The Diamon Eye

                                         

5/5
Wow, this author has grown in her writing. When I first read her other older books, I thought they were ok but were not the best in the Historical fiction genre. I did not give up on her as I thought the other books were not the worst I have read. Then, I read The Rose Code and enjoyed it very much, and worthy of the hype. Now I have read The Diamond Eye and enjoyed this one just as much.

What I like most about these books, is the fact they are based on real stories, real life, and not always the happy ending. Tho happy endings are great, most often during the war, they were not the norm. I love that I was able to look up Mila and learn even more about her and her life. Sadly, I understand both sides of the war had good people but more often then not Stalin was just as bad as Hitler, he maybe even worse. Knowing this, I still rooted for her. I wanted her to be happy and do well despite being a female in a prominently male army. I have some respect for her and her accomplishments.
I researched her and her background and proud to say the author did her research. The afterword was well done as well. I knew there were certain times or things that had to be different because it added to the story or fictionalized for the reader.

I was interested in this book since the first page, and did my research on several things thinking it was fake only to realize it was true. I did enjoy the moments the author added. I felt all the feels with this book. Happy, sad, mad, all of them. What also made me think, was the effect the war had everyone including this sniper. Grief, depression, and so many more emotions, PTSD was not a thing back then but neither was the mental help needed for so many during that time. Including soldiers, survivors, and prisoners of war. What would it have been like if the help was available ??

Before all this, she was an awesome single mom. Her husband was like many we see today, don't want her but don't want anyone else to have her. He was the ultimate, not likable guy to me in this book. Mila, however, was amazing, incredibly awesome single mom and a very young age. She also had an incredibly sense of county and serving her country. She gave up so much to enlist, voluntary to do what most soldiers do. Only to be shown little to no respect because she was a women. She did not give up. She did not moan and groan about it, she instead, kept at it and was finally given the chance to prove herself and skill. She of course went above and beyond. Most of this of course was true. Incredible.

This was a great read, based on a true story, that captures your attention right away. Well worth the read. I am looking forward to the next one by this author.

The Huntress

3/5
This was a book I thought would be better then it was. I read The Alice Network so I thought maybe this one would be better. I was wrong, and I was disappointed. There was so much potential behind the premises of this story. The hunter becomes the hunted, a female hero and villain, and a female protagonist. Something that I could have just loved to read. Where do I start with the disappointment ??

The first thing that I really did not like was the whole romance scenes of the story, they were not necessary, nor were they needed. I did not think it made the character any stronger or better. This was not a romance novel, nor did it have to be a long gay romance between one of our main characters and another pilot, in Russia. Then she made is seem like the whole regiment was gay, in 1940's Russia. This was a huge issue with me, it made no sense and made it seem these women were less stronger because they had to have a lover. Totally wrong. Were there gay pilots and soldiers ?? Maybe, I don't know. But I am pretty sure they were not that open about it. The solider/brother that was gay did not have the romance scenes and that was fine. They mentioned it a time or two but did not make it a huge part of his story. This was not a romance story so the whole love scenes I felt took away from the story and the strength of the pilot. Nina was a very strong person who survived so much, these did not seem the right direction for her.

The other thing that bothered me is the lack of more info on the aftermath of the war and the huntress' history. We know she was horrible, and then she just reappeared as a mom and went on with life. When the protagonist questions it, excuses were made and that was pretty much the end of it till the end of the story. It seemed like a lot of info may have been missing from her, and her story. We know how two of the character became friends and how that we finally know what happened to Seb, all of it. We just don't learn much about Anna/Lorlie. The whole Jordan photography, was a point I thought I would like as well, because I am a photographer. Unrealistic, it is not that easy to do what the author had us believing she did. Good camera, but otherwise, off base.

The story was long, there was a time or two I actually lost my attention to it. The story I think could have been shortened a bit, she over does some parts and it just drags to me. I remember this from The Alice Network. It was basically the same, I liked the characters but it was just was to long.

It was not an entirely horrible book, it had it's good points as well, I liked the characters. Nina being the tough pilot, that survived so much was a character I liked, especially married to Ian. Tony, Ruth, Jordan and her dad all characters I liked. I just thought, it could have been better.