Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

40 reviews

kuurankero's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This was very interesting book about the worlds deadliest female sniper in history. Lady death, Ljudmyla Pavlytšenko was unknown to me before reading this. So it was very cool to read about her, and I would love to read Ljudmyla's memoir book now.

My only complain is, that the book focused a lot on her lovers. Especially since one of them was apparently fictional. It would have been great to see less of them and more of Lena (I think thats her name, I listened the audiobook) or Eleanor. I never would have expected a USSR sniper and the first lady of the USA be best friends but thats cool about history. You never know the full story.

This book told me a lot of new information on ww2 and gave me new perpectives. I never knew woman of ussr could fight in the forefront. I definetly want to learn more about the female soldiers of ww2 now. Not that I never wanted before. It's always fun to discover new stories of history.

So I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone interested in historical fiction! Or if you are interested anyway. Such a great book! I also really liked the finnish audiobook version so be not afraid to listen it :D

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexism, War, Stalking, Murder, Gun violence, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

smagzisreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Death, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape

elesapphicbooks's review

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

5.0

“when i take aim at something, i do not miss”

i just enjoy kate quinn’s books so much and this one was just amazing! i gotta admit that i was a bit nervous going into this book seeing as the protagonist was a real person which differs from her other WWII novels.

however, she was still able to write a fascinating story with complex characters. also this is just me, but i absolutely love how she sprinkles characters from her other novels. nina markova and yelena vetsina you’ll always be loved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and War

Minor: Rape

mverickson's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, and Gun violence

stampest's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gore and Sexual assault

Minor: Sexism and Sexual harassment

genieoneil's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Minor: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Blood, Genocide, and Racial slurs

bedtimesandbooks's review

dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Blood, Gun violence, Stalking, War, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Medical trauma, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Rape and Abandonment

Minor: Racism

katekatiekait's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Grief, Blood, Gore, and War

Moderate: Sexism and Alcohol

Minor: Rape and Sexual content

smkelly1997's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Violence, War, Abandonment, Death, and Gaslighting

This was a good book not a great one! I would say the story is fascinating and I am sad I have never heard of this character before

bandysbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence