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.

A Persuasion retelling in space. A unique concept that was very enjoyable. Though I would have liked a bit more development on the side characters.

*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.

This is a fantastic story sure to wrap any reader up with intrigue and a fast paced plot.  There's a lot going on in this story and I found myself quickly progressing through just to find out so many details.  I enjoyed it tremendously and highly recommend!

I did not know that this was a retelling of the classic Persuasion, I have not read the original so I can't compare it and have no opinion on that matter. I went into the story with a complete blank slate, knowing nothing about the plot, basically just picking this because I love the cover (yes, I am that person).

I was really into this story, completely on board with all the angst and completely wrapped up in the romantic drama (which is basically all tell and no show of most of it but high on the current heart break). Also the costuming and fun dating issues of the Valg Season were interesting, almost as if I was reading a historical romance with the ton- but in space. But then the last 30 pages my feelings turned. Everything seemed to be wrapped up so easily and the things that could not be resolved felt a little like it was swept under the rug and forgotten (even though it was a big part of the plot to begin with). I felt a little let down with the resolution and it felt like this was a really long book to get invest in to not have what I was looking for (and I don't feel like the love interest ever redeemed himself).

Overall this is high on the drama, angst and romance, but low on the mystery and sci-fi aspect. If you are looking for a romantic read that felt more like adult fiction than YA sci-fi then this is the perfect option

I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick paced read that kept me interested the whole time. I could totally see it being a series, but would be fine if it were just a standalone as well.

Final Rating: 3 stars

I thought this book was a lot of fun, and the concept immediately drew me in when I first read the synopsis. I hoped it would deliver, and on some fronts it did, where on others it seemed to fall flat for me, but that being said, I did enjoy it. 

This story definitely finds its niche in YA, and since I am on the older side of the target age, I found some of the content (in particular parts of the romance) to be a bit juvenile. That's not to say that people younger than me wouldn't enjoy it, but at 19, I'm hovering on the edge of YA's target age for stories such as these.

The skeleton of the story comes from Jane Austen's Persuasion, but it was updated into a space setting, which was really interesting to me as a concept, but sometimes it didn't feel 100% cohesive in the way the author tried to incorporate contemporary themes. 

I felt that the plot was really predictable, something I wasn't sure if it was just because I happen to be good at guessing or if everyone who read it had this experience. 

I did enjoy the characters,but at some points I did feel that they were a bit childish at some points in dealing with some of the issues at hand.

I did enjoy the writing style as well; I thought that it was extremely readable which allowed me to finish this book rather quickly. It's definitely an easy read. 

The lack of worldbuilding did bother me a bit; I felt that I was just being given the information needed to understand the story, not to understand the world. I really enjoy worldbuilding; its one of my favorite parts of a fantasy/sci-fi story and this one felt a bit lacking.

I did enjoy this story though and I would recommend it to a younger age group than my own, or at least someone a couple of years younger than me.

It was a fun read and an interesting take on my favorite Jane Austen novel, but unfortunately shared the same issue I had with Brightly Burning: the writing just didn't do it for me. It was clunky, to the point that at times it interrupted my reading experience, and the narrative voice just felt awkward and very much like an adult trying on a teenager's voice, if that makes sense.
I'm still planning to give The Ivies a try to see if a genre change fixes anything for me, but overall I was disappointed to not enjoy this more, as I'm a big fan of Alexa.

Set in a future where humanity resides on spaceships, we meet a princess whose ship is on the verge of financial ruin. Thus she must enter the season of Valg, in which the wealthy and single step out and every person is meant to seek out a match, preferably rich.

With a snail slow pace and predictable 'twists', it was the diverse characters that brought all life into this book. I'm thankful for the bantering, and the non stereotypical portray an orientations represented. Although underdeveloped as the characters were, it brought a whimiscal touch to an otherwise meh read.