This is one that I can tell students will love! It has a lot of the themes that students look for in their fantasy/sci=fi reads (romance). It's not too heavy on the science fiction, which might be a downside for some, but it goes over my head sometimes, so I like a light hand.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read books that I get very excited to bring back to my work and start recommending to people.

The Stars We Steal, pitched as "The Bachelorette in Space," is not-so-secretly a futuristic sci-fi retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. Set 40 years prior to Alexa Donne's Brightly Burning (a Jane Eyre retelling in space), TSWS stands alone but tries to cram an awful lot of plot into one book. Leonie is a Princess in a stratified society that doesn't have kingdoms but clings to notions class and privilege. Instead of countries, there are ships. Many came from individual countries or areas, so for example, the Lady Liberty is the ship from what used to be the United States (Earth is not habitable) and Leonie's breaking-down ship is a private one called the Sofi. Leonie's family has a title and a ship, but they don't have money, so her father has ordered her to enter the Valg Season to find a wealthy husband and save the family.

While docked at a larger, wealthy ship for the Season, Leonie rents out their small ship as living quarters for a group of four travelers. Little does she know, one of them is her first love, Elliot. They were engaged at 16 and forced apart by Leonie's father because he wasn't of the right class. Now he's back and has the money... but also a lot of anger.

What follows is a complex plot involving a second-chance romance, a scheming aunt and cousin, an election and lots of secrets. Leonie doesn't want to participate in this marriage game because she wants to find a way to be financially independent (and thus marry when and if she wants to), and a significant part of the plot hinges on her water filtration system, designed to improve quality of life on all ships, including those with food and resource shortages. Those shortages, of course, are only experienced by the lower classes and Leonie is part annoyingly-obtuse rich girl and part social justice advocate.

The cast is more diverse than some, with characters of color and queer characters, but some of it was clumsily done. One of Leonie's friends is a lesbian and she's often found making jokes about looking for a pretty woman to make out with. I would've liked for her characterization to be more nuanced. SPOILER: Leonie enters into an engagement of convenience with an asexual friend at one point, only to abandon him the second she realizes that Elliot still loves her.

In all, The Stars We Steal was fun but not perfect. Some of the plot twists were predictable, some were not. The aunt was a Disney Villain, but *gestures at United States.* If I had one critique, it's that I think as a stand-alone novel, there was too much plot, especially when Donne tried to wrap it all up at the end.

If you're interested in a Persuasion retelling in space, complete with fancy dresses, second-chance romance, Easter eggs and class differences, this will be an enjoyable read. Fans of pining and angst will find something to love here as well.



Suzanne received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.



Content Warnings: murder, past: parental death, theft, smuggling, mentions of hunger and illness due to poverty

The Stars We Steal is a fun and frothy romance - with just a dash of mystery & sci-fi atmosphere - that fans of The Selection and Kathrine McGee will eat up. If you're someone who is normally intimidated or put off by sci-fi, no need to fear - this book is anchored firmly in the world of pretty dresses, makeovers, romance, and drama. Space just provides a pretty background to #princessproblems. While the story has hints of political intrigue and mystery, the core of this story is fluffy and light romance that will strongly appeal to tweens and teens.

The Stars We Steal is a fast-paced young adult science fiction with a touch of romance written by Alexa Donne. A story that pulls you in from the beginning making you feel like you are in the story. The characters are well-written and help to tell the story with their intriguing backstories. If you are looking for a light-hearted read with a soapy teen romance in an interesting sci-fi future, The Stars We Steal is for you.

This book is a retelling of Persuasion set in space with a smuggling plot and government conspiracy thrown in. I wanted to absolutely adore this story, but I just liked it. Alternating perspectives would have helped this story because I needed a break from the main character. She made the same mistake multiple times and was very stubborn. Everything would have been fine if she just weren't so stubborn. That said, I thought the plot was great, and I loved the dynamics between the characters. I was drawn into this story, and I would read a sequel if Donne wrote one. I'm pretty sure it's a standalone, and it works as that. However, I thought the characters and world were so interesting that I'd gladly jump back in the world.

