just very engaging overall. It is one you want to sit with and think about but also don’t want to put it down to do so.

Content Warnings

humblebookdragon's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Word of advice, don't read Lyudmila Pavlichenko's memoir "Lady Death" before this, or you will know 90% of this book. No twists and turns here except for the last 10%, which is pure fiction. As scenes were building up, I was like "oh, is this where she XYZs?" and so forth. Kind of actually felt like I was reading Lady Death again at certain points.

Its not a bad read, and I do believe my prior knowledge and reading made enjoyment complicated, but I do prefer The Rose Code.

Content Warnings

cameronmh's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? No

4.5

Really beautiful book— easier to digest than her autobiography, but very faithful. Highly recommend the author’s note to anyone who might normally skip it!

Content Warnings

sarahflanders's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Content Warnings

sandysmith's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny informative inspiring sad 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

4.25

It is an intriguing story based on a female sniper Mila Pavlichenko on the front line in WW2 fighting against the germans for the Soviets. She is Ukrainian, so it is interesting to read about her commitment and her Russian beliefs. Hard to read in the current political climate. Whilst she is written as a cold killer, her love for her son and her historian background shines through. Her first husband is horrid, seducing her and getting her pregnant at 15. Her love interests in war make good reading. I loved her official and unofficial memoirs. Told from a dual timeline war and later in her trip to America and friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt, it makes a smashing historical read. Fab stuff.

Content Warnings

More...