HF Virtual Book Tours: Gracianna by Trini Amador

Title:  Gracianna
Author: Trini Amador
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Greenleaf
Publish Date: July 23, 2013
Source: HF Virtual Book Tours

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.
• You like family stories.
• You like stories about sisters.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "The gripping story of Gracianna--a French-Basque girl forced to make impossible decisions after being recruited into the French Resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris.

Gracianna is inspired by true events in the life of Trini Amador's great-grandmother, Gracianna Lasaga. As an adult, Amador was haunted by the vivid memory of finding a loaded German Luger tucked away in a nightstand while wandering his great-grandmother's home in Southern California. He was only four years old at the time, but the memory remained and he knew he had to explore the story behind the gun.

Decades later, Amador would delve into the remarkable odyssey of his Gracianna's past, a road that led him to an incredible surprise. In Gracianna, Amador weaves fact and fiction to tell his great-grandmother's story.

Gracianna bravely sets off to Paris in the early 1940s--on her way to America, she hopes--but is soon swept into the escalation of the war and the Nazi occupation of Paris. After chilling life-and-death struggles, she discovers that her missing sister has surfaced as a laborer in Auschwitz. When she finds an opportunity to fight back against the Nazis to try to free her sister, she takes it--even if it means using lethal force.

As Amador tells the imagined story of how his great-grandmother risked it all, he delivers richly drawn characters and a heart-wrenching page-turner that readers won't soon forget."

My Two Cents:

"Gracianna" is the story of author Trini Amador's grandmother and her life and the choices she had to make during World War II. I absolutely love family stories. Some of the best stories can come from our pasts. I was fascinated by the idea that Amador found a story in his family's past to tell.

World War II is still one of my very favorite time periods to read about. There are so many stories there from so many different people and so many different points of view. In this book, Gracianna, the title character, has some involvement with the French resistance in this book that I found really interesting to read about.

Gracianna is a fascinating character. She's very brave and definitely puts her life on the line for what she believes in. I don't want to give too much away as some of the twists are most definitely worth reading yourself. This is also a story about sisters, a subject that I also really love reading about. The sister relationship plays a huge role in this story. Gracianna does everything in her power to save her sister from a concentration camp. How amazing is that?

I liked the storytelling in the book but there were a couple issues for me. The chapters were broken down into different sections and the titles of the sections sometimes gave the twists and turns away. Also, some of the sections of the book had a lot of telling rather than showing, which took me out of the story. All in all, this is a very interesting family story, made even more interesting by being based on a true story.

Follow the Rest of the Tour:


Monday, July 15
Review at Peeking Between the Pages
Tuesday, July 16
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Wednesday, July 17
Review at A Book Geek
Interview & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary
Thursday, July 18
Review at Confessions of an Avid Reader
Guest Post at Jenny Loves to Read
Friday, July 19
Review at Jenny Loves to Read
Monday, July 22
Review at A Chick Who Reads
Tuesday, July 23
Review at Reflections of a Bookaholic
Guest Post at A Chick Who Reads
Wednesday, July 24
Review at A Bookish Affair
Review at West Metro Mommy
Thursday, July 25
Review at Just One More Chapter
Interview at Layered Pages
Monday, July 29
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!
Giveaway at A Writer’s Life
Tuesday, July 30
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!
Wednesday, July 31
Review at The True Book Addict
Thursday, August 1
Review at Impressions in Ink
Guest Post & Giveaway at The True Book Addict
Friday, August 2
Review at Savvy Verse & Wit
Monday, August 5
Review at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee
Tuesday, August 6
Review at My Reading Room
Guest Post at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
Wednesday, August 7
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time
Interview & Giveaway at My Reading Room
Thursday, August 8
Review at Sir Read-a-Lot
Review at Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books
Friday, August 9
Review at Diary of an Eccentric
Interview at Sir Read-a-Lot