Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

7 reviews

kailiyahknight's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, War, Death, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Medical content, Vomit, Alcohol, Child abuse, Racism, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, and Misogyny

cameronmh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? No

4.5

Really beautiful book— easier to digest than her autobiography, but very faithful. Highly recommend the author’s note to anyone who might normally skip it!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual content and Racism

Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual harassment

mtnest's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, War, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, and Sexual content

Minor: Racism, Rape, and Vomit

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, Medical content, Racism, Violence, Alcohol, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Abandonment, Cursing, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Kate Quinn books are pretty much automatic five stars for me...I just can't get enough.

What I love about her books is that, while yes she's writing about WWII—and you may think, do we really need another WWII book?—she always comes at it from a unique angle, a different facet of the war that is not well known. And this story is no different, focusing on a female sniper nicknamed Lady Death. Mila, with her love of books and history and her son, had my heart from the beginning, and I liked how her story was told. Her character arc was beautiful, and there's also great secondary characters here, particularly Kostia.

The author's note at the end of this book is a must-read. You can tell from the story how much research she put into this book, and her note explains which characters are real and what creative licenses she took with the story. Also, she brings up an excellent discussion topic about snipers—how they are usually seen as the more "evil" way to fight and why this is unfair. I hadn't really thought about it before, but I'm glad I have two groups I'm discussing this book with haha.

Anyways, I listened to this on audio and loved the narration! The Rose Code is still my favorite KQ book, but this was another excellent addition to her collection. Compelling characters, moving story, teaching me parts of history I didn't know. This book just further cemented Kate Quinn as an auto-buy author for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Racism, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcoholism

sirissacgluten's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Besties, Kate Quinn has done it again. I’m not a fan of WWII fiction, but I will never hesitate to read a WWII novel if Kate Quinn is at the helm.

The Diamond Eye is almost a pseudo-autobiography, an engrossing re-imagining the official (state-sponsored) memoir of Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. When German troops reach the borders of the USSR, Mila abandons her quiet life as a library research assistant and history student to enlist in the Red Army. The book moves between her time acclimating to the horrors of war as she hones her deadly sharpshooting skills and her subsequent goodwill tour across America.

4/5: I really enjoyed this one; it wasn’t my favorite of Quinn’s (The Rose Code and Mistress of Rome hold that honor), but it was impeccably researched and full of interesting characters. Fans of The Huntress in particular should love The Diamond Eye’s deeper dive into Soviet resistance during the war.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death, Violence, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gore, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Stalking

Minor: Genocide, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Antisemitism