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The Stars We Steal
The Bachelorette meets sci-fi in this gripping story about a young girl caught in a world of royal intrigue and lost love in her quest to save her family from ruin. Perfect for fans of Katharine McGee, Melissa de la Cruz, and Kiera Cass.
Engagement season is in the air. Eighteen-year-old Princess Leonie “Leo” Kolburg, heir to a faded European spaceship, has only one thing on her mind: which lucky bachelor can save her family from financial ruin?
But when Leo’s childhood friend and first love, Elliot, returns as the captain of a successful whiskey ship, everything changes. Elliot was the one who got away, the boy Leo’s family deemed to be unsuitable for marriage. Now he’s the biggest catch of the season and he seems determined to make Leo’s life miserable.
But old habits die hard, and as Leo navigates the glittering balls of the Valg Season, she finds herself falling for her first love in a game of love, lies, and past regrets.
Fans of Katharine McGee and Kiera Cass will be dazzled by this world of lost love and royal intrigue.
Engagement season is in the air. Eighteen-year-old Princess Leonie “Leo” Kolburg, heir to a faded European spaceship, has only one thing on her mind: which lucky bachelor can save her family from financial ruin?
But when Leo’s childhood friend and first love, Elliot, returns as the captain of a successful whiskey ship, everything changes. Elliot was the one who got away, the boy Leo’s family deemed to be unsuitable for marriage. Now he’s the biggest catch of the season and he seems determined to make Leo’s life miserable.
But old habits die hard, and as Leo navigates the glittering balls of the Valg Season, she finds herself falling for her first love in a game of love, lies, and past regrets.
Fans of Katharine McGee and Kiera Cass will be dazzled by this world of lost love and royal intrigue.
406 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 4, 2020
285 people are currently reading
24350 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 895 reviews
February 8, 2020
this book commits a very unfortunate crime against readers, which is it solely relies on a telling narrative, not a showing narrative. meaning the reader is told something happens, rather than shown it.
its an extremely lazy method of writing and honestly drags the story down. it completely ruins any sort of opportunity which may have been present for me to really connect with the characters, especially because the romance is key to the plot. i dont want to be told leo and elliot have a connection, i want to see it. i need proof. just being told isnt good enough and a reader deserves more. in addition to pacing issues and an undeveloped plot, the writing really leaves much to be desired.
however, this story does have some positives. there is a great range of representation present. honestly, i think every box is checked. lol. which could be seen as forced characterisation, but i thought it was refreshing. this also really inspired me to pick up ‘persuasion’ by jane austen, which this is a retelling of. i know for sure i will enjoy it sooo much more than this, so i have that to look forward to now, at least.
so while there are some good things about this, i highly doubt i will ever think about this story again.
↠ 2.5 stars
its an extremely lazy method of writing and honestly drags the story down. it completely ruins any sort of opportunity which may have been present for me to really connect with the characters, especially because the romance is key to the plot. i dont want to be told leo and elliot have a connection, i want to see it. i need proof. just being told isnt good enough and a reader deserves more. in addition to pacing issues and an undeveloped plot, the writing really leaves much to be desired.
however, this story does have some positives. there is a great range of representation present. honestly, i think every box is checked. lol. which could be seen as forced characterisation, but i thought it was refreshing. this also really inspired me to pick up ‘persuasion’ by jane austen, which this is a retelling of. i know for sure i will enjoy it sooo much more than this, so i have that to look forward to now, at least.
so while there are some good things about this, i highly doubt i will ever think about this story again.
↠ 2.5 stars
March 31, 2020
The Stars We Steal starts off with Leo, the heir to a derelict spaceship, trying to avoid the fate of having to marry for money. She's resourceful and smart, coming up with her own water-filtration system that could make money for her family while saving her from a marriage of convenience. But then it slowly devolves into a pointless YA romance, childish and overdramatic, and by the end, I lost all respect for Leo and this story.
Leo pines for her ex-fiancé, who she broke up with years ago. Now he's back, and she spends the entire book making eyes at him, while feeling hurt that he doesn't love her back, while giving signs that she hates him, while being sad that he's dating other girls. Ugh, I wanted to stab my eyes out. Please girl, figure out what you want! Stop giving mixed signals and expect others to read your mind, then acting so terribly hurt when they don't.
All the drama in this book is pretty much people not saying what they should, so there's a lot of misunderstandings. Leo, in particular, has serious trouble with honest communication. She'll do something strange, then refuse to explain, and then act like a martyr when others get mad at her. She chases after two different guys because she can't make up her mind, and honestly, she doesn't deserve either. And she keeps drinking like a fish to de-stress because her life is SO hard. Please, my eyes have rolled out of my head.
She's also portrayed as a privileged princess who can afford to look down her nose at others. She talks a good talk about how there should be justice for all, but when it comes down to it, she takes the easy road because her family and connections make it possible for her to do so. Meanwhile, she passes judgement on others who have to make considerably harder decisions in order to eat and live.
In the end, this was such a disappointing read. Leo is so annoying that it's hard to cheer for a character like that. The plot is silly, and it's barely a real one since all the drama is manufactured by people who can't communicate honestly with each other or refuse to listen. I'm looking for books right now to help me relax and take me away into a fantasy world, but this book just made me angry.
Leo pines for her ex-fiancé, who she broke up with years ago. Now he's back, and she spends the entire book making eyes at him, while feeling hurt that he doesn't love her back, while giving signs that she hates him, while being sad that he's dating other girls. Ugh, I wanted to stab my eyes out. Please girl, figure out what you want! Stop giving mixed signals and expect others to read your mind, then acting so terribly hurt when they don't.
All the drama in this book is pretty much people not saying what they should, so there's a lot of misunderstandings. Leo, in particular, has serious trouble with honest communication. She'll do something strange, then refuse to explain, and then act like a martyr when others get mad at her. She chases after two different guys because she can't make up her mind, and honestly, she doesn't deserve either. And she keeps drinking like a fish to de-stress because her life is SO hard. Please, my eyes have rolled out of my head.
She's also portrayed as a privileged princess who can afford to look down her nose at others. She talks a good talk about how there should be justice for all, but when it comes down to it, she takes the easy road because her family and connections make it possible for her to do so. Meanwhile, she passes judgement on others who have to make considerably harder decisions in order to eat and live.
In the end, this was such a disappointing read. Leo is so annoying that it's hard to cheer for a character like that. The plot is silly, and it's barely a real one since all the drama is manufactured by people who can't communicate honestly with each other or refuse to listen. I'm looking for books right now to help me relax and take me away into a fantasy world, but this book just made me angry.
Want to read
June 8, 2019I have a very crucial, life-altering question: how can a cover be so perfect? I feel like this should be illegal—no it's NOT fair to steal away people's money like that! *slams hand on desk, shouts* would someone call the authorities!? I'm taking this matter in front of a judge!
Eighteen-year-old Princess Leonie “Leo” Kolburg...(*sniffs* I smell...royal intrigue! *wicked smile*)...heir to a faded European spaceship...(*fumes* you don't set books in space and get away with it! Because then I'd have to read it!)...only has one thing on her mind: which lucky bachelor can save her family from financial ruin? (a Jane Austen retelling! Oops *whispers* I still haven't read Persuasion...) But when Leo’s childhood friend and first love Elliot returns as the captain of a successful whiskey ship, everything changes. (wait...what? Whiskey ship? Hmmm, I have NO idea what's happening, but hell I'm intrigued 😁)
Expected publication: February 4th 2020
... :/ See you when the world ends 👋🏻
Eighteen-year-old Princess Leonie “Leo” Kolburg...(*sniffs* I smell...royal intrigue! *wicked smile*)...heir to a faded European spaceship...(*fumes* you don't set books in space and get away with it! Because then I'd have to read it!)...only has one thing on her mind: which lucky bachelor can save her family from financial ruin? (a Jane Austen retelling! Oops *whispers* I still haven't read Persuasion...) But when Leo’s childhood friend and first love Elliot returns as the captain of a successful whiskey ship, everything changes. (wait...what? Whiskey ship? Hmmm, I have NO idea what's happening, but hell I'm intrigued 😁)
Expected publication: February 4th 2020
... :/ See you when the world ends 👋🏻
Read
May 23, 2020
February 6, 2022
The positive thing about Alexa Donne's books is that her writing style is easy to read and the stories are light, so if you want something quick, you can start here. The negative thing is that the characters and the plot get equal amount of time, but somehow neither is fleshed out properly, and the romances are weird and empty. And the male mcs are really not it.
I also want to complain about how one of the characters said he can't fall in love because he is asexual, and that's just not what it means.
I also want to complain about how one of the characters said he can't fall in love because he is asexual, and that's just not what it means.
November 27, 2019
I was really looking forward to this novel but unfortunately, it was far less than what I expected.
This story starts off with a bang (literally) and it's adventure and action right from the beginning. There is little to no introduction regarding the background of the world, the story, or the characters before the reader is thrust into the story.
However, even with the story being introduced amidst action, this novel was mostly....boring for me. None of the characters caught my attention, nor did the romance. Even the political involvement of this world in the plot didn't keep me invested. As well, both of the main characters were not necessarily likable which is not a mandatory attribute but can help when it comes to maintaining interest in the story. As nothing captured my attention or interest, there was nothing that kept me truly anchored or invested in the overall story.
As for the ending, it was fairly predictable but also abrupt for a story with such a slow pace. There was so much build up only for one climactic scene with little resolution aside from an epilogue. To me, it seemed as if there were still many loose ends left in the story.
As a whole, I continued reading this novel until the end in the hopes that it would get better but if I was someone to 'DNF' a novel, this would be one that I would have stopped reading less than halfway through.
***Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with a copy of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review***
This story starts off with a bang (literally) and it's adventure and action right from the beginning. There is little to no introduction regarding the background of the world, the story, or the characters before the reader is thrust into the story.
However, even with the story being introduced amidst action, this novel was mostly....boring for me. None of the characters caught my attention, nor did the romance. Even the political involvement of this world in the plot didn't keep me invested. As well, both of the main characters were not necessarily likable which is not a mandatory attribute but can help when it comes to maintaining interest in the story. As nothing captured my attention or interest, there was nothing that kept me truly anchored or invested in the overall story.
As for the ending, it was fairly predictable but also abrupt for a story with such a slow pace. There was so much build up only for one climactic scene with little resolution aside from an epilogue. To me, it seemed as if there were still many loose ends left in the story.
As a whole, I continued reading this novel until the end in the hopes that it would get better but if I was someone to 'DNF' a novel, this would be one that I would have stopped reading less than halfway through.
***Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with a copy of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review***
February 23, 2020
2.5 stars. I went into this book expecting a great story and fantastic queer representation. What I got was a somewhat entertaining story and queer characters that were clearly not researched well, if at all. I liked the political aspect of the story, though, I would have liked to have seen Leo actually do something about other ships starving to death rather than just saying she cared about the issue. The story was entertaining enough to keep me reading, but I wasn’t wowed especially as a big Jane Austen fan.
April 24, 2021
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars (rounding up)
Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book for review from the author, and I am a fan of her YouTube content. However, these are my honest thoughts and feelings on the book.
The Stars We Steal is a fun, soapy YA novel that is Persuasion (Jane Austen) meets The Bachelor in space. Such a great concept! And the execution was good, although in some places it could have been better. I had a really fun time reading this for the most part, and I actually think teenagers might enjoy it even more than I did, particularly in terms of the romance. This is a YA story that really feels written for a teenage audience. My 30-something married self was definitely shipping a non-canon relationship, but as a teen I absolutely would have felt differently! I think if you are looking for a fun time with a soapy teen romance in an interesting sci-fi future, this is worth a read.
I enjoyed seeing the bones of Persuasion in this new setting, although sometimes it didn't quite feel cohesive, trying to merge some modern sensibilities with some Victorian ones, especially in terms of gender dynamics. It was also fun (as a Bachelor fan) to see some nods to things like over-the-top dates and group scenarios. We do get a diverse cast of character, which was great to see. I like that our heroine is a woman of size, although I felt like this could have gone farther in terms of body positivity. Not that I thought that representation was bad, I just wanted more from it. But I think what fell rather flat for me was the ending. Everything was extremely predictable from very early on, the villain lacked nuance (being of the more mustache-twirling variety), and I'm not remotely convinced that the final couple should actually be together (though again, part of this probably has to do with my age).
But that said, even though this book wasn't perfect, it was still a lot of fun to read! Not a new favorite, but a good time and I think a lot of people will enjoy it.
Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book for review from the author, and I am a fan of her YouTube content. However, these are my honest thoughts and feelings on the book.
The Stars We Steal is a fun, soapy YA novel that is Persuasion (Jane Austen) meets The Bachelor in space. Such a great concept! And the execution was good, although in some places it could have been better. I had a really fun time reading this for the most part, and I actually think teenagers might enjoy it even more than I did, particularly in terms of the romance. This is a YA story that really feels written for a teenage audience. My 30-something married self was definitely shipping a non-canon relationship, but as a teen I absolutely would have felt differently! I think if you are looking for a fun time with a soapy teen romance in an interesting sci-fi future, this is worth a read.
I enjoyed seeing the bones of Persuasion in this new setting, although sometimes it didn't quite feel cohesive, trying to merge some modern sensibilities with some Victorian ones, especially in terms of gender dynamics. It was also fun (as a Bachelor fan) to see some nods to things like over-the-top dates and group scenarios. We do get a diverse cast of character, which was great to see. I like that our heroine is a woman of size, although I felt like this could have gone farther in terms of body positivity. Not that I thought that representation was bad, I just wanted more from it. But I think what fell rather flat for me was the ending. Everything was extremely predictable from very early on, the villain lacked nuance (being of the more mustache-twirling variety), and I'm not remotely convinced that the final couple should actually be together (though again, part of this probably has to do with my age).
But that said, even though this book wasn't perfect, it was still a lot of fun to read! Not a new favorite, but a good time and I think a lot of people will enjoy it.
December 14, 2021
This book is not a brilliant work of classic literature. It’s not a richly gorgeous high fantasy. This is not a romance that shatters hearts the world over. This isn’t even a bleak dystopian that shows a future both beautiful and terrifying.
This book is a 100% certified guilty pleasure read.
and SCREW IT ALL but I actually really enjoyed it.
Let us begin with Ye Olde Synopsis.
It’s been one hundred and seventy years since Earth became uninhabitable. One hundred and seventy years since the last remnants of Earth’s population fled the planet on a small fleet of spaceships, beginning a dazzling new life among the stars.
Since living in space requires a completely new lifestyle society, the survivors built new ways of life to accommodate. Those less fortunate are crammed into the smallest, most dilapidated ships, deprived of the luxuries the richer ships enjoy. The largest spaceships are named after the glories of the old Earth: the Versailles, the Lady Liberty, the Empire, the Shanghai, the Saint Petersburg, the Scandinavian, etc, and can host hundreds of the fleet’s wealthiest inhabitants. Smaller, private ships, like the Islay and the Prinzessin Sofi, are owned and operated by a few select families.
In a world where the human population is a fraction of its size on Earth, making a strategic, early match is everything. That’s why the Valg Season exists: a Bachelor-esque whirlwind of events designed to throw the most eligible children at each other’s heads. At the end of approximately five weeks, engagements are announced, and the future population of the spacebound colony is assured. However, the Season only happens every five years, so connections must be made and engagements secured with the utmost speed.
Leonie Kolburg’s family is on the cusp of both worlds; their rapid decline in fortunes forcing them to rent out their small private ship and live on the monetary goodwill of their rich cousins on the Scandinavian. Leonie’s father and younger sister insist on living lavishly, mindless of how much the family is dependent on their rich relations. The only reason her family isn’t bankrupt already is because of Leo’s frugal financial management.
But this year, the Valg season is returning, and considering this is Leonie’s last eligible season, her father is constantly pressuring her to make a wealthy match and save the family’s fortunes. But since making that match would require her to forget Elliot Wentworth, Leo isn’t exactly too eager to get engaged. Elliot was the servant boy who she fell desperately in love with three years prior. She was engaged to him for several hours, before her overbearing aunt and father bullied her into breaking off the “deeply improper” match.
Put another way, he was too poor for her.
Leo believes she will never see Elliot Wentworth again, until a now rich and titled Elliot shows up during the Valg’s opening ball, and Leo realizes she’ll have to watch him fall in love with someone else right in front of her eyes.
YES FINALLY I GET TO DISCUSS MY OWN THOUGHTS do y’all know how long that summary took me to write
*laughs while sobbing very slightly*
Firstly and foremostly: the plot.
The plot felt like the craziest mashup of the Bachelor, speed dating, regency traditions, black market space trading, and class divisions.
Literally that was the plot.
and NO ONE tell me that that Bachelor action wasn’t half the novel there is literally a gold rose on the cover.
For being a story set in future dystopian space, I didn’t really feel like the cool scifi part of the book was that great or even all that relevant. You know how there’s books in scifi settings that actually use plot points related to holograms or netscreens to move everything forward?
Yeah this was not that.
This was more a dramatic rich person romance that happened to be set in space. I didn’t care that it wasn’t really true scifi, but just don’t go into this thinking you’ll get cutting edge scifi action and you’ll be fine.
Speaking of the romance, I want to mention that this story is billed as a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Now, to those non-Austen superfans among you, this is no cause for concern. The similarities are really not that obvious, and you definitely don’t need to have ever even touched a copy of Persuasion to enjoy the story.
LE CHARACTERSSS
Overall, the characters were nothing special.
WAIT NO I TAKE THAT BACK EXCEPT FOR EVGENIA. HAH THAT GIRL WAS ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS.
57% of my enjoyment of this novel came from Evgenia being sarcastic, Evgenia playing matchmaker, Evgenia tossing people into pools, the NUMBER OF TIMES THIS GIRL MADE ME CACKLE Y’ALL YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE.
Anyways. Everyone except Evgenia was kinda bland and complained about rich people problems, which just got kinda annoying after 200 pages or so.
Leo, our intrepid heroine, was enjoyable for the most part, but she gave off a few vibes of rich-person-trying-to-help-poor-people-but-does-a-horrible-job-because-she’s-too-speshul-to-know-what-true-suffering-is. Also, her complaint that she knows pain because she has to manage her family’s finances?
girl, I do that every time I walk into Barnes & Noble. Be quiet.
But besides the occasional whine, Leo really just wasn’t that bad.
Now, Elliot though.
Elliot definitely wasn’t as amazing as I’d hoped he’d be. While the original character he was based on, Captain Wentworth (no, the name was definitely not changed *rolls eyes dramatically*) was literally my book boyfriend when I first read Persuasion, his modern counterpart here was just meh. Elliot acted like a jerk, he was unnecessarily passive aggressive, and I had so much trouble seeing real romantic connection with Leo.
Speaking of which, that’s another thing: the romance between Elliot and Leo was pretty much just TOLD to me. Leo told me soooo maaaaanyyyy tiiiiimeees she and Elliot are madly in love and they are just so sImiLAr.
Let us look at a brief example. Elliot said something to the effect of: “Oh, we both love having our first dates reading on a cramped loveseat in the middle of winter!”
Leo then thinks, “Gasp, we’re clearly soulmates!!”
…
honey, do you even know how much that doesn’t work in real life?
sooooo i’ve kinda just dissed these characters for the last three paragraphs, but in reality, the drama and the eccentricities of the plot more than made up for the most annoying parts.
That’s why I said this was a total guilty pleasure read. No one watches the Bachelor because it’s deep, high-quality entertainment.
But do they watch it anyways?
100% YES.
Ratings:
Star Rating: ★★★☆☆
If This Book Was a Movie Rating: PG
Recommendations If You Liked This Book:
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
This book is a 100% certified guilty pleasure read.
and SCREW IT ALL but I actually really enjoyed it.
Let us begin with Ye Olde Synopsis.
It’s been one hundred and seventy years since Earth became uninhabitable. One hundred and seventy years since the last remnants of Earth’s population fled the planet on a small fleet of spaceships, beginning a dazzling new life among the stars.
Since living in space requires a completely new lifestyle society, the survivors built new ways of life to accommodate. Those less fortunate are crammed into the smallest, most dilapidated ships, deprived of the luxuries the richer ships enjoy. The largest spaceships are named after the glories of the old Earth: the Versailles, the Lady Liberty, the Empire, the Shanghai, the Saint Petersburg, the Scandinavian, etc, and can host hundreds of the fleet’s wealthiest inhabitants. Smaller, private ships, like the Islay and the Prinzessin Sofi, are owned and operated by a few select families.
In a world where the human population is a fraction of its size on Earth, making a strategic, early match is everything. That’s why the Valg Season exists: a Bachelor-esque whirlwind of events designed to throw the most eligible children at each other’s heads. At the end of approximately five weeks, engagements are announced, and the future population of the spacebound colony is assured. However, the Season only happens every five years, so connections must be made and engagements secured with the utmost speed.
