Thank you very much @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri, a debut novel. In present day, Katrine’s 86 year old mother Allina opens up to her about her past, and the reason she has kept secrets for all these years. Allina is from Germany, and found out in 1938 as a teenager that she is half Jewish. Her parents died when she was young, and her aunt and uncle are killed by the Nazi’s. She is taken care of a by a Nazi officer, and brought to a place that she finds out is a baby factory and part of Lebensborn, Hitler’s program to provide “pure” babies to German families. While there, she meets another Nazi officer who turns out to be running a secret program to save Jewish children, and they team up and fall in love. There is a lot of violence, and some hope in this story. It was a different look at the atrocities of the Nazi regime. Some of the parallels to today’s political situation in the US were frightening, with the beginning of a fascist government. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this, and look forward to future books by this author. #thesunflowerhouse #adrianaallegri #debutnovel #netgalley #advancedreadercopy #lovetoread #bookstagram #takeapagefrommybook #wwIIstory #lebensborn #bookloversofinstagram

What a beautiful and moving novel. Most of us have heard this history before, but it is taken to new levels as the author weaves together history and fiction. Based on true events of WWII this novel will take you on a journey, for which you know the historical outcome. Still, the journey of Allina will draw you into her world and her resistance to the systematic atrocities of the Nazi regime. Highs and lows ensue throughout, but the journey will warm your heart.

I finished The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri and I recommend reading this story. This book has a different take on a WWII novel and weaves in current family secrets stemming from the war. The characters are likable and keeps the reader rooting for a happy ending during a difficult time in history. Pick up a copy of The Sunflower House. This book was released in early November and I am surprised I have not heard more about it on the socials.

#netgalley #TheSunflowerHouse #AdrianaAllegri

This book taught me about an event history I had very little knowledge on. A young Jewish woman, Alinna is forced to work in a home who's purpose is to grow the Aryan population. This was a hard read especially reading about all the neglected children. It was just heartbreaking this was a reality. This was a powerful story & Allina was a great protagonist. I am looking forward to reading more books by the author.

A nuance of WWII that I had not heard about! This book is about baby factories in nazi Germany, where young fertile aryan ladies lived to get pregnant by soldiers on ROR to perpetuate the race. This seems to have been a very well researched book and I enjoyed the characters and the story. I love historical fiction because it tells a story and provides a history lesson at the same time. I get a bit tired of WWII books, but this one covered a whole new subject matter. It was an interesting and well-told story.

1939 Germany and Adolf Hitler is coming into his brutal rule. Nurse Allina Strauss finds herself assigned to a home which is part of the Lebensborn program, where blond babies with Aryan features are "chosen" to enter "good" German homes as adoptions. When she meets Karl, a high ranking German officer, she finds a partner with the same beliefs as herself, but the danger to them both is considerable. Well written historical fiction.

This is an fantastic book with beautiful writing! I was nervous the majority of the book would include the horrific scenes from the beginning of the book, but this surprising book wove in a beautiful love story of healing and hope, new life and a sweet, tender love and marriage. I truly can't recommend this book enough! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and to review this book!

This is Adriana Allegri’s debut novel and I was blown away! There aren’t really words to convey how much I loved this book.

This story takes us through a mother-daughter relationship and some of WWII darkest times in history, as it explores the Lebensborn Program.

As an avid reader of historical fiction, I’d never heard anything about this program. The goal of the Lebensborn program was to create a perfect race of babies that would then be adopted by Nazi families. The author does an incredible job of bringing this to light but is also very thoughtful of the women trapped in this experience. This one will definitely stick with me.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my thoughts.

Wow. Just wow. I found myself completely enthralled by this story. It was heartbreaking. It was emotional. It was beautiful in that deeply dark way that only good WWII historical fiction can be. I was truly captivated.

The Sunflower House is centered around Heinrich Himmler’s Lebensborn Program, a lesser-known part of his horrendous eugenics program. It was expected of good Aryan men and women's jobs to produce as many healthy, fit German babies as possible in serving the Reich. In order to aid in this, Lebensborn homes were created where German women were sent to birth as many babies as they could as well as encouraged to mingle with SS officers so they could continue to grow the German population.

This story follows Allina who is forced to work as a nurse in one of these homes. She is grieving and scared. The only way to survive the war is to stay safe and serve Hochland Home well. When I tell you this story is beautiful and utterly heartbreaking at the same time, I truly mean it. If this is a genre you enjoy, I will be recommending it for the foreseeable future.

There are secrets, high stakes moments, and a story of finding love even in the darkest of places. This debut was unbelievably well researched, a unique stand-out in the genre, and a story I am so glad I took the time to listen to. I will absolutely be keeping an eye out for what Allegri shares with us next!

This is a WWII novel that is mostly set in one of the Lebensborn homes that Germany ran to breed racially pure children. The well researched story tells the tale of a woman who loses everything and is then forced to be a baby nurse and how she is determined to improve the lives of the children there. There is risk and romance and lots of anger inducing moments in the world gone mad Nazi Germany. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital advance reading copy. While it is a story that has been covered before (ie. "Cradles of the Reich" by Jennifer Coburn), I enjoyed it. 4/5

This is one of those books I keep finding myself recommending to all my friends!

Like most historical fictions taking place during World War II, they are hard and emotional, and The Sunflower House is exactly that.

