Review: The Diamond Eye

Ah, Kate Quinn. I’ve been absolutely loving her new historical fiction novels (because, PS, did you know she wrote historical romances before The Alice Network was published?) and eagerly await each new release. The Diamond Eye is her latest and it was just as amazing as the rest of her novels.

Here’s the book’s description:

In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kiev (now known as Kyiv), wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son--but Hitler's invasion of Ukraine and 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 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.

I know some people like to know how an author’s latest book compares to their others so, in my opinion, I liked it less than The Rose Code but that doesn’t make this one any less good. It’s phenomenal. Well written, well researched, well told. It’s just that sometimes different stories grab you. I felt the same about The Huntress – it was great but I didn’t love it as much as The Alice Network.

I don’t remember ever hearing about Mila – who was a real person – but it’s entirely possible her name had flitted across my eyeballs in high school history class when learning about World War II. Now that I know about her, though, I’m fascinated by her and her story. Quinn takes care to explain where she pulled her research and how she crafted the novel. There were some things she took more creative license with than others and she tells the reader of that process so the reader understands what is fact and what is fiction. I love a good authors’ note!

Mila was a fascinating character. She was a young mother who relied on her parents and not her husband to help her raise her son. She worked hard to get into university and loved history. But she didn’t (seem to) hesitate when war broke out and signed up to fight for her country. (Related: it was incredibly awkward timing to be reading about a war and Russia being the invaded country…) She understood she had skills that could help and put her thesis aside and picked up a rifle instead. Quinn didn’t shy away from the mental aspects of war and how Mila suffered from the aftereffects of working as a sniper and the many injuries she sustained while doing so.

The story flips back and forth between two time periods. One focuses on Mila and how she got started on the path of being a sniper and her time fighting in World War II. The other is during the tour in America. Eventually the two meet and the tension is increased even more as the reader realizes what might happen to the characters they’ve been so invested in.

I really loved The Diamond Eye and historical fiction fans will be more than pleased with Kate Quinn’s latest novel. It was, as always, really well written and full of intense action and fascinating characters. You definitely want to read this one!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*