Leonie Kolburg’s family is on the cusp of both worlds; their rapid decline in fortunes forcing them to rent out their small private ship and live on the monetary goodwill of their rich cousins on the Scandinavian. Leonie’s father and younger sister insist on living lavishly, mindless of how much the family is dependent on their rich relations. The only reason her family isn’t bankrupt already is because of Leo’s frugal financial management.
But this year, the Valg season is returning, and considering this is Leonie’s last eligible season, her father is constantly pressuring her to make a wealthy match and save the family’s fortunes. But since making that match would require her to forget Elliot Wentworth, Leo isn’t exactly too eager to get engaged. Elliot was the servant boy who she fell desperately in love with three years prior. She was engaged to him for several hours, before her overbearing aunt and father bullied her into breaking off the “deeply improper” match.
Put another way, he was too poor for her.
Leo believes she will never see Elliot Wentworth again, until a now rich and titled Elliot shows up during the Valg’s opening ball, and Leo realizes she’ll have to watch him fall in love with someone else right in front of her eyes.
YES FINALLY I GET TO DISCUSS MY OWN THOUGHTS do y’all know how long that summary took me to write
*laughs while sobbing very slightly*
Firstly and foremostly: the plot.
The plot felt like the craziest mashup of the Bachelor, speed dating, regency traditions, black market space trading, and class divisions.
Literally that was the plot.
and NO ONE tell me that that Bachelor action wasn’t half the novel there is literally a gold rose on the cover.
For being a story set in future dystopian space, I didn’t really feel like the cool scifi part of the book was that great or even all that relevant. You know how there’s books in scifi settings that actually use plot points related to holograms or netscreens to move everything forward?
Yeah this was not that.
This was more a dramatic rich person romance that happened to be set in space. I didn’t care that it wasn’t really true scifi, but just don’t go into this thinking you’ll get cutting edge scifi action and you’ll be fine.
Speaking of the romance, I want to mention that this story is billed as a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Now, to those non-Austen superfans among you, this is no cause for concern. The similarities are really not that obvious, and you definitely don’t need to have ever even touched a copy of Persuasion to enjoy the story.
LE CHARACTERSSS
Overall, the characters were nothing special.
WAIT NO I TAKE THAT BACK EXCEPT FOR EVGENIA. HAH THAT GIRL WAS ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS.
57% of my enjoyment of this novel came from Evgenia being sarcastic, Evgenia playing matchmaker, Evgenia tossing people into pools, the NUMBER OF TIMES THIS GIRL MADE ME CACKLE Y’ALL YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE.
Anyways. Everyone except Evgenia was kinda bland and complained about rich people problems, which just got kinda annoying after 200 pages or so.
Leo, our intrepid heroine, was enjoyable for the most part, but she gave off a few vibes of rich-person-trying-to-help-poor-people-but-does-a-horrible-job-because-she’s-too-speshul-to-know-what-true-suffering-is. Also, her complaint that she knows pain because she has to manage her family’s finances?
girl, I do that every time I walk into Barnes & Noble. Be quiet.
But besides the occasional whine, Leo really just wasn’t that bad.
Now, Elliot though.
Elliot definitely wasn’t as amazing as I’d hoped he’d be. While the original character he was based on, Captain Wentworth (no, the name was definitely not changed *rolls eyes dramatically*) was literally my book boyfriend when I first read Persuasion, his modern counterpart here was just meh. Elliot acted like a jerk, he was unnecessarily passive aggressive, and I had so much trouble seeing real romantic connection with Leo.
Speaking of which, that’s another thing: the romance between Elliot and Leo was pretty much just TOLD to me. Leo told me soooo maaaaanyyyy tiiiiimeees she and Elliot are madly in love and they are just so sImiLAr.
Let us look at a brief example. Elliot said something to the effect of: “Oh, we both love having our first dates reading on a cramped loveseat in the middle of winter!”
Leo then thinks, “Gasp, we’re clearly soulmates!!”
…
honey, do you even know how much that doesn’t work in real life?
sooooo i’ve kinda just dissed these characters for the last three paragraphs, but in reality, the drama and the eccentricities of the plot more than made up for the most annoying parts.
That’s why I said this was a total guilty pleasure read. No one watches the Bachelor because it’s deep, high-quality entertainment.
But do they watch it anyways?
100% YES.
Ratings:
Star Rating: ★★★☆☆
If This Book Was a Movie Rating: PG
Recommendations If You Liked This Book:
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
April 9, 2020
THIS WAS SO GOOD!
Ahh, I am so happy (like beyond happy) that I finally dove into The Stars We Steal. It was such a fun audiobook to listen to and it didn't hurt that it was also a retelling either. From the first moment that we met, I fell in love with Leonie (aka Leo) and Elliot. Heck, I knew that they were meant to be together from the moment they reunited.
Man, I love LOVE. Besides the romance and necessary drama, I enjoyed the twists and turns in this one as well. Not completely shocked about who was the bad guy in this one but at the same, I was. It just never occurs to me that close loved ones will somehow always betray you. Maybe like a best friend or something.. but not blood.
So, yeah, that was bittersweet but I did enjoy the ending! It gave me all the happy feels and now I'm super excited for my next retelling book! Or maybe another book by Alexa? #SignMeUp!
Ahh, I am so happy (like beyond happy) that I finally dove into The Stars We Steal. It was such a fun audiobook to listen to and it didn't hurt that it was also a retelling either. From the first moment that we met, I fell in love with Leonie (aka Leo) and Elliot. Heck, I knew that they were meant to be together from the moment they reunited.
Man, I love LOVE. Besides the romance and necessary drama, I enjoyed the twists and turns in this one as well. Not completely shocked about who was the bad guy in this one but at the same, I was. It just never occurs to me that close loved ones will somehow always betray you. Maybe like a best friend or something.. but not blood.
So, yeah, that was bittersweet but I did enjoy the ending! It gave me all the happy feels and now I'm super excited for my next retelling book! Or maybe another book by Alexa? #SignMeUp!
February 5, 2020
THE STARS WE STEAL had the ingredients for Micky kryptonite with space, sci-fi and YA…that was before I even heard it was a retelling of Persuasion, so I was truly sold at that point. The execution didn’t let me down and won’t let fans of the original down if they have an open mind about the age of the characters and an in-the-future interpretation.
Leo was a likeable heroine from early on. She was a feisty, curvy feminist with a little more confidence than the original ‘Ann’. The premise for this world, included an ice-age on Earth, a huge fleet of ships and a royalty system. There was a context of haves and have-nots. I enjoyed the politics, corrupt as they were and nepotism was the flavour of the month. Leo navigated this world, the fleet of ships with quiet insight, courage and snark.
I was a commodity in a pretty dress, on display for all to see.
Captain-to-be Elliot Wentworth returned to Leo’s life in unexpected way and they were not fast friends. Old hurts, jealousies and feelings were a roller coaster for these two. I struggled to really like Elliot, there was nothing essentially wrong with him but he didn’t give me the feels that the character he’s based upon demanded. However, when they were together, the chemistry was catchy.
Great side characters, both good and downright nasty, aiding this book along. There were family, friends and acquaintences that offered a rich tapestry. I liked Daniel and Evgenia a lot but Leo’s close family were hard to fathom until they weren’t.
The fast-paced story that ensued had me glued to my book, I found it difficult to put down and there were some mysteries along the way. This was truly a cast of YA characters, so lovers of Persuasion have to be ready accept this different age range and some of the decisions and behaviours that come with that age. I loved the conceptualisation in space and in YA, I appreciated the fun that they had on their ships and I enjoyed the ‘vlag’ season.
I highly recommend this fun, dynamic retelling of a classic in space. I think readers will engage with the fun characters and setting.
Thank you to Titan books for the gorgeous finished copy for review.
This review can be found on A Take From Two Cities.
Leo was a likeable heroine from early on. She was a feisty, curvy feminist with a little more confidence than the original ‘Ann’. The premise for this world, included an ice-age on Earth, a huge fleet of ships and a royalty system. There was a context of haves and have-nots. I enjoyed the politics, corrupt as they were and nepotism was the flavour of the month. Leo navigated this world, the fleet of ships with quiet insight, courage and snark.
I was a commodity in a pretty dress, on display for all to see.
Captain-to-be Elliot Wentworth returned to Leo’s life in unexpected way and they were not fast friends. Old hurts, jealousies and feelings were a roller coaster for these two. I struggled to really like Elliot, there was nothing essentially wrong with him but he didn’t give me the feels that the character he’s based upon demanded. However, when they were together, the chemistry was catchy.
Great side characters, both good and downright nasty, aiding this book along. There were family, friends and acquaintences that offered a rich tapestry. I liked Daniel and Evgenia a lot but Leo’s close family were hard to fathom until they weren’t.
The fast-paced story that ensued had me glued to my book, I found it difficult to put down and there were some mysteries along the way. This was truly a cast of YA characters, so lovers of Persuasion have to be ready accept this different age range and some of the decisions and behaviours that come with that age. I loved the conceptualisation in space and in YA, I appreciated the fun that they had on their ships and I enjoyed the ‘vlag’ season.
I highly recommend this fun, dynamic retelling of a classic in space. I think readers will engage with the fun characters and setting.
Thank you to Titan books for the gorgeous finished copy for review.
This review can be found on A Take From Two Cities.
June 3, 2022
I hate to leave such a low star-rating review, but unfortunately this book just didn’t do anything for me. Like a few of the other reviewers have mentioned, this book places too much emphasis on telling the reader what is happening rather than showing. This makes it difficult for the reader to feel engaged with the story and results in making the book boring. This problem was made worse by the serious lack of quality dialogue between characters and made the majority of the characters seem totally flat.
This book also suffered from a bit of a tone problem. Most of the book is written in a very snarky, casual tone that would be fine in a modern setting if that is what the author was going for. The problem arose when there were random spots that seemed to evoke the more formal style of writing found in Jane Austen novels. For example, having a teenage characters use words like “ghastly” and “indeed” in regular conversation contrasted harshly with the main characters talk of “bullshitting” people. This may just been a personal issue for me, but it took me out of the story when the tone no longer seemed consistent and effected my enjoyment of the book.
This book also suffered from a bit of a tone problem. Most of the book is written in a very snarky, casual tone that would be fine in a modern setting if that is what the author was going for. The problem arose when there were random spots that seemed to evoke the more formal style of writing found in Jane Austen novels. For example, having a teenage characters use words like “ghastly” and “indeed” in regular conversation contrasted harshly with the main characters talk of “bullshitting” people. This may just been a personal issue for me, but it took me out of the story when the tone no longer seemed consistent and effected my enjoyment of the book.