Persuasion has always been my favorite Jane Austen novel, so The Stars We Steal had a lot to live up to before I even turned the first page. It also had to compete with my favorite reimagining, For Darkness Shows the Stars, by Diana Pererfreund. Diana’s version is dystopian space.

The Stars We Steal isn’t quite as good as the two above, but happily, it holds its own.

Author Alexa Donne does an excellent job of setting the scene. I felt as if I was walking down the halls with Leo. I could feel her discomfort and feel the disparity between the haves and have nots. Most importantly, the tension between Leo and Elliot is palpable.

Donne has modernized the basic elements of Persuasion while making the rest of the story her own. Some of the plot elements could have been cleaner, but there’s nothing that would hold me back from recommending it.

However, I wish Donne had done a better job of fleshing out her supporting characters, who would really have made this a stronger, multi-layered read.

The Stars We Steal is the second Jane Austen reimagining I’ve read in a month, and it’s definitely the stronger of the two. Still, I’d suggest checking it from the library before purchasing it.

THis was a really interesting retelling, and I enjoyed a lot of this, but the beginning of the book just kind of dropped you into the action and it took me a long time to figure out what the heck was going on, which meant that I kind of lost some of the enjoyment of it. It's definitely a mash up of two genres that you wouldn't think would go together, but the author did a good job merging them.

Alexa Donne’s debut Brightly Burning was a favorite of mine when I read it in 2018. I was highly anticipating her follow-up, The Stars We Steal, and it did not disappoint. When it went up on NetGalley I immediately hit request and started reading right after I was approved. This YA space opera is a retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen (her best work in my opinion), set in the same world as Donne’s first novel. The books take place in a post-apocalyptic future where nations fled Earth to live in space stations. Princess Leo is the heir to her family ship and is pressured to marry into money to save her nearly-destitute family. Leo would much rather invent something useful and earn her own wealth. There’s Bachelor-esque courting that takes place as high-ranking children from different ships go on matchmaking dates. This is all made much more dramatic when Elliot, who Leo rejected because her family didn’t approve of his lower class and lack of wealth, arrives. Donne writes the chemistry between them so well. The supporting characters were really fun and the atmosphere felt very different from the first book. There were a lot of great twists and turns that kept me hooked, and I think readers who aren’t sci-fi fans will love this book for the romantic drama. Donne is definitely a YA author to watch!

The Stars We Steal was the cute, fluffy and futuristic romance I needed in my life. A retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion in space with some nods to The Bachelor. It was the perfect mix of politics and romance with a dash of sci-fi to make it that much better.

The novel follows Her Royal Highness Princess Leonie Kolburg aka Leo on her journey to save her destitute family in the futuristic version of what use to be known as the “social season” with some bachelor like aspects. The Valg Season is a month or so of events for eligible rich teens to descend from numerous ships and do a series of group/solo dates to find the one. At the end of the month proposals are announced and that’s that until the next Valg Season in four years. Everyone participating is of course very privileged which gives Leo the perfect chance to snag a rich beau and save her family from a life of poverty. She had love years ago and was talked out of it because he was below her class. While she may never find love she can find money, but marrying is her last ditch effort. Just when things couldn’t get worse her ex shows up with a new inheritance, a dark secret and a not so subtle grudge.

In addition to being a kind soul, Leo was also very smart and resourceful. Social she is not though. Her dragging her feet on going to social events or being self conscious about her weight or how guys thought of her was relatable. It’s always nice to see something of ourselves in the characters we read. While she has her doubts about herself though, she is a very capable girl who had been keeping her family afloat for years by handling all the financial responsibility. While marriage is a solution to all of her problems, she was smart enough to build her own water purification system. The nerdy water engineer in me was so impressed by this aspect of the story. Beyond all that though, she recognized the class indifferences and while saving her family had taken over her life, she had good ideas and opinions on how to help the lower classes.