Focussed on a lesser known or portrayed aspect of Hitler’s eugenics program, main character Allina finds herself orphaned and set up in a state run baby factory.

While there, she actively fights for the children’s safety and that of the Jewish people. Finding unlikely allies, Allina becomes one of the lucky ones and makes it out alive.

The story was epic and sweeping just like the emotions that I experienced while reading. This debut from Adriana Allegri has me eagerly anticipating what she comes up with next.

The sunflower house~you alwonder what the grab will be when you are starting another WW2 book. The Lebensborn Program in detail takes you on a ruthless tour of crating the perfect race (gone wrong). Between family secrets, love come to light.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the amazing ARC..

Loved this book. Another wonderful historical fiction with strong characters and it brought me to tears many times throughout.

This was such a good book! I have read a few books about Himmler's plan to create a master race. But to have it written from the view point of Allina, a nurse in a house that does such things, is amazing. Add in Allina's secret, that she is part Jewish, and that she falls in love with a high ranking SS member? You have SUCH an engaging story. Wow.

I cannot recommend this book enough!

As a person that barely read synopsis, I sort of went into this one blindly. I read the first line and that was enough for me to decide that I wanted to read this and boy and I glad that I did. This WWII historical fiction heartbreaking, informative, gripping, and one I did not want to stop listening to. To read what Allina and the other girls dealt with during this time at the hand of these German soldiers. But, I could only root for Allina and her will to flee and help those that she can.

If you are a lover of historical fiction based on real events, you will definitely enjoy this one. While I had the e-book, I mostly listened and the narrators of this one were nothing short of amazing, and I am glad that there were multiple narrators as it brought more to the story to connect with the characters.

This Adriana Allegri’s debut novel and I look forward to what she will bring next to the historical fiction world!

The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri is one of the best World War II stories I have every read. The characters evolved over time and in doing so came alive for me. It highlighted a part of the Holocaust that I was unfamiliar with which is saying a lot since I have read extensively on the topic. It was a page turner and learning experience in one volume.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this gifted e-arc.

I've mostly sworn off WWII books the last 5 years from having read too many in a short period of time. This book worked for me because:

1. it was about an aspect of the war that I was unaware of
2. while there was one graphic scene, the rest was pretty tame considering it is discussing WWII (I''ve definitely read worse)
3 . the main topic addressed was maybe half the weight of the book and the other half was relationships, this helped offset the gruesomeness of the war as well.

As I alluded to above, I felt like the book glossed over some of the realities, which made it easier to read, but it also felt a bit fantasized. There were a few aspects of the storyline that I just couldn't buy, it had almost a Hallmark effect.

This is the authors debut novel and I will definitely read her next book. She did a fantastic job with creating a sense of place and sharing a new and different aspect of WWII.

Many thanks to NetGalley/publisher/author for the advanced copy. What follows are my honest opinions.

Just when I thought I understood the horrors of World War II, another story comes along to really hit home how evil and cruel people can be.

Allina Strauss's life is forever disrupted when Nazi soldiers invade her town. Hiding her Jewish heritage, Allina is forced into service as a nurse at a state-run baby factory called Hochland Home, where she becomes both witness and participant to the horrors of Heinrich Himmler’s ruthless eugenics program. "Pure blooded" women were given accolades for having the most children to further "the perfect race." But these children never received the care they needed - many are left to sit in their filth, never shown a kindness, and as a consequence, face many developmental delays. Those with delays are sent to Himmler to be experimented on, often resulting in death. Doing what she can to help save some of these children from the neglect they face, Allina finds love with Karl, a high-ranking SS officer, that also sympathizes with these kids. Together, Allina and Karl must decide how far they will go to rescue these children, and each other, from Hitler's reign.

One of my favorite reads of 2024. History was beautifully blended into the fiction, and I actually appreciated the author's note, at the end, that broke down what was fact versus fiction. The story was incredibly well-researched and so compelling to read, I have added some of the books recommended for further reading to my TBR. I loved the brief time jumps that gave you some insight to how the story ends but does not give away anything major. I really wanted to know where each character ended up, but it's understandable that their futures would not be known during a time as tumultuous as Hitler's reign.

Nevertheless, this is not an easy read. There are descriptions of rape and brutalization, murder, and abuse towards children. But as graphic as the story could be, I found that it was necessary for a reader to fully grasp how awful this eugenics program was. There are also two (maybe more, I can't remember) explicit, sexual scenes (consensual), that readers should also be aware of.

Something I really admired of this story and author is how a reader is not encouraged to sympathize with these characters, especially Karl. Though Allina and Karl are attempting to free some of these children, they are still participating in this war, as Hitler sympathizers. Yes, they detest him, but they still work under his reign. Understandably, to save their lives and those they love, they could only do so much, but when faced with difficult choices, they don't always make the morally correct option. This story really forces a reader to grapple with their own morals and ethics.

Highly recommend to anyone interested in historical fiction/romance. Can't wait to see what else this author releases.

Wow my heart hurts reading this. The fictional story that follows the very real struggles faced by those with Jewish history in their families. The few that fought back to save people while hiding in plain sight, the choices people had to face of whether or not to fit in or remain moral- how they battled and went numb to it for their own safety. Just wow.

Special thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. This book is a courageous story of a woman falling in love and trying to survive during WWII amidst all of the atrocities brought on by Hitler and his henchman Himmler. It is beautifully written and I recommend everyone give this book a read.