December 13, 2019
3.5 stars-- My abiding experience of this book was as a lot of fun. This is a book that has a lightness of touch that I really enjoyed & I was having a good time the majority of the time I was reading it. That said, I do think there are some short comings for me, some that are unique to me (e.g. I'm realizing that I just don't like it when there's marriage at stake in a YA- feels like it should just be adult at that point) and some that I think stem from using Persuasion as the source material (e.g. the miscommunication levels just didn't work given that we weren't actually in the Regency when you really couldn't just talk things out). All in all, fun & would read more from this author
November 18, 2019
I don't know you at all anymore. And I don't care to. —Leo
Read
March 14, 2020DNF at 45% pg 180
I'm quite sad about this if I'm honest, I don't think i've DNF'd a book in a very very long time, however I'm nearly at the halfway point and I am literally having to force myself to read this. The only reason I persisted is because I was taking part in a group Buddy Read and really wanted to finish it.
Firstly I want to point out, that these are just my opinions and not facts and what I like/don't like other people may dislike/like etc... we all different opinions when it comes to books and that is completely fine so I'm just going to tell you why I didn't enjoy this.
Starting off I went in with zero expectations, I didn't know the premise of the book, or I did and forgot but when I did read the premise I was intrigued, I thought oooh it could be a similar vibe to The Selection Series, and I know that isn't perfect or everyones cup of tea, but I genuinely enjoyed it.
There were parts in this book that I did in fact like and I thought if it carries on like this I think there's a good chance I can start to enjoy this a little bit more and that was the kind of virtual dating aspect where they go on speed dates with a number of people and try and bring mutual likes into the date and the setting would change and they'd do the activity for five minutes and move on. I honestly was like THIS IS GREAT lets see more of this! The other saving grace for me was Evgenia, she was by far the best and most likeable character!
Sadly from where I got to there wasn't a lot more of the dating aspect for "The Valg" and it was heavily focusing on the relationships between 3 girls (all related may I add 2 sisters and 1 cousin) and a guy named Elliot that used to date Leo. Now here's where things get icky for me, I personally would never in a million years go with someone my cousin dated, a sister dated or even a friend dated. It just, I don't know doesn't sit very well with me. The fact is that Klara (Cousin) and Carina (Sister) just would not give up with it. Stop the madness!
Then there's like another back story involving water systems (I have no idea what was going on because we were told about it rather than it actually being explained) and some form of rebellion because the rich get everything and the poor get the crumbs of society. When this happens Leo was outraged, but did I see character development? Sadly not.
I wold normally say I may pick this book back up again and try it at another time, but I just know that's not going to happen, I have said many times for me personally characters make or break a book for me, but they were all so painfully annoying it was too much and I'm just kind of over it.
I'm quite sad about this if I'm honest, I don't think i've DNF'd a book in a very very long time, however I'm nearly at the halfway point and I am literally having to force myself to read this. The only reason I persisted is because I was taking part in a group Buddy Read and really wanted to finish it.
Firstly I want to point out, that these are just my opinions and not facts and what I like/don't like other people may dislike/like etc... we all different opinions when it comes to books and that is completely fine so I'm just going to tell you why I didn't enjoy this.
Starting off I went in with zero expectations, I didn't know the premise of the book, or I did and forgot but when I did read the premise I was intrigued, I thought oooh it could be a similar vibe to The Selection Series, and I know that isn't perfect or everyones cup of tea, but I genuinely enjoyed it.
There were parts in this book that I did in fact like and I thought if it carries on like this I think there's a good chance I can start to enjoy this a little bit more and that was the kind of virtual dating aspect where they go on speed dates with a number of people and try and bring mutual likes into the date and the setting would change and they'd do the activity for five minutes and move on. I honestly was like THIS IS GREAT lets see more of this! The other saving grace for me was Evgenia, she was by far the best and most likeable character!
Sadly from where I got to there wasn't a lot more of the dating aspect for "The Valg" and it was heavily focusing on the relationships between 3 girls (all related may I add 2 sisters and 1 cousin) and a guy named Elliot that used to date Leo. Now here's where things get icky for me, I personally would never in a million years go with someone my cousin dated, a sister dated or even a friend dated. It just, I don't know doesn't sit very well with me. The fact is that Klara (Cousin) and Carina (Sister) just would not give up with it. Stop the madness!
Then there's like another back story involving water systems (I have no idea what was going on because we were told about it rather than it actually being explained) and some form of rebellion because the rich get everything and the poor get the crumbs of society. When this happens Leo was outraged, but did I see character development? Sadly not.
I wold normally say I may pick this book back up again and try it at another time, but I just know that's not going to happen, I have said many times for me personally characters make or break a book for me, but they were all so painfully annoying it was too much and I'm just kind of over it.
May 25, 2020
I loved this book so much its been a long time since I have read a sci regency type romance and I really loved this one it had its ups and downs but it was all worth it the ending was so very good one of the best I have read in awhile. I really loved the characters especially Leo and Elliot even if their romance was a rocky one it was just so good by the end I really liked the perfect ending. What I really liked about Leo was her strength of character and the fact she could still be vulnerable I found her to be a character that so she well rounded and a well written character. I also really liked Elliot once more was found out about him and why he was acting like he was what I loved most about him was his love for Leo and even with all the things that happen throughout the story he realizes just what was most important than what he set out to do before. I really loved the plot of this it was a sci regency romance with a bit of mystery and a few other things like an old flame coming back into the MC's life and how Leo never stopped loving him he didn't stop loving her either it takes awhile for the both of them to realize this I really liked how the story ended it had the best endings I have read in quite awhile. so overall I loved this book and will read more by this author for sure.
February 4, 2020
2.5 stars
I had seen this pitched as “the bachelorette in space” and was intrigued, but it was the cover that sucked me in.
I liked Leo? Yes, that is a question. She spends a good portion of the book complaining about royalty and titles, but doesn’t hesitate to use her “power” in the same way the people she’s complaining about do. I did like her tenacity. Her sister comes across as quite flighty and the big cast of secondary characters didn’t do a thing for me...including Elliott.
Plot wise, it was meh. I instantly saw the retelling of Persuasion and will admit that most of the reason I kept reading was to get to The Letter. The majority of the story is dating and luxury with talks of the poor and disadvantaged sprinkled throughout. It doesn’t seem to be leading anywhere until the very last chapter and then everything is tied up nicely.
Overall, it was a great idea, but the execution didn’t work for me.
**Huge thanks to HMH for providing the arc free of charge**
I had seen this pitched as “the bachelorette in space” and was intrigued, but it was the cover that sucked me in.
I liked Leo? Yes, that is a question. She spends a good portion of the book complaining about royalty and titles, but doesn’t hesitate to use her “power” in the same way the people she’s complaining about do. I did like her tenacity. Her sister comes across as quite flighty and the big cast of secondary characters didn’t do a thing for me...including Elliott.
Plot wise, it was meh. I instantly saw the retelling of Persuasion and will admit that most of the reason I kept reading was to get to The Letter. The majority of the story is dating and luxury with talks of the poor and disadvantaged sprinkled throughout. It doesn’t seem to be leading anywhere until the very last chapter and then everything is tied up nicely.
Overall, it was a great idea, but the execution didn’t work for me.
**Huge thanks to HMH for providing the arc free of charge**
January 15, 2019
THE STARS WE STEAL pulled me in immediately and wouldn't let me go. I loved its smart, confident heroine and the wonderful blend of Austen-inspired elements in a spaceship setting. This bold new take on a classic love story crackles with romantic tension, delivering a twisty ride full of secrets and betrayals.
January 30, 2020
This exciting and lovely YA romance/fantasy novel is a retelling of Jane Austin’s Persuasion. The story takes place in space on several ships where the human survivors have taken refuge after the Earth experienced another ice age. They have been in space for over 170 years and in order to avoid inbreeding, the Scandinavian ship hosts a Valg season every five years. Young affluent people come from all ships to meet and hopefully find their future spouse. Princess Leonie Kolburg finds herself forced to participate in, what she thinks, this masquerade despite her attempt to find her own way our of the financial difficulties her family is in. She has invented a way to purify the water that could benefit the entire fleet. But she faces many obstacles to register her patent and time is running out. To add to her ordeals, her ex-fiancé has resurfaced, and she still has feelings for him. Nothing works as planned and Leo will face many dangers that will come in several forms. She will discover that blood family is not always on your side, and that friendships can open doors in surprising ways.
.
Wonderfully written and entertaining, this book will please any fans of fantasy novels mixed with a love story.
🙋🏼♀️ Thanks to RainCoast Books and HMH Teen for sending me an ARC of this exciting novel. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗪𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗹 by Alexa Donne will be available at your favourite bookstore on February 4, 2020.
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February 17, 2020
*4.5 stars*
ARC received at ALA from HMH teen.
Summary
Princess Leonie is living aboard the Scandanavian, a spaceship in the fleet of what is left of the human population. Royal only in title, her family desperately needs her to marry for money. Enter the Valg Season - an event held every five years to match all eligible people in the fleet with their future spouses. Leo is desperately looking for a solution for her family that doesn't involve her being married off to the wealthiest suitor, but pulling off her plans are harder than she thought. To further complicate things, Leo's childhood love, Elliot, has returned for the Valg Season. Her heart is still broken from their whirlwind romance, where she was forced to break it off because he was a servant and had no wealth of his own. Upon his return, however, Elliot has amassed a fortune and is now the biggest catch of the Season.
Review
The Stars We Steal is pitched as The Bachelorette in space, but I found that it had the fun of the speed dating and matching aspects, and added depth and feeling with a deeper subplot. The writing was fun and quick to fly through, and this novel had levity without becoming too superficial. You end up really caring about the characters and the fate of the fleet.
I adored Leo. She's resourceful and has always been the caretaker for her father and sister. She is practical and reliable, and wants what's best for her family, even if it means sacrificing her own happiness. It hurt my heart to see the way that she had sacrificed her love for Elliot in order to keep her family afloat. Any woman with engineering skills in a novel will automatically win my heart, and I love that we got to see Leo coming up with inventions on her own, and coming up with a plan to get them implemented.
