Reviews with content warning for Death - The Diamond Eye

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

58 reviews

writteninmagic's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

I was fascinated by the synopsis. I hadn't heard of Senior Sergeant Mila Pavlichenko before, so I found the story to be fascinating. The intense battles and stakeouts from Mila's perspective were really well-written. Throughout Mila's life in the Russian army, she faces sexism from nearly all her fellow soldiers and higher-in-commands, but her skills earn respect from her platoon. They underestimated her based on her appearance and for being a woman, but she showed them how deadly she could be.

Although I did enjoy the book, I thought some parts could have flowed better. Some battle scenes were set starting with the words "watch now as—" which I thought was unnecessary and disrupted the action. There were also the chapters with Mila and the unnamed sniper, with sudden perspective shifts between the two of them from one person's perspective in one paragraph to the next paragraph being from the other character's perspective; it made reading it at times confusing because I would read the next paragraph and then realize it was from the other character's perspective.

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anulaa's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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ka_ke's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

3.0

My thoughts and feelings regarding the Diamond Eye are difficult to explain.

On the one hand, I chose one hell of a time to pick it up seeing as Russia has cruelly invaded Ukraine and they have been at war for 1.5 years at this point. Therefore, I find myself unable to sympathize with Lady Death and the Russian people as they struggled through Nazi invasion.

On the other hand, the Diamond Eye is an excellent lesson in the theory of intersectionality and my understanding/belief in it.

Lyudmila is a Russian woman, a student majoring in history, a single mother whose husband abandoned their family. She is then forced to become an infamous sniper for the Russian army.

So while I can support a woman doing what she feels is right and proper to protect herself and her country, I am torn by my disgust at the present day uncalled-for actions of Russia against the citizens of Ukraine.

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kuurankero's review against another edition

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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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nvargas's review against another edition

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5.0

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smagzisreading's review against another edition

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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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elesapphicbooks's review against another edition

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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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