For most of this book I was interested, engaged, and eager to keep reading. The complex and evolving relationship between Leo and Elliot, the drama of Leo's struggle to find a solution to her family's financial issues that won't leave her miserable, and the foreshadowing of darker happenings I began to pick up on were all engaging for me, but it started to fall apart at the end. Important elements of the story--like the fact that, as we find out in chapter one, many people on other ships are greatly suffering from lack of resources--are discussed throughout the book, but by the end feel like minor details in the background of the real story: rich and/or titled people living happily ever after. If all I cared about was Leo and Elliot's romance, I might be satisfied by the ending, but as it is, it feels hollow.

My other main issue with the book has to do with representation, specifically the asexual rep. I was interested in this book because I heard it had ace rep (in fact, only heard about it because of that). And perhaps I should have seen the red flags that 1) the ace character only shows up for 3 or 4 brief moments in the first two thirds of the book, and 2) when he does become a significant character, it's during the "romantic leads separate and their relationship seems to be over forever" part of a romance arc, but regardless I was hopeful. He was sweet, caring, and very attuned to Leo, and even though I was sure Elliot would come back into the picture anyway, I held foolish hope that, in the end, the ace character wouldn't just be pushed aside so Leo could prioritize the person she actually loved.

I really wanted to love this book, but the end fell apart, and I mostly just feel disappointment.

“The Stars We Steal” by Alexa Donne had such an interesting premise, and was absolutely a fun read. Recommend!

I was drawn in by the book cover and the synopsis. This was the first time I've read anything by Alexa Donne. Upon reading The Stars We Steal, I've come to realize that I didn't care for the story and it ended up on my DNF list.

Leo has one job this Valg season. She must catch a rich husband and save her family from financial ruin, all while navigating the social sharks who are looking to bring her down. She didn't count on the first person she had ever loved returning to her ship, bringing even more turmoil to her decision. When they find themselves pushed together again and again, can they finally forgive each other to work as a team and save the ship?

A great space opera for fans of the genre.

DNF'd at 37%.
I really wanted to like this, but sadly this isn't my taste. I feel like there's a bit too much body shaming going on. The main characters are a bit too boring to me. Of course, that's my personal opinion and you might really love it. The writing isn't bad, and the cover is really pretty.

The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne ended up being a sort of hidden gem. I feel like this book did not get as much hype as it should have given the quality of the story. Hope to see more from this author in this genre.

I saw another reviewer say this gives off The Bachelorette in space vibes, and I totally agree! And I love any book that takes place in space. I don't read nearly as much sci-fi as I should. The ending was wrapped up a little too perfectly and completely. Too fast. But overall, it was a fun read!

Sadly this story failed to meet my expectations. The cover drew me to it immediately but unfortunately the inside didn't match the outside.

I DNF this book - I love Persuasion, but this didn't grip me like I thought it would. Jane Austen in space is a dream concept, so I'm not sure what the problem was, but it just didn't get me. I may try and pick it up in the future. Thank you for the chance to read and review this book.

Alexa has a clear talent for romance and retellings. The Stars We Steal is an excellent follow up to her debut and is sure to delight fans and increase her readership. She has an obvious joy and love for the source material and yet still manages to make it feel fresh and new.

DNF'd at 27%. Most of my issues with the book are personal, so I do still think that someone might read this book and enjoy it but in the first 27%, I just lost all patience. Antagonistic characters have exhibited homophobic and body shaming behavior. As they were antagonistic, it's entirely possible that those characters will have character arcs that resolve those issues. Personally, I didn't like the main character at all. This is where someone else might enjoy this one, as that's a personal dislike. I also questioned some plot elements and was unable to get past them to enjoy the story. I did like the author's other work and am looking forward to her next so hopefully this one was just a bust for me. The cover is gorgeous though!

3.5 stars

This book is marketed as Persuasion meets The Bachelor (Space Edition), and I have to say that it fulfills the promise of the premise. That being said it is pretty light sci-fi, not some hardcore space opera. Because this is above all else, a romance.

And overall, I found it to be pretty enjoyable. It was a light and fun read, for the most part anyway. But this story also had a few things that just do not work for me - like having marriage at stake for young adults.

I know it works in some stories, especially for some fantastical worlds. But there is usually also a good reason for why the society is in into marrying kids off so young. In this case, there seemed to be no good reason.

Still, like I said, it was a fun read for the most part. Especially good if you are looking for a light read to binge over the weekend.

