Review: The Diamond Eye

Title: The Diamond Eye

Author: Kate Quinn

Publisher: 30th March 2022 by HarperCollins Australia

Pages: 418 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction

My Rating:  4.5 cups

Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts

When Kate Quinn has a new book out, you drop everything to read it! You are guaranteed not only a great story (her historical fiction writing is out of this world) but a brilliant lesson in history as well (her research is second to none). Kate is one of my favourite writers and her latest, The Diamond Eye is the fascinating tale of Mila Pavlichenko’s journey from history student, to mother, to sniper, to national hero.

‘No matter how hard the metal, it yields to human strength. All you have to do is devise the right weapon. I was a weapon.’

The Diamond Eye is everything we lovers of historical fiction look for. There is an amazing story, complex characters, tears of both sorrow and joy all mixed in with suspense and the hardships of war. Anyone who is versed with stories from the Russian front will still be struck by its brutality. The story is told in alternating timelines - Mila before, during and after (befriending Eleanor Roosevelt in the White House) and it had me Googling fact and fiction (always a tremendous indicator of a historical novel). At times Kate gets a bit heavy in some of the details, particularly regarding guns and ammunition but apart from that it was incredible. 

This is a tale that is totally immersive as you lose yourself in Kate’s writing of a Russian female sniper and the heroine she turned out to be. If you love as I do learning about these moments in history, you are sure to love The Diamond Eye detailing the story of ‘Lady Death’. 

‘Lyudmila Pavlichenko; twenty-six years old; fourth-year history 

student at the Kiev State University and senior research assistant at

the Odessa public library - before the war. After the war, thirteen 

months of continuous fighting against Hitler’s forces on the Russian 

front. 

Nickname: Lady Death.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.