The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

Posted On January 12, 2023

Hi Readers! Here is the first review of 2023! It has been a while since I wrote a review and also a while since I finished reading The Diamond Eye. So, I am a bit rusty. Please tolerate! This was the fourth Kate Quinn book I read. After having loved the other three, I had high hopes for this one. But, I didn’t quite enjoy this as much as the others. So, here we go!

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

The New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code returns with an unforgettable World War II tale of a quiet bookworm who becomes history’s deadliest female sniper. Based on a true story.

In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kiev (now known as Kyiv), wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son–but Hitler’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper–a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.

Still reeling from war wounds and devastated by loss, Mila finds herself isolated and lonely in the glittering world of Washington, DC–until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a silent fellow sniper offer the possibility of happiness. But when an old enemy from Mila’s past joins forces with a deadly new foe lurking in the shadows, Lady Death finds herself battling her own demons and enemy bullets in the deadliest duel of her life.

Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever.

~~IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER KATE QUINN NOVELS~~

I felt that The Diamond Eye was quite limited overall. Usually, the historical fiction novels by Kate Quinn are intense with multiple story lines, concrete character arcs and mystery attached. The Alice Network has two storylines and two wars equally interesting with a lot of shock factors. The Rose Code has three main female characters with a lot of mystery attached. The Huntress has a touch of mystery surrounding WWII and in addition a lot of interesting characters.

When I compare The Diamond Eye to these novels, I find it lacking in many aspects. It felt very simple in its story telling. It does have two story lines, but they are both average. There isn’t much of a mystery. There isn’t much of action. It almost felt repetitive at times.

~~STORY LINE~~

It starts with a premise about our protagonist Mila being a young mother and a quiet bookworm. But, these aspects of her personality that lured me into the book in the first place are not explored at all. One story line is where Mila is serving in the Russian army killing Germans and increasing her tally of kills. Sure, a woman sniper is a big deal. Her leading a troop is also a big deal. But, if it’s based on a true story, then of course it’s going to be about women breaking barriers. So, that doesn’t come as a surprise to readers.

In the other parallel, we read about Mila going to Washington and befriending First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. There is a sniper hired to kill the President and he wanted to place blame on Mila being the President killer, which was a bit juvenile. So another unlikely incident, but then again not really. You could easily predict how it would go down. So, both these parallels are supremely average. Not at all top tier Kate Quinn that I am used to.

~~FINAL THOUGHTS~~

While this book was a bit of a disappointment, there were still moments that I enjoyed. When you compare it to other HiFi authors, it is still a better book than most. I enjoyed that Mila collected different types of leaves for her son. I enjoyed reading Mila kill her husband. I enjoyed the sniper shooting chapters. I enjoyed reading about the friendship and partnership between Mila and Kostia. I didn’t much care about the relationship between her and Lyonya.

From a wartime historical fiction standpoint, I think it was very well researched. Had a good amount of mystique and action. But then again, the standards were very high from her earlier three books, so it did not reach. I have rated The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn at 3.5/5 stars!

Until next time,