Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Girl From Guernica

Author: Karen Robards

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Spanish characters and Spanish/German MC and characters

Recommended For...: historical fiction, War World II, Spain, Nazi Germany

Publication Date: September 6, 2022

Genre: Historical Fiction

Age Relevance: 16+ (war, rape, violence, gore, animal death, animal gore, bombing, religion, death, grief, PTSD, antisemitism, nazism, abelism, bullying, romance, cursing, animal injury)

Explanation of Above: The book revolves around the whole of World War II and there are some bombings shown in the book. There is a lot of violence with guns and bombs and gore involving blood. There is death and grief shown in the book. There is some animal death and gore mentioned with dogs and sheep. There are also a couple of animal injuries to a dog shown as well. The Catholic religion is referenced and shown a couple of times. The book shows PTSD and abelism, as well as antisemitism and nazism involving Aryan ideals and Nazis. There is some bullying and some cursing in the book. There is also a slight romance in the book.

Publisher: MIRA

Pages: 464

Synopsis: On an April day in 1937, the sky opens and fire rains down upon the small Spanish town of Guernica. Seventeen-year-old Sibi and her family are caught up in the horror. Griff, an American military attaché, pulls Sibi from the wreckage, and it’s only the first time he saves her life in a span of hours. When Germany claims no involvement in the attack, insisting the Spanish Republic was responsible, Griff guides Sibi to lie to Nazi officials. If she or her sisters reveal that they saw planes bearing swastikas, the gestapo will silence them—by any means necessary.

As war begins to rage across Europe, Sibi joins the underground resistance, secretly exchanging information with Griff. But as the scope of Germany’s ambitions becomes clear, maintaining the facade of a Nazi-sympathizer becomes ever more difficult. And as Sibi is drawn deeper into a web of secrets, she must find a way to outwit an enemy that threatens to decimate her family once and for all.

Masterfully rendered and vividly capturing one of the most notorious episodes in history, The Girl from Guernica is an unforgettable testament to the bonds of family and the courage of women in wartime.

Review: I found this book to be very informative and eye opening. The book starts with the bombing of Guernica, which was done at the behest of the Nationalist faction by Nazi Germany forces. The incident was horrifically detailed in the book and it helped set the tone for the novel as Nazi Germany denied and continued to deny their involvement in the incident. The MC was compelling and while we all know what the true solution was for her predicament, her dilemma was understandable and it makes the reader empathetic to the plight of Germans who were caught in the middle of the War. The book was written beautifully and the book was fairly accurate from what I know and briefly researched about the incident. The book did well for character development and world building. I also thought the pacing was well done.

The only issue I had with the book is that I felt like the horrors of what Nazi Germany was truly doing wasn’t discussed in the book well. I would have liked to see that in the book more.

Verdict: It was great! Highly recommend!