The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn review: Automatic ‘want to read’
Whenever you see a book from Kate Quinn, you’ll want it to be an automatic “want to read.” That’s certainly the case with The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn.
After the likes of The Huntress and The Rose Code, Kate Quinn has become one of those authors I immediately look out for. As soon as I see a new book from her, I’ll mark it as “want to read” on my Goodreads account. And I’ll usually devour it within a week of it being released if I didn’t get an advanced review copy.
That’s been the case with The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn. It’s just taken me a while to write this review. I finished the book as soon as it was out!
What is The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn about?
The novel follows Russia’s top female sniper during the Second World War, Lyudmila ‘Mila’ Pavilichenko. We get to see her life before she became a sniper, the life during training, the heartbreak and loss she faced, and her friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt.
Life as a Soviet sniper isn’t all that glamorous. And despite the fact that she has 300+ kills, she’s expected to only talk about things the American people would like from a woman. She’s asked all the usual sexist questions, which makes her annoyed when it comes to wanted to help gain the American support in the Second World War.
The Soviets are losing against the German Army. She and a few of the men are there to get the support they need, but can Mila help the people look past the fact that she’s a woman? It helps that she manages to befriend Eleanor Roosevelt, but will that be enough?
While all that happens, she’s also dealing with threatening notes and the sense that someone is following her. Who wants her dead, and why?
Unraveling the mysteries in The Diamond Eye
I’ll admit that The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn isn’t my favorite of the books. It’s going to be hard to beat The Huntress for me. However, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
The problem for me is that I didn’t even realize there was supposed to be a threat in the “present day” of the story until we were partway through it. And then the eventual reveal was a little too obvious for me. With The Huntress, we knew who she was from the start and we spent time following her attempt to escape and all those against her. With Rose Code, there was the mystery of how Beth ended up in the asylum and the time crunch to get her out. With The Diamond Eye, I didn’t really feel too much of a threat until close to the end.
What I did enjoy was seeing the friendship between Eleanor and Mila develop. That was my favorite part of the story, even more now that I’ve watched The First Lady on Showtime.
It’s still an enjoyable read that I highly recommend to those looking for a World War II-set read.
Stars: 3.5 out of 5.
Next. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley review. dark
What did you think of The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn? Which is your favorite Kate Quinn book so far? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn is available to read on Amazon.