Alexa Donne brings another amazing classic to life with a sci-fi twist. The Stars We Steal is a beautiful retelling of Persuasion full of diversity. I love how seamlessly Alexa mixes the old world classic and sci-fi genre's together to bring create a retelling that still feels true to the original. The slow burn romance between the two main characters was achingly written, which made the inevitable reunion all the more satisfying.

This book was such a delight! Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen read and I loved this version of the story. I enjoyed all of the characters and the setting. There was more angst than I typically like in a story but the MCs are teenagers so angst is just part of the course...and as teenagers all the characters were very believable. Listened to this one on audio and just loved the narrator as well. Lovely read with a heart racing and also swoon worthy ending.

*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 (view spoiler), 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!

Thank you NetGalley and HMH for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Stars We Steal
By: Alexa Donne


REVIEW ☆☆☆☆
I love Jane Austen, but Persuasion has never been a personal favorite of mine. The Stars We Steal presents an idea I have never heard before with the story set in space. I had my doubts, but royalty and retellings in a unique setting makes for a good solid read. I flew through this one and found it very enjoyable and entertaining. If you like Jane Austen, I recommend trying this book.

This was such a fun read. I loved the characters and the world development. Anytime there is a theme of royalty in a novel I am instantly intrigued and this book did not disappoint.

The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne is a fantastic telling of Jane Austen in Space. Persuasion has never been my favorite of her novels, but this update was refreshing and so much fun!

I'm definitely here for Jane Austen in space. Alexa Donne's retelling of Persuasion stars Leo, the heir to a derelict space ship, who is reluctantly participating in her society's match-making season. Marriage for money could save her family, but Leo would rather save her family through ingenuity. It doesn't help that she's still pining for her first love, Elliot. Elliot has returned to the ship, and the former-servant is now wealthy and an heir himself. Enduring the season was bad enough. Now Leo has to watch as other girls flirt with her former flame.

I really enjoyed The Stars We Steal. The world building is really well done. Leo has an interesting circle of friends. I've read a lot of books lately that felt like kind of a chore, and this one was such a nice breath of fresh air. I flew through it.

Having been told by a fellow Bookstagrammer that this book was a retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion, set in space, I was very excited to read it. Even better, I got a free ARC of it through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review, which is forthcoming.

Reading it with a fairly strict Persuasion lens on, though, confused me a little, so I quickly let that go. Indeed, Alexa Donne herself acknowledged on Goodreads that it is "technically...a Persuasion retelling... but in developing it and trying to give Persuasion a firmer plot (to fit as a YA sci-fi book), it morphed a bit more into Jane Austen meets The Bachelor. You'll see tropes and archetypes from additional Austen books, basically, but the romance arc is pure Persuasion!"

It's a story of two almost-adults who were once briefly engaged until the m.c., Leonie, broke it off. Then, a few years later, they're thrown back into each other's company after the guy, Elliott, has made a name for himself. There are the Persuasion similarities. But they're on spaceships orbiting a frozen earth, Leonie's a princess whose family has fallen on hard times, and they're both thrown into a forced matchmaking period with a bunch of other people from which they're supposed to pick their spouses so that the leadership of those spaceships can follow family lines. And Leonie's sister, while still as facetious as Anne's sister in Austen's Persuasion, is not nearly as vindictive. So...there are some major differences.

I think Austen fans will still like this version, as will fans of Kiera Cass' The Selection and of The Bachelor TV show. I enjoyed it plenty, mostly because of that "romance arc." The tension that builds up between Leonie and Elliot over the course of the book--the mistakes, misread cues, coming-togethers, and separations--were all deftly woven and provide not only an entertaining experience for the reader but also a good example of how to build tension through dialogue and action for the writer.

I'm still trying to understand, though, the necessity of the "Valg," or forced matchmaking time. Since that's a fundamental part of the conflict Leonie faces, it seemed like the reasons for it should have been a more fundamental part of the plot, and while Leonie's participation in the Valg is, the reasons behind it aren't necessarily. Maybe they are and I just didn't see it.

Too, I would have liked a stronger ending. Since, by the end of the book, it's obvious that it's just a loose interpretation of Persuasion, the ending could have been longer than the equivalent of Anne and Wentworth walking off down the street hand in hand. I would have liked more realistic wrappings-up of some of the side plot lines, for instance, but had to suffice with a somewhat "tell-y" and short epilogue.

But the characters, for the most part, are full-bodied and engaging, the "world" of the spaceships is fully utilized for all the fun, imaginative elements it can provide, and the romantic tension, like I said, was marvelous. All in all, an enjoyable read that I recommend.