There are a whole cast of side characters that are all wonderful. I especially loved Leo's relationship with her sister, Carina. They definitely had their ups and downs, and it always made me emotional to see how much they cared for each other despite their obvious differences. Also, let me just say this novel was chock full of representation and it was really well done. We had Evgenia, who is a lesbian (and the author even touched upon participating in a Valg Season as a gay woman, and the difficulties/stigmas associate with it), Max and Ewan who are husbands, Daniel , and Leo was written as demi even though it's not explicitly stated in the text. This representation was beautifully done and seamlessly woven into the story, and I found it especially refreshing in a novel that is pitched as The Bachelorette-esque (which as we know, the show has almost no representation at all).
THE DRAMA. It was so fun! Not only were there twisty-turvey plots involved with the Valg Season and the complicated feelings as the characters try to pair off, but there was a huge subplot of the injustices on the fleet and the divide between the poor and the rich. This social commentary grounded the novel and kept it from feeling too superficial. I really felt like Leo's mind for inventions and Elliot's Robin Hood complex helped give this novel a lot of heart. But also, it was so much fun trying to see this cast of characters navigate their messy feelings.
I adored Elliot and Leo's romance. At the start of the novel, they have a long history and a lot of baggage to sort through. Their arc was written in such a way that you could feel like they really did a lot to navigate their complicated relationship and didn't just forgive one another instantly. It felt real, and raw. I really felt for them and all that they had went through.
I was surprised to learn that The Stars We Steal is a retelling of Austen's Persuasion! I love the idea of taking a classic story and spinning it into something new and fun.
If you're looking for a fun sci-fi novel, this is the book for you! I honestly flew through it in one weekend because it was compulsively readable!
ARC received at ALA from HMH teen.
Summary
Princess Leonie is living aboard the Scandanavian, a spaceship in the fleet of what is left of the human population. Royal only in title, her family desperately needs her to marry for money. Enter the Valg Season - an event held every five years to match all eligible people in the fleet with their future spouses. Leo is desperately looking for a solution for her family that doesn't involve her being married off to the wealthiest suitor, but pulling off her plans are harder than she thought. To further complicate things, Leo's childhood love, Elliot, has returned for the Valg Season. Her heart is still broken from their whirlwind romance, where she was forced to break it off because he was a servant and had no wealth of his own. Upon his return, however, Elliot has amassed a fortune and is now the biggest catch of the Season.
Review
The Stars We Steal is pitched as The Bachelorette in space, but I found that it had the fun of the speed dating and matching aspects, and added depth and feeling with a deeper subplot. The writing was fun and quick to fly through, and this novel had levity without becoming too superficial. You end up really caring about the characters and the fate of the fleet.
I adored Leo. She's resourceful and has always been the caretaker for her father and sister. She is practical and reliable, and wants what's best for her family, even if it means sacrificing her own happiness. It hurt my heart to see the way that she had sacrificed her love for Elliot in order to keep her family afloat. Any woman with engineering skills in a novel will automatically win my heart, and I love that we got to see Leo coming up with inventions on her own, and coming up with a plan to get them implemented.
There are a whole cast of side characters that are all wonderful. I especially loved Leo's relationship with her sister, Carina. They definitely had their ups and downs, and it always made me emotional to see how much they cared for each other despite their obvious differences. Also, let me just say this novel was chock full of representation and it was really well done. We had Evgenia, who is a lesbian (and the author even touched upon participating in a Valg Season as a gay woman, and the difficulties/stigmas associate with it), Max and Ewan who are husbands, Daniel , and Leo was written as demi even though it's not explicitly stated in the text. This representation was beautifully done and seamlessly woven into the story, and I found it especially refreshing in a novel that is pitched as The Bachelorette-esque (which as we know, the show has almost no representation at all).
THE DRAMA. It was so fun! Not only were there twisty-turvey plots involved with the Valg Season and the complicated feelings as the characters try to pair off, but there was a huge subplot of the injustices on the fleet and the divide between the poor and the rich. This social commentary grounded the novel and kept it from feeling too superficial. I really felt like Leo's mind for inventions and Elliot's Robin Hood complex helped give this novel a lot of heart. But also, it was so much fun trying to see this cast of characters navigate their messy feelings.
I adored Elliot and Leo's romance. At the start of the novel, they have a long history and a lot of baggage to sort through. Their arc was written in such a way that you could feel like they really did a lot to navigate their complicated relationship and didn't just forgive one another instantly. It felt real, and raw. I really felt for them and all that they had went through.
I was surprised to learn that The Stars We Steal is a retelling of Austen's Persuasion! I love the idea of taking a classic story and spinning it into something new and fun.
If you're looking for a fun sci-fi novel, this is the book for you! I honestly flew through it in one weekend because it was compulsively readable!
February 12, 2020
(3.5 stars)
I'd been SO excitedly waiting for this book to come out, ever since I heard the premise: YA Persuasion in space!! Persuasion is my second favorite Austen novel and I was really curious to see how Alexa Donne, whose first book, Brightly Burning, was Jane Eyre in space, was going to make this work. I had a long conversation with a friend about Persuasion adaptations. How can they be modernized, when the social mores of the Regency era can explain why the two lovebirds don't discuss their problems, and the old-fashioned letter is the biggest source of swoon? Well, Persuasion in space is pretty darn modern! So how would it be tackled?
Princess Leonie Kolburg's family has a title, but no money left. Her father pushes her to participate in a fleetwide dating spree called the Valg in order to find a wealthy husband to save their family. Leo would rather do so with her wits — she's created a water filtration system that could bring value to all the ships, if only someone would give her a chance — but when she begins to participate in the Valg, she is faced with Elliott Wentworth: her ex-fiancé that her father forced her to dump three years ago because he was the valet's son. The problem? She's still in love with him. He's now filthy rich. And he doesn't seem to care about Leo at all....
The story, which was adapted and shaped to fit a new story, was more like Persuasion x The Bachelor Battlestar Galactica. For those who were curious about the history of earth-that-was, which was only lightly touched upon here, I'd recommend reading Brightly Burning first. This is not a sequel—there are no overlapping characters—but you get a better sense of what the fleet is doing in space. Anyway, with The Stars We Steal, there was so much going on, I wished that some of it had been expanded or, better yet, trimmed away.
I wish I loved this more. I understand the limitations of the adaptations — and I think the author flexed enough creativity to make it a wholly new story just "inspired" by Jane Austen — but it was clunky. I didn't care about Leo's mother's backstory. I didn't understand why there needed to be a villain at all. IMO, it should have been about Leo and Elliott's love story and everything else takes a backseat to that. What we got instead was a book so full of ideas that it felt jumbled. In the end, I was a little disappointed.
I'd been SO excitedly waiting for this book to come out, ever since I heard the premise: YA Persuasion in space!! Persuasion is my second favorite Austen novel and I was really curious to see how Alexa Donne, whose first book, Brightly Burning, was Jane Eyre in space, was going to make this work. I had a long conversation with a friend about Persuasion adaptations. How can they be modernized, when the social mores of the Regency era can explain why the two lovebirds don't discuss their problems, and the old-fashioned letter is the biggest source of swoon? Well, Persuasion in space is pretty darn modern! So how would it be tackled?
Princess Leonie Kolburg's family has a title, but no money left. Her father pushes her to participate in a fleetwide dating spree called the Valg in order to find a wealthy husband to save their family. Leo would rather do so with her wits — she's created a water filtration system that could bring value to all the ships, if only someone would give her a chance — but when she begins to participate in the Valg, she is faced with Elliott Wentworth: her ex-fiancé that her father forced her to dump three years ago because he was the valet's son. The problem? She's still in love with him. He's now filthy rich. And he doesn't seem to care about Leo at all....
The story, which was adapted and shaped to fit a new story, was more like Persuasion x The Bachelor Battlestar Galactica. For those who were curious about the history of earth-that-was, which was only lightly touched upon here, I'd recommend reading Brightly Burning first. This is not a sequel—there are no overlapping characters—but you get a better sense of what the fleet is doing in space. Anyway, with The Stars We Steal, there was so much going on, I wished that some of it had been expanded or, better yet, trimmed away.
I wish I loved this more. I understand the limitations of the adaptations — and I think the author flexed enough creativity to make it a wholly new story just "inspired" by Jane Austen — but it was clunky. I didn't care about Leo's mother's backstory. I didn't understand why there needed to be a villain at all. IMO, it should have been about Leo and Elliott's love story and everything else takes a backseat to that. What we got instead was a book so full of ideas that it felt jumbled. In the end, I was a little disappointed.
Want to read
August 8, 2019ya know I suppose I'm a total sucker for sci-fi retellings of classics cause the minute I read the blurb I was like "ah yes Persuasion in space HOW BRILLIANT" and now I need to read this asap please
February 23, 2020
This was an exciting YA science fiction novel that totally delighted me! This novel is a retelling of Jane Austin’s Persuasion, though it can still be enjoyed by someone (like me, gasp!) that has never read Persuasion.
These characters won me over fairly quickly. Leo especially was a character that I was drawn to. She was such a relatable character and I found myself rooting for her instantly. This book has a really great cast of characters that will make you feel a gamut of emotions. Some characters evolve over time and come to mean something more to the story than the reader originally thought. I loved all the evolutions of these characters. Many characters had excellent character growth. I really love how each character was important to the story.
I enjoyed the writing style of the story. I was immediately drawn into the story and it kept my attention well. The story had a great flow throughout.
The world-building was adequate for the story being told. Science fiction is kind of tricky because it is very involved. On the other hand, this is a YA novel and so the world-building is not as intense as it would be in an adult novel. At least for the fantasy and science fiction genres. There are definitely things in the story that I would have loved to have more insight on but, again, the lack of those things does not impede the story being told. Some of the things that crossed my mind were: Where do the ships get their food and water? What powers their spaceships? I would have also loved to know more about Earth.
I really loved all the elements in the plot of the story. The story touches upon the class differences in the social structure, though I wish that the story had more resolution where this angle was concerned. The story arc was well crafted and I honestly couldn't pull myself away from the book. There are twists and turns in the story that keep you on the edge of your seat. The only thing that I felt was lacking was the end of the story. It felt like there were too many loose ends that weren't tied up at the end. I guess I was looking for more resolution.
Overall, I was so pleased with this story! I really loved the premise and the execution of the story. This is an author that I can't wait to read more from!
More reviews on my blog: Novel Nerd Faction
These characters won me over fairly quickly. Leo especially was a character that I was drawn to. She was such a relatable character and I found myself rooting for her instantly. This book has a really great cast of characters that will make you feel a gamut of emotions. Some characters evolve over time and come to mean something more to the story than the reader originally thought. I loved all the evolutions of these characters. Many characters had excellent character growth. I really love how each character was important to the story.
