The Diamond Eye

Author: Kate Quinn 

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers 

Genre: Adventure Fiction, Wartime, Modern, Espionage and Spy Thriller, Historical Fiction

Year of release: 2022

Release Date: 30^th March 2022

Rating 

Synopsis 

 In the snowbound city of Kyiv, wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organises her life around her library job and her young son – but Hitler’s invasion of 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 the 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.

Review

Kyiv, Ukraine snowbound 1937, Mila Pavlichenko a history student who loves reading and currently arranges her day-to-day life around her job at the library and her young son Slavka, she is trying desperately to get a divorce from her husband Alexei who continues to delay the process. Hitler successfully invades her beloved Russia in 1941, thus forcing Mila’s life down an entirely different path. 

Instead of majoring in history she will be the one history writes about ‘Lady Death’ 

Handed a riffle and sent off to join the fight, Mila must leave the bookish girl behind and become a deadly sniper a lethal hunter of Nazis joining the 25th Riffle Division in the fight, it’s when word spreads that Mila has successfully made 300 kills since becoming marksmen hiding in bushes and taking shots atop buildings she becomes a national heroine, she is whisked off the bloody battlefield of the Eastern Front and sent to The United States of America on a goodwill tour.

Upon arrival to the Evergreen State, Washington-DC Mila finds that she is still shaky from war wounds and despairing from the losses she has suffered on the front. Mila finds herself feeling extremely isolated and lonely until she is given the opportunity to strike up an unexpected friendship with none other than the First Lady Elanor Roosevelt.

Also, whilst on the goodwill tour Mila discovers she has a unexpected connection with a fellow snipper who could bring the potential for happiness, but once again Mila’s life is about to get turned upside down when an old enemy steps out from the shadows joining forces with a new foe lurking in the shadows, Lady Death finds herself battling her own demons and enemy bullets in the fight for her life. Is Lady Death about to become Lady Dead? 

I really enjoyed the author’s previous novels The Alice Network and The Huntress  Thanks to Kate’s Quinn ability to pull me into a world so far away from my own with strong women that are ahead of their time as main characters so when I heard The Diamond Eye was on the way I knew I had to have a copy.             

I was hopeful that I would love Mila and her obvious do-it-yourself attitude, and in the opening chapters, Mila was well on her way to being one of my most memorable characters of 2022. But as I progressed towards the middle of the book, I found Mila and the other characters become people I couldn’t bring myself to care about them or what they went through, I believe this is because at times the writing seemed to repeat itself making it easy for this reviewer’s mind wonder, making the story somewhat stagnant. 

 The Diamond Eye is a work of fiction but Mila Pavlichenko was a real person and usually, when there is a person from history attached, I’m able to develop and form a strong attachment unfortunately not the case when reading The Diamond Eye or towards Mila Pavlichenko, by the time I reached the closing chapters I was, unfortunately, a little bit too excited to end this read, something I seldom feel when reading the author’s work or this genre.

I understand wartime fiction needing some lighter moments to keep the story moving but the romance sub-plot felt out of place here and dare I say unbelievable and made for tedious reading given how detrimental she was to the war effort, and she has time to be so heavily involved in a relationship or deal with a manipulative ex-husband who married Mila as a child bride. I remember having similar thoughts when reading The Alice Network a few years ago I will continue to read Quinn’s books in the future but I’m just not keen on the romance side. 

I found this book quite slow for the most part picking up speed for this reader during Mila’s time in America, I think the idea of the story is of interest and being based on a true story is defiantly a selling point here for future reader’s, but I felt like there was something missing, perhaps if the book gave more detail during the war and Mila’s achievements rather than focussing on the romance element it would have been given a higher rating. 

As much as this book doesn’t hit the nail on the head for this reader I still say if you enjoyed the author’s other books be sure to check it out. 

subplots for The Diamond Eye include:

• Female Friendship 
• Romance 
• Single Mother

Tropes for The Diamond Eye include:

• Historical Figures 
• Protagonists ahead of their time 
• Political or social upheaval 
• Detailing of research 

I recommend this book to a mature audience, who enjoys the Historical Fiction genre 

With Continued thanks to HarperCollins Publishers for sending a physical copy to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion.