Book Review: The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
Length: 435 Pages
Genres: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Trigger Warnings in this book for Graphic Depictions of War, Blood, Death, Gore, and Mentions of Rape

"Because people love war heroes...but even in my own beloved homeland, war heroes are supposed to be clean and uncomplicated. Those urging me to write my memoir will want a patriotic young woman who fought to defend her country, a heroine to root for with a story clean and simple as a full moon--and I was that young woman, but I was more. My moon had a midnight side."

I have previously read one other book by Kate Quinn called The Huntress, and while I didn't love it, I knew she was talented with a great knack for storytelling and an obvious love for history. Previously, I had watched the 2015 movie, Battle for Sevastopol, which was a fictionalized account of Red Army sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko's life. She was a woman who killed 309 Nazis, and famously said on an American tour: "Gentlemen, I am 25 years old and I have killed 309 fascist invaders by now. Don't you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?" So when I realized Quinn's newest book was about her, I knew I had to get my hands on it! And I'm so happy I did.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko is a single mother, a history student, a grinder at the Kyiv Arsenal Factory--and a deadly sniper. When war broke out, she knew she had to do something--something to ensure a place for her young son, free of Fascism. With six months in a sniper school under her belt, she enlisted without a second thought, and challenged the registrar who pushed her to become a nurse. She wanted to be in the infantry, or nothing else.

In two-and-a-half months, Pavlichenko wracked up 187 recorded kills. Her biggest war, however, would be fought against men who thought her weak, men who wanted her for her body and would have her demoted if she refused them, and two men who break down her ironclad defenses and touch her heart. But with war comes sacrifices, of sleepless nights, of peace, of her beautiful city of Odessa, and of those she cares about the most--her platoon, her friends, her love.

Lyudmila has seen the horrors of war and doesn't want the fame and medals that come along with it. But Stalin has other plans for her. The "girl sniper" will be sent to America with two other students to make speeches and hobnob with the President in order to convince them to open up a second front in Europe. Without them, more Soviet blood will be spilt, more buildings bombed and more families torn apart. There, Lyudmila's quick temper will be tested, and surprisingly, she will find a friend in the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. And quickly, shockingly, find herself at the center of a plot to assassinate Franklin D. Roosevelt.

I adored this book--Quinn painted such a vivid picture of life at the front, and most importantly, of being a woman at the front, and I found myself entranced, practically unable to put it down. Lyudmila was an astounding woman and I think that Quinn really captured her character and spirit, and of course she would, since she researched her so fully, and read her autobiography as well. Right now, it is hard to imagine us being allies with Russia--we've been enemies in the not-so-distant past, and are enemies this very minute--but without Russia we might live in a very different world today, one in which Fascism won. As Quinn says in her notes it is often said "that Word War II was won with British intelligence, American steel, and Soviet blood." For lovers of fiction covering WWII, here is a book that will open up a new side of the war, featuring a woman who was a finely-honed instrument of death and is almost always forgotten, along with all the other amazing and brave women who made our victory possible.