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 demons and enemy bullets in the deadliest duel of her life.
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Haunting. Heartbreaking.
The Diamond Eye is the third novel I have read by Kate Quinn, and she has become one of my favorite authors. Her writing style and the book's emotions make it impossible not to fall in love with the story. From the books I have read, The Diamond Eye is the most emotional. I cannot imagine how that must have felt like everything that Mila goes through. Mila is one of the bravest people to endure everything that she has. There is a significant shift from a history student to a sniper. I know that I would never be able to go through what Mila had to. At some point, I was sure that she would get killed; there was no way that she would be able to survive this war. I was aware that The Diamond Eye was based on a true story, and while reading the book, I was curious about how much of it was real and fictional. I loved the author’s note towards the end of the book, making me even more curious about the actual events.
The Diamond Eye , don’t you love the title? I think that the title itself will have you checking the book out. I was curious about the story behind the title. After a few chapters, I understood the story behind the title, and it made a lot of sense. The title fits Mila perfectly. I love the friendship that Mila developed with Eleanor Roosevelt. I could see that they had conflicted feelings about each other initially, but it wasn’t long before I could see how fond they were of each other. I hoped that they would remain, friends after the war was over. I loved the letters that Eleanor wrote throughout the book. I am curious if those were the actual letters that Eleanor Roosevelt wrote. I’m glad that Mila had someone she could depend on while she was in America.
Alexei. Now that’s one character I knew I wasn’t going to like. He was one of those that you just wanted to punch. I could tell that he cared about nobody else but himself. As the book progressed, he seemed to annoy me even more than at the beginning of the book. I don’t know how anybody could like him. I wanted him to leave Mila alone for once. There were a few parts in the book that I felt were dragging on; otherwise, it was almost impossible for me to put the book down. I’m from Ukraine, and I love reading books based on my country. Based on the history and information, you can tell how much research the author conducted. Those are my favorite books. I am blown away by this book; my emotions are… there are no words to explain all my feelings.
Inspirational. Real.
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