{"id":2554,"date":"2023-01-12T11:08:31","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T11:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2554"},"modified":"2023-01-12T11:08:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T11:08:35","slug":"the-diamond-eye-by-kate-quinn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2554","title":{"rendered":"The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hi Readers! Here is the first review of 2023!<\/strong><\/mark> 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. <\/strong><\/mark>After having loved the other three, I had high hopes for this one. But, I didn\u2019t quite enjoy this as much as the others. So, here we go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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~~IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER KATE QUINN NOVELS~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> has two storylines and two wars equally interesting with a lot of shock factors. The Rose Code<\/a> has three main female characters with a lot of mystery attached. The Huntress<\/a> has a touch of mystery surrounding WWII and in addition a lot of interesting characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t much of a mystery. There isn\u2019t much of action. It almost felt repetitive at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~STORY LINE~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s based on a true story, then of course it\u2019s going to be about women breaking barriers. So, that doesn\u2019t come as a surprise to readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~FINAL THOUGHTS~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t much care about the relationship between her and Lyonya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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!<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n

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Until next time,<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,23,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-books","category-book-reviews","category-mindscape-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/PSX_20230112_144407-02.jpg?fit=2500%2C2500&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2567,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2567","url_meta":{"origin":2554,"position":0},"title":"Books Read in January 2023!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"January 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Just like that one month is down already. How was January for you? Did you stick to your New Year resolutions and making progress? Or is February the month you actually start working on them? Haha, either way, I am way behind on my 23 Goals of 2023.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/SI_20230128_130418-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/SI_20230128_130418-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/SI_20230128_130418-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/SI_20230128_130418-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/SI_20230128_130418-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3178,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3178","url_meta":{"origin":2554,"position":1},"title":"Top 12 Posts of 2023 \u2013 Year in Review (Part 3)","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"December 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Year on year, you outdo yourselves! Mindscape in Words had 64000 VIEWS in 2023! This is a 40% increase than last year. I know there are two to four posts which receive a majority of traffic, but they are also the ones I love the most. I love\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231213_100804-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231213_100804-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231213_100804-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231213_100804-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231213_100804-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2125,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2125","url_meta":{"origin":2554,"position":2},"title":"Book Recommendation: The Huntress by Kate Quinn","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"June 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! I have become super lethargic these days when it comes to writing reviews. All I feel like doing after finishing a book, is instantly picking up another. On top of this, my 26-months work from home bliss has come to an end. With five days work from office,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/PSX_20220625_233259-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/PSX_20220625_233259-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/PSX_20220625_233259-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/PSX_20220625_233259-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/PSX_20220625_233259-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1996,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1996","url_meta":{"origin":2554,"position":3},"title":"Books Read in March 2022!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"March 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! I have not been super actively reading or writing or browsing bookstagram lately. All I am doing these few weeks is working & sleeping. Finally today I woke up earlier than usual to write this post & to write a book review for Upgrade by Blake Crouch. Stay\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/PSX_20220330_103113__01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/PSX_20220330_103113__01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/PSX_20220330_103113__01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/PSX_20220330_103113__01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/PSX_20220330_103113__01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2130,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2130","url_meta":{"origin":2554,"position":4},"title":"Books Read in June 2022!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"July 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! June has been amazing because of so many reasons. My brother is here for a month on his study break. Stranger Things is blowing up the normal & the upside down world with its sheer awesomeness. 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