The “romance” was actually quite funny. Eli, Leo’s ex, shows up and starts flirting with the two most important people in her life to get revenge. Leo obviously still has some feelings left but she was truly such a kind person she just let it happen. She was always thinking of others and how they felt versus how she felt. I understand being nice but this girl took it to a new level and I’m impressed that she didn’t lose her crap in more than a few situations. While she wasn’t looking for romance, she didn’t really put herself out there regardless. I totally understand being self conscious and feeling left out, but she kind of did it to herself. It was cute when she actually did start trying though and that’s when we get a bit of love and camaraderie.

This was a book that tried really hard to have a political plot and a villain when it should have just stuck to the romance plot. There was too much going on politically to be quickly wrapped up in such a short book. I get that it allowed another option for Leo beyond marriage, but it just seemed like the poverty situation was glossed over at the end. We get an ending to Leo’s story and she’s now got money so it felt like the poverty issue wasn’t even a concern anymore.

The Stars We Steal was a tad like The Selection in space. The overall romance plot was a good one and had some good friendships tossed in as well. It was the political plot that needed to be fluffed up more while the villain storyline just needed to be tossed out altogether. If you’re looking for a quick and unique romance in space novel definitely pick this one up; just don’t think about the other story lines too hard. If you were not a fan of The Selection series, skip this one as well. I however really enjoyed Leo and all the romance fluff along with the cuteness of Eli.

4 ★★★★

This book was so much fun, I really enjoyed it. It is a YA Sci-fi book, but reads more like a YA romance in space - which isn't a bad thing whatsoever, but just don't go in expecting something else, or you'll be disappointed. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep me entertained and I enjoyed the space reality created by Donne.

The story follows Princess Leo who needs to find a wealthy husband ASAP to solve her family's increasingly troubling financial issues. Lucky for Leo it's Valg season and there's plenty of eligible bachelor's after the status her families royalty can offer them. Not Lucky Leo, her ex fiance / love of her life, Elliot, has turned up for the events and is flirting with everyone except her. Leo is conflicted and wants everyone to value her for her intelligence and not for how well she finds a husband. We join Leo, along with her sister and cousin, for the ups and downs of Valg season and the crazy happenings of the month.

I loved Leo, she is tall and curvy which is under represented in books. She's also sassy and strong minded, but cares about her family and society at large so much. She really wants to find a way to keep her family safe and happy whilst also solve some of the issues being faced due to having spent many generations in space.

I also really enjoyed the other characters in this book and their interactions with each other. But this is definitely a light science fiction book and so don't be expecting any intense characters or plot lines. But as I say, don't expect this book to be something it's not and you'll enjoy it. As someone who doesn't read a lot of science fiction, it was the perfect space related read for me.

I really enjoyed it overall and would definitely recommend.

The Stars We Steal kind of struck me as a space opera, but an AMAZING one. I absolutely adored the plot, the Selection-esque Valg in space, and the real emotions and stubbornness that at times keep us from what we really want.

If you aren't into romances this book may not be for you, but I 100% loved this at-first-unwilling romance with a touch of conspiracy in space. It had me glued to my seat from start to finish - my only complaint is that I want MORE!

This book reminded me of a mix between the Selection and Matched series.. If I would have read it when I was in love with both of those then this book would have EASILY been a five star rating. But sadly I just think this was not the book for me.

It's very romance heavy which I don't usually mind.. But I didn't completely love Leo and Elliot together. They were too up-and-down for my liking and I could never get a good reading on them.

I think others will definitely love this book, though. <3

This may be a case of not the right reader for the book, for most of my issues. I'm not a big Jane Austen fan, and this is a retelling of Persuasion, nor am I fan of The Bachelor, and this is basically The Bachelor in space. I did really like that Leo was tall and curvy, as we don't see too many of those characters in YA, and I liked the relationship between Leo and her younger sister.

But the rest was kind of meh. The pacing was slow and everything was surface level. I wanted the author to really dig into all the issues she was bringing up (classism, inequality), but that never happened.

I was also really uncomfortable with the asexual rep. It's great to see the word used, especially in conjunction with a handsome, flirty character who I genuinely liked, but the conversation with him and the main character, Leo, went a little south. He apologizes for not being able to love her (and this is an arranged marriage/business kind of deal), but after he says he won't ever be able to love her, he tells her that he's asexual. This implication that he can't love her because he's asexual is really harmful and wrong. His romantic orientation is never mentioned, but even if he was aromantic, he could still love her, just not in a romantic way. As someone who is ace, it was really disappointing to see this connection between being asexual and not being able to love when people who are asexual are fully capable of love (romantic love if they're not also asexual) and every other kind of love that isn't romantic. It could've and should've been handled better in that conversation, so that it was made clear that he wasn't going to have any sexual attraction to her ever. Because their relationship was really great and they already cared about each other. If they'd gotten married, I feel they definitely would've loved each other.

Aside from that, everything felt really rushed at the end and tied together a little too neatly for my taste.

This is a commercial, high concept book that will do well with fans of The Selection by Kiera Cass, the tv show the Bachelor, and fans of Jane Austen.

Good “Bookends” are important…
The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne is a teen/YA story of love versus obligation for a futuristic young women, Princess Leonie who prefers to be called Leo. She carries the archaic title of princess even though the only thing she is heir to is a decrepit spaceship in the stellar settlement for the remnants of earth. These ended up in space, hundreds of years ago, after a catastrophic event plummeted earth into an unforgiving ice age. Only the wealthy and titled of the world were able to escape to space along with a crew of servants and workers. A two-tiered society has continued, with the titled and rich maintaining control through an elaborate tradition called the Vlog, a month-long event full of activities meant to match the most eligible young people for marriage and family alliances. At sixteen, Leo was forced by her family to turn her back on her first love, Elliot the son of her father’s butler, and has refused to be part of numerous Vlogs which would force her into a loveless alliance. Because of her age this is her final year of eligibility in the Vlog. Her father gives her no choice but to enter, but she continues to work on getting a patent to sell a water filtration system she has redesigned with hopes that this will be the way to maintain her autonomy without marrying for money to prevent the loss of their family ship. When Elliot returns, with progressive ideas for the future of the fleet, as the wealthy heir to a Russian ship and fortune, Leo’s Vlog experience becomes more life-altering than she planned.

For me, how an author begins and ends a book is almost as important as the story itself. If I am not “hooked” quickly it’s hard to get invested in the tale the author is trying to create. Also, if the book finishes with subplots or other integral questions unresolved I am left feeling somewhat shorted. The Stars We Steal lacked both “bookends” for me. Initially, I struggled to get engaged with the story and had to force myself to continue ready. Once I got a few chapters in, Alexa was able to craft an interesting story with a diverse cast of characters and multiple plot lines to add a touch of mystery and intrigue. Her futuristic setting along with an adapted version of the Bachelor/Bachelorette provides for a unique backdrop to Leo’s personal story involving her family and Elliot. Alexa ends most of Leo’s story in a satisfactory way but leaves a few unanswered questions, specifically with regards to her father and the fate of the lower class inhabitants of society. It made me wonder why these issues were given importance if they were at least somewhat resolved in the end.

The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne is a well-written, futuristic book that will appeal to many teens and young adults. The main story-line is engaging and there is plenty of age appropriate romance and intrigue for me to recommend this as a solid book.

Leo, heir to a rundown and almost destroyed spaceship, is depending on either her mechanical mind or an advantageous marriage to save her family.

