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.*

Review: The Rose Code

Oh my good gracious, this book. I very much enjoyed Kate Quinn's last two novels so I assumed I would like The Rose Code. Um, I LOVED IT. I was invested from the start and could not stop thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. I listened to the audiobook, which is still a new-ish thing to me, and found myself  trying to squeeze in listening time as often as possible. Then, when it was done, I was at a loss. Now what is there to do except wait for Quinn's next novel?

Here's the book's description:

1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of east-end London poverty, works the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart. 1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter--the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger--and their true enemy--closer...

As I said, I listened to the audio for this book. The narrator was Saskia Maarleveld and she was phenomenal. She was able to create an ever so slightly different voice for each of the three main female characters and her male voices weren't irritating in the least. (It's something I've found annoying with audiobooks when narrators have to voice the opposite gender - it's not always done well.) I could have listened to her for ages and will definitely take a look at what other novels she narrates! If you're an audiobook fan, definitely think about getting this one (and may I suggest from Libro.fm where you'll support an indie bookstore of your choice?).

There was a lot happening in this book (it's over 650 pages and almost 16 hours on audio) but it all ticks along, never really seeming like it was too much. Of course, I'm a big fan of WWII era books and found the history of Bletchley Park incredibly fascinating so I wasn't bored at all. That might not be true for all readers, of course. I didn't know ton about BP, as the characters called it, but knew enough that there were codebreakers and an intense amount of secrecy which meant it wasn't discussed at all for decades. I have watched The Imitation Game (Turing makes a few appearances in the novel) but now I'm on the hunt for more books and movies (fiction or non) about the group of men and women (so many women!) who worked in the small town in England. Suggestions welcome!  

The story goes back and forth starting in 1940 and moving through the war and 1947, in the days before Princess Elizabeth's wedding on November 20th. There are alternating chapters told in third person POV from Beth, Osla, and Mab. The past (the time at BP) and the, well, more recent past are clearly defined and it was not hard to follow at all. I didn't find myself frustrated with wondering why someone was locked in an asylum and when it would all be revealed. I trusted Quinn and she gave me a magnificent, mysterious tale that when it was revealed, it was immensely satisfying.

I cared about each and every character. The three women were so different but still managed to form a friendship in the most unlikely of situations. They were found family and went through some absolutely horrendous times both together and apart. They were bound by the Official Secrets Act and even though they couldn't tell each other everything, they were still in the BP bubble together and no one outside that bubble could ever really understand what that was like. And even while that bonded them, it also, ultimately, tore them apart. Because I cared about them so much, I felt every emotion each of them was feeling. They had some terrible feelings at times so it was tough to read at some points. But there were moments of levity as well and I appreciated Quinn's talent of balancing the horrors of war with the everyday things people still had to deal with.

The Rose Code is, by far, my favourite of Kate Quinn's novels. It was well-written and entertaining and perfectly hit the kind of history I was really interested in. I highly encourage every historical fiction fan to pick up a copy of this one.

*An advanced listening copy (ALC) was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*