I enjoyed the writing style of the story. I was immediately drawn into the story and it kept my attention well. The story had a great flow throughout.
The world-building was adequate for the story being told. Science fiction is kind of tricky because it is very involved. On the other hand, this is a YA novel and so the world-building is not as intense as it would be in an adult novel. At least for the fantasy and science fiction genres. There are definitely things in the story that I would have loved to have more insight on but, again, the lack of those things does not impede the story being told. Some of the things that crossed my mind were: Where do the ships get their food and water? What powers their spaceships? I would have also loved to know more about Earth.
I really loved all the elements in the plot of the story. The story touches upon the class differences in the social structure, though I wish that the story had more resolution where this angle was concerned. The story arc was well crafted and I honestly couldn't pull myself away from the book. There are twists and turns in the story that keep you on the edge of your seat. The only thing that I felt was lacking was the end of the story. It felt like there were too many loose ends that weren't tied up at the end. I guess I was looking for more resolution.
Overall, I was so pleased with this story! I really loved the premise and the execution of the story. This is an author that I can't wait to read more from!
More reviews on my blog: Novel Nerd Faction
January 13, 2021
Ich mag Alexas Youtube Channel unheimlich gerne und allein deswegen würde ich ihr am liebsten 4 Sterne geben, auch weil ich ja mitbekommen habe wie viel Arbeit in dem Buch stecken. Leider sind es doch eher 3 Sterne.
Es ist sehr unterhaltsam und macht Spaß zu lesen. Ich hatte auch kein Problem die Prämisse zu schlucken, dass es in Space immer noch viktorianische Umwerbungsrituale gibt. Es ist nicht wirklich plausibel, aber hey - ich habe das einfach mal so hingenommen.
Mein Hauptproblem war tatsächlich, dass es sehr viel Tell und wenig Show ist. Also ich war emotional nie so sehr investiert, wie ich es gerne gewesen wäre - vor allem als jemand, der Persuasion per se großartig findet und bei Wentworth/Anne automatisch Herzklopfen kriegt.
Also unterhaltsam wars absolut, aber so richtig emotional mitgenommen hat es mich leider nicht. Trotzdem 3 Sterne für ein nettes Lesevergnügen.
Es ist sehr unterhaltsam und macht Spaß zu lesen. Ich hatte auch kein Problem die Prämisse zu schlucken, dass es in Space immer noch viktorianische Umwerbungsrituale gibt. Es ist nicht wirklich plausibel, aber hey - ich habe das einfach mal so hingenommen.
Mein Hauptproblem war tatsächlich, dass es sehr viel Tell und wenig Show ist. Also ich war emotional nie so sehr investiert, wie ich es gerne gewesen wäre - vor allem als jemand, der Persuasion per se großartig findet und bei Wentworth/Anne automatisch Herzklopfen kriegt.
Also unterhaltsam wars absolut, aber so richtig emotional mitgenommen hat es mich leider nicht. Trotzdem 3 Sterne für ein nettes Lesevergnügen.
May 5, 2020
I have not read The persuasion before, so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. At least, the description looked promising : a princess, a couple matching month, an ex who came back with a change of status, I was convinced!
However, the book didn't live up to my expectations. There were many points that I've found annoying and prevented me from enjoying it as much as I wanted, though the first part was nice.
So, first of all, the setting of the book. It was supposed to be a space royalty theme, but there was hardly any background, world development or mythology about it. The reader is thrown in the universe of it and has to puzzle things from the few hints that the book provided here and there. That motif, unfortunately, was repeated with Leo and Elliot's story as well. We know that they split up, and some facts about him, but we never really get to see what happened, or their past love story overall. The first one made it difficult to understand the basics and to invest to the story, as, at some point, it felt confusing and like the story couldn't even keep things believable. So, it would have been nice if the whole black market, the "terrorists" and the space ship system were presented more clearly and with more details. For the second, it felt like a part of the intensity of the romance was taken away because you only know fragments of their story and you can't feel the way Leo must have felt.
Another thing about the story that I've found disappointing was the royalty system. So, there were people who had titles and then there were captains of the space ships and some wealthy people too. But the whole royal thing didn't make sense, especially for Leo's case, as A) she was from a German ship, with a father who was king (German king???), B) they didn't really role anyone. The whole nationality thing was overplayed too. Swedes obsessing over Abba and making fun of the Finish taste, not to mention the whole we Scandinavians are all super tall and super blond. I know they are kind of details, but they were repeated over and over and got a bit annoying and forced after a while.
Another fact about the concept was that the characters seemed like they grew up on Earth and then moved to space, as, they hardly acted naturally about the space ship culture. I mean, if you have been born and raised on a space ship, and you only know that lifestyle, would you question the glass walls and the space scenery?
Finally, about the story, the main theme was enjoyable, but the book got tiring. The only thing that really happened was Leo meeting Elliot and feeling hurt. The other plotlines were pushed aside and were not smoothly developed, as a result. Thus, the ending twist lost its charm. The book rushed events a bit in the end as well. In addition, the fact that Leo was 21 and everyone thought that she was too old to marry was contradictory to the whole space universe.
Now, for the characters, Elliot, our main love interest, was okay at first, mysterious and moody, but he got annoying in the end. And it was difficult to root for him and Leo, as the only thing that he did was hurt her, while his excuses about it were more than lame.
Leo, on the other hand, was okay at first, but she, as well, got tiring. She was a princess, who didn't want to be one, and she kept telling everyone again and again and again how she hated it and making them call her just Leo. I mean, you are a princess, either own it or do something about the title system. But, no, Leo only invited a lower deck friend to join her royal friends for dinner, being proud for doing so, and thus setting herself apart from the other royalty. She also kept saying how she was different, how she actually cared about the rest of the fleet's problems, but she did zero really about it. She would say that it was unfair and everything, and then complain that she just can't do anything about it because of her own family problems. Not that she could run for a captain and gain a position where she could have the power to do something, or anything... It just felt like the author wanted a princess, but she wanted us to not see her as a princess, but to like her for her not princessy character. Also, Leo, though feisty and practical, having everything under her control, she had some low self-esteem attacks, when waited for someone to come to her help. Why? She mostly passed off as this strong female lead, and then she needed her ex to reassure everyone that she was as beautiful as her sister? Finally, Leo's way with her family was a bit off. She did play it mother for them, understandably, but to tell a complete stranger that her King father is an idiot? Or don't talk to her sister, but dismiss her as a bubbly youngster who wouldn't understand, even though she was old enough to help her out with their father and their space ship problems. I don't know, at times, Leo felt like she enjoyed being a martyr.
As for the rest of the characters, most of them were stereotypes. Lucas, the immature playboy, her cousin, the snob, Daniel (probably the best character) the prince, her sister, the teenage party queen, her father, the old fool. Actually, the sister and her best friend were those who had potential but never were allowed to reach them, and were left as empty cells.
So, overall, the idea was good, and the writing was enjoyable, but the book didn't manage them as it should.
However, the book didn't live up to my expectations. There were many points that I've found annoying and prevented me from enjoying it as much as I wanted, though the first part was nice.
So, first of all, the setting of the book. It was supposed to be a space royalty theme, but there was hardly any background, world development or mythology about it. The reader is thrown in the universe of it and has to puzzle things from the few hints that the book provided here and there. That motif, unfortunately, was repeated with Leo and Elliot's story as well. We know that they split up, and some facts about him, but we never really get to see what happened, or their past love story overall. The first one made it difficult to understand the basics and to invest to the story, as, at some point, it felt confusing and like the story couldn't even keep things believable. So, it would have been nice if the whole black market, the "terrorists" and the space ship system were presented more clearly and with more details. For the second, it felt like a part of the intensity of the romance was taken away because you only know fragments of their story and you can't feel the way Leo must have felt.
Another thing about the story that I've found disappointing was the royalty system. So, there were people who had titles and then there were captains of the space ships and some wealthy people too. But the whole royal thing didn't make sense, especially for Leo's case, as A) she was from a German ship, with a father who was king (German king???), B) they didn't really role anyone. The whole nationality thing was overplayed too. Swedes obsessing over Abba and making fun of the Finish taste, not to mention the whole we Scandinavians are all super tall and super blond. I know they are kind of details, but they were repeated over and over and got a bit annoying and forced after a while.
Another fact about the concept was that the characters seemed like they grew up on Earth and then moved to space, as, they hardly acted naturally about the space ship culture. I mean, if you have been born and raised on a space ship, and you only know that lifestyle, would you question the glass walls and the space scenery?
Finally, about the story, the main theme was enjoyable, but the book got tiring. The only thing that really happened was Leo meeting Elliot and feeling hurt. The other plotlines were pushed aside and were not smoothly developed, as a result. Thus, the ending twist lost its charm. The book rushed events a bit in the end as well. In addition, the fact that Leo was 21 and everyone thought that she was too old to marry was contradictory to the whole space universe.
Now, for the characters, Elliot, our main love interest, was okay at first, mysterious and moody, but he got annoying in the end. And it was difficult to root for him and Leo, as the only thing that he did was hurt her, while his excuses about it were more than lame.
Leo, on the other hand, was okay at first, but she, as well, got tiring. She was a princess, who didn't want to be one, and she kept telling everyone again and again and again how she hated it and making them call her just Leo. I mean, you are a princess, either own it or do something about the title system. But, no, Leo only invited a lower deck friend to join her royal friends for dinner, being proud for doing so, and thus setting herself apart from the other royalty. She also kept saying how she was different, how she actually cared about the rest of the fleet's problems, but she did zero really about it. She would say that it was unfair and everything, and then complain that she just can't do anything about it because of her own family problems. Not that she could run for a captain and gain a position where she could have the power to do something, or anything... It just felt like the author wanted a princess, but she wanted us to not see her as a princess, but to like her for her not princessy character. Also, Leo, though feisty and practical, having everything under her control, she had some low self-esteem attacks, when waited for someone to come to her help. Why? She mostly passed off as this strong female lead, and then she needed her ex to reassure everyone that she was as beautiful as her sister? Finally, Leo's way with her family was a bit off. She did play it mother for them, understandably, but to tell a complete stranger that her King father is an idiot? Or don't talk to her sister, but dismiss her as a bubbly youngster who wouldn't understand, even though she was old enough to help her out with their father and their space ship problems. I don't know, at times, Leo felt like she enjoyed being a martyr.
As for the rest of the characters, most of them were stereotypes. Lucas, the immature playboy, her cousin, the snob, Daniel (probably the best character) the prince, her sister, the teenage party queen, her father, the old fool. Actually, the sister and her best friend were those who had potential but never were allowed to reach them, and were left as empty cells.