The backstory is a bit confusing here, but as far as I can tell, Earth went belly up at some point and some of the population escaped on spaceships. Some of their descendants now call themselves royalty, but it's unclear whether they're actual royalty or have just co-opted the title. I'm leaning towards the latter, but I'm really not sure.

It doesn't really matter, because this book is about 35% plot and 65% clothes, jewelry and will-they-won't-they. The plot is excellent, a mix of politics and Leo's attempts to save her family with a new type of water filter she's invented. The froth is at least entertaining. If you enjoyed all the parts of The Selection where America described her clothes, you'll enjoy this.

I've seen claims that Leo is demisexual. I didn't pick that up from the novel. She shows no attraction to anyone, except the guy she was already in love with, but I read that as 'I resent being forced to get married' not 'I'm not attracted to anyone until I know them'. However, that's just me, and maybe another reader will have a different experience.

I enjoyed this read, and I'd love to read more set in the same world.

I was so excited that this book was set in space, but the sci-fi elements were almost non-existent. We just got stuck following a group of teenagers through weird and awkward experiences. They happened to be in space, but it didn't add to the story like I was hoping. The teenage angst was too much.

Well that was fun. The Stars We Steal is about Leonie who is looking for a husband against her wishes during a weeks long matchmaking event aboard her ship where the elite try and find spouses. When her ex comes back in the picture and sets out to make life difficult for her, things get interesting.
There were a few dragging moments and some predictable moments but overall it was a really enjoyable read. I really liked the elements of mystery and politics and wish that could have been explored a little bit more. But as much as I might wish that I was such a sucker for the romance. If I had to compare The Stars We Steal to anything I would say it’s The Bachelor meets The Selection meets The 100. And if that doesn’t convince you that this book is tons of fun I don’t know what will.

This is a Persuasion meets Star Wars YA sci fi romance. The heroine (Princess) Leo has an Anna/Rey vibe. It would be a typical young romance story except these rich European heiresses and heirs are soaring around space.
(They are doing what Elon Musk, Leonardo DiCaprio and Richard Branson dream to do in a few years.)

The plot gets especially nail-biting at the last third of the book, and it would help readers to know about the political battles and betrayals in the plot, rather than just the matchmaking event.

Thank you for the ARC

The first chapter grabbed my attention in the clear descriptive writing and beautiful setting, so I was quicikly drawn into Leo's world and her future with Elliot and the starving resistance. It gave the impression of The Bachelor meets Austen's Persuasion in SPACE with political influences. So, I was surprised to find out that Leo is more worried about her romantic interests than starving people, as that part of the story line never goes anywhere and she does nothing to help them. With undertones of communism, masked as "Robin Hood", and constant drinking of alcoholic beverages (like A LOT!) frustrated me and made this book a disappointment.

"Engagement season is in the air. Eighteen-year-old Princess Leonie “Leo” Kolburg, heir to a faded European spaceship, only has one thing on her mind: which lucky bachelor can save her family from financial ruin?"

When I heard this book was the bachelor meets Jane Austen meets space, I could not wait to dive in. The storyline was pretty original, and I did enjoy the world that Donne put together. I especially loved the idea of a female protagonist making her own way instead of waiting around for a future husband to save her and her family. While this new world was interesting to be a part of, I found myself massively struggling with characters and parts of the plot. There were so many things that seemed trivial and childlike. For a protagonist that wanted to be so strong, she sure put herself down a lot. Despite the confusion, I would still recommend this to my students. It seems like more of a YA meant for younger readers.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

My major issue (and reason for 3 stars) was the ending. Throughout the novel, I kept wondering, "what is up with this swimming thing being brought up so many times?" In the end, when the "villain" was revealed, I had a hard time wondering why so much extra drama was put in about the mother's murder so late in the game. Why was this even a necessary plot point to shove in at the absolute very end of the book? What did this help? We already knew the Aunt was a backstabbing you-know-what. We didn't need this additional, petty drama and "mystery" of a murder that didn't affect the choices made AT ALL.

*I was given a copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.