Reviews with content warning for Blood - Timanttisilmä

I am quite the lover of historical fiction, but somehow have never read a book by Kate Quinn. I finally decided to remedy this problem by digging into The Diamond Eye. The concept of a bookworm turning into history's deadliest female sniper sounded so promising! Wow, did this book deliver.

One of my favorite things in the historical fiction genre is when an author takes an obscure piece of history and explores it in great detail. This is exactly what this book does. The book centers on Mila, who at the beginning is a young, single mother, dealing with a gaslighting ex, dreaming of getting an education, and trying to figure out how to be the best role-model for her eight year old son. She's still trying to find herself, but decides to become an expert marksmen after her ex accuses her of being incapable of being tough enough to raise a son. When WW2 comes to the Russian front, she finds herself at war and eventually becomes the most deadly female sniper in history. PERIOD. You would think this would make her hard to relate to, but I found her to be so realistic and easy to understand. Her motivations are always clear and her responses to things felt correct.

Minor Spoiler - Will not ruin the ending or entire story, but is a part of the plot progression.

Eventually, Mila is removed from the war front and sent to the USA on a tour of Russian war heroes to drum up support for America to join the European front to the war. I had no idea that this ever happened, but after a quick google search found it to be true...even the part about Mila's friendship with the First Lady. It was infuriating seeing how the American media treated Mila, but also completely realistic. I imagine that even in this day and age, they would be just as intrusive and condescending.

All in all, I think this book was remarkably good. The character is so rich and real. The plot and settings come to life. And best of all, I learned about a piece of history that I was unaware of. I'll be continuing my research into it further because it was so fascinating. I will definitely be reading more of Kate Quinn's writing in the future.

Content Warnings

bjerz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Outstanding story from the author of the Rose Code. The main character is an amazing woman: soldier, mother, historian, sniper extraordinaire, friend and lover. A sweeping story of the Russian experience in WWII.

Content Warnings

booksbroadwaybubbly's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

kimveach's review against another edition

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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.

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