So, overall, the idea was good, and the writing was enjoyable, but the book didn't manage them as it should.
October 28, 2019
The cover art and description made this book sound right up my alley. I wasn’t expecting this to be a complete favorite, but thought it would be a nice read. It had fine moments throughout, but the last fourth of the book was so poorly done. The beginning and middle had build ups and enough drama to be ok, but the last part of the book was so bad. Trying to be spoiler free here, but it was so poorly done and ridiculous, it was like the author was like oh well here’s the last part of the book let’s just jam all of these things in just to wrap it up.
I’ve put some time in, and not only did I hate the main characters who you tried to grow with in the book, but they were rude and made poor decisions, yet everything “works” out because you caused enough drama? None of it was fine, but the last fourth of the book was abysmal. The main characters didn’t grow, didn’t learn from anything, were selfish and self-centered the whole time. Wouldn’t recommend anywhere. Wanted to like this book, but the poor writing and the lack of character growth made that difficult.
I’ve put some time in, and not only did I hate the main characters who you tried to grow with in the book, but they were rude and made poor decisions, yet everything “works” out because you caused enough drama? None of it was fine, but the last fourth of the book was abysmal. The main characters didn’t grow, didn’t learn from anything, were selfish and self-centered the whole time. Wouldn’t recommend anywhere. Wanted to like this book, but the poor writing and the lack of character growth made that difficult.
March 25, 2020
DNF on page 324 (of 389 pages total)
**unmarked spoilers ahead, so please beware**
"The Stars We Steal," published in February 2020, is a Young Adult/YA sci-fi romance, and the second book by Alexa Donne.
I love watching Donne's YouTube/AuthorTube channel, and I really wanted to love "The Stars We Steal." I read her first novel, "Brightly Burning," with the same high hopes. Sadly, I was unable to finish either book. I hit a hard DNF point in "The Stars We Steal," and could barely force myself to skim the final pages, just to see how it ended. I was able to do so only for the purposes of writing this review.
"The Stars We Steal" was marketed and pitched as "PERSUASION meets THE BACHELOR in space." I have not read Jane Austen's "Persuasion," I have not seen "The Bachelor," but I do enjoy science fiction, and I did enjoy (most of) Kiera Cass's YA novel "The Selection" (published in 2012, a dystopian romance modeled after "The Bachelor"), so I thought I would be fine with the book's content.
And for the most part, I was. Because the story is initially given the same set-up as "Persuasion," the opening of the book was compelling. I was very interested to learn the details as to why Princess Leonie/Leo, the 19-year-old first-person protagonist, was so quickly convinced to break off her engagement to Elliot Wentworth three years ago. Formerly the son of Leo's family butler, Elliot is now an extremely wealthy, independent young man, and he is considered "the biggest catch" of the "engagement season" taking place on Leo's family spaceship.
I also really liked the fact that, when the story begins, Leo has designed a new water filtration system, a system that she wants to have the entire space fleet adopt. I always enjoy reading science and engineering-focused protagonists, of any gender, so this character detail was highly engaging.
But although the book's content sounds promising, its execution ended up being the biggest problem I had. Leo's interest in water filtration did not feel authentic; there was nothing in her interior monologue, dialogue, or behavior that ever convinced me that Leo actually cared about science, engineering, or water conservation. It was no more a part of her character than, say, an eleventh-grader who takes band in high school and plays the clarinet, has no real interest in being a musician, and is only taking the class because it's an easy elective. That's how much water filtration mattered to Leo's character. As in: not at all.
The "engagement season" is also nothing like watching "The Bachelor," where women compete for the attentions of one man, a bachelor who chooses which of the contestants passes each "dating round" and advances to the next part of the show. The cover of this book features a beautiful gold rose, which is what the women competing in "The Bachelor" receive before advancing to the next dating round. But there are no roses being given out in "The Stars We Steal." Roses don't even exist on the page. There isn't even a "dating competition" in this story. There are just a bunch of young men and women mingling together at random throughout the book, like college students. If you took a college campus, registered everyone on the same dating app, and called their time spent together on campus "an engagement season," you would have this book. The setup really isn't like "The Bachelor" at all.
As to the details I was most interested in learning -- namely, the backstory concerning how Leo was convinced within 12 hours of her engagement to Elliot to break up with him -- that information is not in the book. The story does not provide any information about Leo's wrenching night of the soul, and what had been on her mind to make her break up with Elliot.
Leo simply never gets any interior space in this story. The reader is told she has invented a water filtration system, but Leo has no thoughts or feelings about it. It's just there, a "thing" that exists that she supposedly cares about, driving her actions throughout the plot. The reader never sees Leo doing any science or engineering work in the book, yet we are told she "invented" a system that she spends no time working on, obsessing over, or even thinking about.
The situation is the same with the romance. The reader is told Leo finds Elliot attractive, and still has feelings for him three years after breaking off their engagement. But again, her interior space is just nonexistent. None of Leo's complicated emotional backstory is ever shown to the reader, and that means her current thoughts and feelings are never shown, either. Leo reads as a cipher, a blank space, a body that exists only to follow a three-act plot:
Act I: meet the boy she broke up with three years ago
Act II: reconnect with him
Act III: use that renewed relationship to stop the Big Bad/Ultimate Villain and Save the Day by the end, because sci-fi dystopian fiction.
This is a rare YA novel that bluntly addresses the fact of class oppression. The topic is brought up, but it is not handled well, and it is largely just dropped from the second half of the story. The reader is told that Leo "cares" about poor people in Act II of the book, and that basically concludes the subject of class oppression. Leo also helps defeat the Big Bad at the end, so the reader is probably supposed to feel like class liberation has occurred, because love conquers all and the Big Bad is now in jail.
But class oppression is not created because one Big Bad leader makes shitty decisions. In the first half of the book, "The Stars We Steal" honestly addresses the hard facts of class oppression: poverty, starvation, lack of medical resources, premature death, hopelessness, etc. But the book doesn't address the real causes of class oppression, much less any solutions, within its pages at all. Instead, the story just drops the issue after the reader is told, with certainty, that Leo "cares" about poor people, and the final third of the book plays out like a typical YA fantasy does: the star-crossed lovers are reunited and the Big Bad is vanquished.
Because "The Stars We Steal" follows a three-act structure, there is a "big reveal" that separates Acts II and III. At the end of Act II, Leo learns that the real source of Elliot's new wealth is not from whiskey sales, but thievery. Elliot uses a group of associates to steal from the rich, and then he sells the stolen goods on the black market.
It honestly grossed me out *so much* to discover this -- especially because some of the stolen items included Leo's dead mother's wedding dress, and other personal items -- that I almost DNF'd the book right then. To find out that the love interest in a YA story is a Depraved Shithead at the very end of Act II is an extremely bitter pill to swallow. I do NOT find thieves "attractive," and anyone who has ever had their personal belongings stolen should certainly know how awful it feels. To have someone enter your home and take treasured mementos, especially cherished personal items like your dead mother's wedding dress that you had hoped to wear at your own wedding, is such a harsh violation, that I totally lost all interest in Elliot as a love interest. I thought he belonged in jail.
I forced myself to keep reading because I wanted to see how Donne handled this development.
And I was so disappointed.
Given that the story just rolls on along like any typical YA fantasy does, I must say I don't think the revelation was handled well at all.
Instead of keeping the two leads, Leo and Elliot, together on the page, to discuss this horrible development and work out their differences, Donne separates them for nearly all of Act III. Leo distances herself from Elliot, dates another guy for pages on end, and Elliot avoids all contact with Leo.
Much later, near the end of Act III, Leo decides to read the letter Elliot wrote for her right after she discovered he was a thief, a letter telling her he was sorry and confessing his love for her, and so the story ends up running on the "if only they had just talked to each other, all would have been well and every tragedy avoided" scenario that I never find very appealing, and certainly didn't here.
To summarize my main thoughts on this book: "The Stars We Steal" felt very empty; empty of genuine characters with genuine thoughts and feelings. It just felt like I was reading a plot, a plot that I was not invested in at all because the characters themselves were not invested in it at all. Despite a compelling and interesting opening chapter, I never felt any stakes, I never felt worried or concerned, I never felt like I had to keep turning pages.
Three stars. This isn't a terrible book. It's just very flat.
**unmarked spoilers ahead, so please beware**
"The Stars We Steal," published in February 2020, is a Young Adult/YA sci-fi romance, and the second book by Alexa Donne.
I love watching Donne's YouTube/AuthorTube channel, and I really wanted to love "The Stars We Steal." I read her first novel, "Brightly Burning," with the same high hopes. Sadly, I was unable to finish either book. I hit a hard DNF point in "The Stars We Steal," and could barely force myself to skim the final pages, just to see how it ended. I was able to do so only for the purposes of writing this review.
"The Stars We Steal" was marketed and pitched as "PERSUASION meets THE BACHELOR in space." I have not read Jane Austen's "Persuasion," I have not seen "The Bachelor," but I do enjoy science fiction, and I did enjoy (most of) Kiera Cass's YA novel "The Selection" (published in 2012, a dystopian romance modeled after "The Bachelor"), so I thought I would be fine with the book's content.
And for the most part, I was. Because the story is initially given the same set-up as "Persuasion," the opening of the book was compelling. I was very interested to learn the details as to why Princess Leonie/Leo, the 19-year-old first-person protagonist, was so quickly convinced to break off her engagement to Elliot Wentworth three years ago. Formerly the son of Leo's family butler, Elliot is now an extremely wealthy, independent young man, and he is considered "the biggest catch" of the "engagement season" taking place on Leo's family spaceship.
I also really liked the fact that, when the story begins, Leo has designed a new water filtration system, a system that she wants to have the entire space fleet adopt. I always enjoy reading science and engineering-focused protagonists, of any gender, so this character detail was highly engaging.
But although the book's content sounds promising, its execution ended up being the biggest problem I had. Leo's interest in water filtration did not feel authentic; there was nothing in her interior monologue, dialogue, or behavior that ever convinced me that Leo actually cared about science, engineering, or water conservation. It was no more a part of her character than, say, an eleventh-grader who takes band in high school and plays the clarinet, has no real interest in being a musician, and is only taking the class because it's an easy elective. That's how much water filtration mattered to Leo's character. As in: not at all.
The "engagement season" is also nothing like watching "The Bachelor," where women compete for the attentions of one man, a bachelor who chooses which of the contestants passes each "dating round" and advances to the next part of the show. The cover of this book features a beautiful gold rose, which is what the women competing in "The Bachelor" receive before advancing to the next dating round. But there are no roses being given out in "The Stars We Steal." Roses don't even exist on the page. There isn't even a "dating competition" in this story. There are just a bunch of young men and women mingling together at random throughout the book, like college students. If you took a college campus, registered everyone on the same dating app, and called their time spent together on campus "an engagement season," you would have this book. The setup really isn't like "The Bachelor" at all.
As to the details I was most interested in learning -- namely, the backstory concerning how Leo was convinced within 12 hours of her engagement to Elliot to break up with him -- that information is not in the book. The story does not provide any information about Leo's wrenching night of the soul, and what had been on her mind to make her break up with Elliot.
Leo simply never gets any interior space in this story. The reader is told she has invented a water filtration system, but Leo has no thoughts or feelings about it. It's just there, a "thing" that exists that she supposedly cares about, driving her actions throughout the plot. The reader never sees Leo doing any science or engineering work in the book, yet we are told she "invented" a system that she spends no time working on, obsessing over, or even thinking about.
The situation is the same with the romance. The reader is told Leo finds Elliot attractive, and still has feelings for him three years after breaking off their engagement. But again, her interior space is just nonexistent. None of Leo's complicated emotional backstory is ever shown to the reader, and that means her current thoughts and feelings are never shown, either. Leo reads as a cipher, a blank space, a body that exists only to follow a three-act plot:
Act I: meet the boy she broke up with three years ago
Act II: reconnect with him
Act III: use that renewed relationship to stop the Big Bad/Ultimate Villain and Save the Day by the end, because sci-fi dystopian fiction.
This is a rare YA novel that bluntly addresses the fact of class oppression. The topic is brought up, but it is not handled well, and it is largely just dropped from the second half of the story. The reader is told that Leo "cares" about poor people in Act II of the book, and that basically concludes the subject of class oppression. Leo also helps defeat the Big Bad at the end, so the reader is probably supposed to feel like class liberation has occurred, because love conquers all and the Big Bad is now in jail.
But class oppression is not created because one Big Bad leader makes shitty decisions. In the first half of the book, "The Stars We Steal" honestly addresses the hard facts of class oppression: poverty, starvation, lack of medical resources, premature death, hopelessness, etc. But the book doesn't address the real causes of class oppression, much less any solutions, within its pages at all. Instead, the story just drops the issue after the reader is told, with certainty, that Leo "cares" about poor people, and the final third of the book plays out like a typical YA fantasy does: the star-crossed lovers are reunited and the Big Bad is vanquished.
Because "The Stars We Steal" follows a three-act structure, there is a "big reveal" that separates Acts II and III. At the end of Act II, Leo learns that the real source of Elliot's new wealth is not from whiskey sales, but thievery. Elliot uses a group of associates to steal from the rich, and then he sells the stolen goods on the black market.
It honestly grossed me out *so much* to discover this -- especially because some of the stolen items included Leo's dead mother's wedding dress, and other personal items -- that I almost DNF'd the book right then. To find out that the love interest in a YA story is a Depraved Shithead at the very end of Act II is an extremely bitter pill to swallow. I do NOT find thieves "attractive," and anyone who has ever had their personal belongings stolen should certainly know how awful it feels. To have someone enter your home and take treasured mementos, especially cherished personal items like your dead mother's wedding dress that you had hoped to wear at your own wedding, is such a harsh violation, that I totally lost all interest in Elliot as a love interest. I thought he belonged in jail.
I forced myself to keep reading because I wanted to see how Donne handled this development.
And I was so disappointed.
Given that the story just rolls on along like any typical YA fantasy does, I must say I don't think the revelation was handled well at all.
Instead of keeping the two leads, Leo and Elliot, together on the page, to discuss this horrible development and work out their differences, Donne separates them for nearly all of Act III. Leo distances herself from Elliot, dates another guy for pages on end, and Elliot avoids all contact with Leo.
Much later, near the end of Act III, Leo decides to read the letter Elliot wrote for her right after she discovered he was a thief, a letter telling her he was sorry and confessing his love for her, and so the story ends up running on the "if only they had just talked to each other, all would have been well and every tragedy avoided" scenario that I never find very appealing, and certainly didn't here.
To summarize my main thoughts on this book: "The Stars We Steal" felt very empty; empty of genuine characters with genuine thoughts and feelings. It just felt like I was reading a plot, a plot that I was not invested in at all because the characters themselves were not invested in it at all. Despite a compelling and interesting opening chapter, I never felt any stakes, I never felt worried or concerned, I never felt like I had to keep turning pages.
Three stars. This isn't a terrible book. It's just very flat.
January 3, 2020
UM SINCE WHEN DOES GR SAVE REVIEW DRAFTS??!?! Huge fucking thanks to that because I accidentally clicked out of my other window and I have a massive headache so I was about to lay my head down and weep, lol. Yasssssssssssssssssssssssssss.
3.5
Man am I bummed about this, you guys. For those of you who didn't know, this is a loose science fiction re-telling of Persuasion by Jane Austen. I personally have never read it before but I HAVE read and loved For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund which was also inspired by the book. After finishing that I watched the movie from 2007 just to see how the Austen version went. Basically, this story is one of the move FRUSTRATING (but ultimately rewarding) cases of slow-burn/second chance romances that you will ever see in your entire life.
This version had a LOT of potential and I still think that a lot of people will really like this. I personally think that I would have liked it more if it had even been a duology. Even though the world building and plot were pretty well formed and made sense, there was still so much MORE that could have been delved into if there had just been even one more book.
The concept of this book is that the inhabitants of Earth who had the means to do so, left in a fleet of space ships based on different nationalities after another Ice Age came on and froze the planet solid. Our main female protagonist, Leo, is considered a princess even though her family is just about destitute an the title is only really that--a title. Her aunt, who is captain of a much larger ship that is doing really well and has quite a bit of wealth, allows them to dock there.
She is about to be hosting an event called the Valg Season which allows young people from all the different ships a chance to come together to find a suitable partner from a different bloodline. Surprise, surprise, Leo's old love (who she had been engaged to for a hot second years ago before she was talked out of it by her father, aunt, and cousin because he was poor) shows up. Only now, he's got money and is suddenly the heir to a ship. The two are at each others throats understandably after what happened in the past and there is a lot of tension due to a number of different things that go down.
As much as the small snippets of them reconnecting had my stomach fluttering, I wanted more. More, more, more. There wasn't enough of them reconnecting because too many other things were going on with different political aspects involving her aunt's ship and the fleet in general. I didn't learn nearly enough of what their past was like, or even who they had been as people to compare to the people they had grown to be in each others' absence. Again, if this had been more than one book, I think everything could have been executed perfectly with a better balance between the two things. Either way, it was still a quick read and I did still enjoy myself.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. ♥
For more of my reviews, please visit:
3.5
Man am I bummed about this, you guys. For those of you who didn't know, this is a loose science fiction re-telling of Persuasion by Jane Austen. I personally have never read it before but I HAVE read and loved For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund which was also inspired by the book. After finishing that I watched the movie from 2007 just to see how the Austen version went. Basically, this story is one of the move FRUSTRATING (but ultimately rewarding) cases of slow-burn/second chance romances that you will ever see in your entire life.
This version had a LOT of potential and I still think that a lot of people will really like this. I personally think that I would have liked it more if it had even been a duology. Even though the world building and plot were pretty well formed and made sense, there was still so much MORE that could have been delved into if there had just been even one more book.
The concept of this book is that the inhabitants of Earth who had the means to do so, left in a fleet of space ships based on different nationalities after another Ice Age came on and froze the planet solid. Our main female protagonist, Leo, is considered a princess even though her family is just about destitute an the title is only really that--a title. Her aunt, who is captain of a much larger ship that is doing really well and has quite a bit of wealth, allows them to dock there.
She is about to be hosting an event called the Valg Season which allows young people from all the different ships a chance to come together to find a suitable partner from a different bloodline. Surprise, surprise, Leo's old love (who she had been engaged to for a hot second years ago before she was talked out of it by her father, aunt, and cousin because he was poor) shows up. Only now, he's got money and is suddenly the heir to a ship. The two are at each others throats understandably after what happened in the past and there is a lot of tension due to a number of different things that go down.
As much as the small snippets of them reconnecting had my stomach fluttering, I wanted more. More, more, more. There wasn't enough of them reconnecting because too many other things were going on with different political aspects involving her aunt's ship and the fleet in general. I didn't learn nearly enough of what their past was like, or even who they had been as people to compare to the people they had grown to be in each others' absence. Again, if this had been more than one book, I think everything could have been executed perfectly with a better balance between the two things. Either way, it was still a quick read and I did still enjoy myself.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. ♥
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March 5, 2020
The digital arc of this book was kindly provided by the publisher via Edelweiss+ website in exchange for an honest review.
3,5 stars
I guess "Persuasion" is quite hard to make better or retell because this is the second retelling of it that I read and they're both kind of disappointing. Alex Donne tried to shape this story into a more of a mystery which I appreciate but all these weirdly sexual romantic relationships still took the spotlight. I also couldn't make myself like Elliot because he was a bigger prick that was necessary for the plot. Leo was a good counterpart to him, though, so their relationship was cute in the end. So while this novel wasn't as good as I hoped, it was a light and enjoyable read nonetheless.
3,5 stars
I guess "Persuasion" is quite hard to make better or retell because this is the second retelling of it that I read and they're both kind of disappointing. Alex Donne tried to shape this story into a more of a mystery which I appreciate but all these weirdly sexual romantic relationships still took the spotlight. I also couldn't make myself like Elliot because he was a bigger prick that was necessary for the plot. Leo was a good counterpart to him, though, so their relationship was cute in the end. So while this novel wasn't as good as I hoped, it was a light and enjoyable read nonetheless.
August 9, 2019
I was lucky enough to read an early copy of THE STARS WE STEAL and devoured it in two days. I love how Alexa Donne used the familiar romance arc from Persuasion but kept it fresh with surprising twists. If you love swoony romance, court intrigue, and beautiful writing, this is for you.
I read this while traveling and think it's the perfect travel book. It made time fly because I was happily entranced by the story and writing. It's also the perfect couch read. Or bed read. Or pool read. Yeah, basically I think you should read it.
I read this while traveling and think it's the perfect travel book. It made time fly because I was happily entranced by the story and writing. It's also the perfect couch read. Or bed read. Or pool read. Yeah, basically I think you should read it.
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