The Stars We Steal is an imaginative and exhilarating take on Jane Austen's Persuasion. Princess Leonie Kolburg, on the verge of destitution, bears the sole responsibility of saving her family from financial ruin and is tasked with finding herself a wealthy husband during Valg Season, a series of elaborate mating rituals intended to foster good breeding, therefore ensuring her family's continued social status and wealth. Unfortunately, Leo has no interest in marrying for anything other than love, if she must marry at all, and would rather find a way to save her family with her ingenious water filtration invention that will improve the quality of life for the entire fleet of ships, if anyone was willing to try it. Making everything more complicated is her former flame, Elliot Wentworth, having returned after making a name for himself and acquiring a fortune and title after she turned down his proposal when he was just the son of her family's valet. She now has to wrestle with her family's impending fall from grace, securing a husband, and making sure Elliot never finds out she never stopped loving him, all while trying to pitch her invention to investors so she can license it and make her own money to save her family.

The Stars We Steal manages to heighten the tension in all the right places as you root for Leo's success, all the while holding your breath for what happens next. Leo's determination and pluck make for good reading and anyone who has felt the outside pressure of family and society will empathize with her plight. A smart, resourceful girl being reduced to her ability to lure a man when there's so much more she can do seems like it would be a tired theme, but Donne keeps it interesting when paralleled with vigilante rebel forces, an emerging black market, and humanity's best and worst forces coming into collision. At the heart of the story there is love, honor, and justice and no one gets tired of that. It also features a stellar cast of side characters including a frustrated lesbian and a charming asexual flirt who are both just delightful. Set in space in a post apocalyptic scenario where what's left of the human race is trying to survive and rebuilt itself, it speaks of the dangers of greed and wealth, and how history has a terrible way of repeating itself, and how just a few people speaking out and working toward something better can absolutely make a difference. Fans of Austen and Star Wars will enjoy this space-infused romance full of desperate schemes, high tech speed dating, and girls kicking ass in various forms.

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.

**Review will be posted on my blog http://pastmidnight.home.blog on January 21, 2020**

**3.5 stars**

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for giving me chance to read this eARC.

I did not realize this was a retelling of Persuasion, by Jane Austen, until almost the end. 🙆🏻‍♀️ I felt like it was familiar but for some reason didn’t put two and two together.

Princess Leonie, or Leo, is nineteen years old and single but she is about to take part in the Valg, which is an event that takes place every five years to bring together other young singles looking to make a power match marriage. Basically it helps them avoid marrying their cousins. 👀 At the end of the event, couples will announce their engagement. If Leo could avoid it she would but her family needs her to marry for money in order for them to survive because though they have royal titles, the money is basically gone.

And all of this happens in space! Yes, humans are now living on space ships which made this book even more intriguing to me. But just like Persuasion, someone from Leo’s past named Elliot, comes back and participates in the Valg as well. Can Leo bear to see Elliot marry someone else? Will she have to marry for money or can she make money for her family in another way? With space as the backdrop, there are balls, speed dating, gorgeous dresses, lots of drinking and dancing and of course, romance drama. The past comes back to haunt Leo and her future looks dire.

What I liked:

*I love Jane Austen so the second chance romance between Leo and Elliot is great. Leo and Elliot was secretly engaged in the past but her family nixed it because he was too poor. He comes back rich and now her family and everyone else thinks he’s a catch. The attraction between Leo and Elliot builds again and I was just waiting for them to find their way back to one another!

*Outside of the romance story is the tones of political intrigue. Princess Leonie’s aunt captains the Scandinavian, like it’s name, many of the residents there are Scandinavian or European descent. Learning about the different ships in space and the captains of the ships was interesting. We get a sense there is divide between the royals and the common people, who are starving on some of the other ships.

*Leo and Elliot are both trying to help their people in different ways. Though Leo is “royalty”, because her family has no money she feels pressured to do everything to help her family get money, even if it means marrying someone she doesn’t love. Elliot is helping people on a bigger scale, though in an illegal way. He’s like Robin Hood but his scheme could endanger many people around him. I like them as characters, it definitely felt very “Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth” from Persuasion. Except Leo has more back bone than Anne Elliot I think.

*One of my favorite characters in the book was Evgenia who was Elliot’s friend and was brimming with life. She was the life of the party! And they partied a lot in this book.

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm:

~Just because the setting is in space, there is not much sci-fi in this book unless you count the scene where they do a space walk. So if you want a sci-fi book you will be disappointed.

~The political intrigue part of the story felt weak. I felt there was no urgency – there was a protest and secrets Elliot was keeping but the issue of people with discontent and starving wasn’t resolved in the end. The love story between Elliot and Leo was fixed, yay, but the larger issues at hand? Not much – so will there be a sequel? The ending was rushed.

~Some things about the world building made me pause. For example, this is set in the future, 170 years from now and they still have issues with gay relationships? Evangie had trouble finding a girl to meet on the Scandinavian. Were they just super conservative? I wanted more of the history of the ships and how people came to be on them.

Final Thoughts:
This book has more romance than sci-fi. I adored that it was a Persuasion retelling and I definitely felt it with Leo and Elliot’s storyline but I think on the other spectrum, there wasn’t much urgency about the state of the people living in space though it’s mentioned there is a lot of trouble brewing. I wanted more of that. Maybe there will be sequel?

Overall, I think it’s still an enjoyable story and having it set in space was very interesting.

Alexa Donne is the queen of taking a contemporary concept that may or may not be done to death and putting it in space, making it new and exciting all over again. The Stars We Steal is no exception to this rule. Very "The Bachelor" in space, this novel kept me enthralled from page one till the very end. Highly recommend.

This book had me at ‘for fans of Kiera Cass and Katharine McGee’, and I quite enjoyed it. If The Bachelor was limited to royals and the wealthy living in space because Earth is uninhabitable, you’d have The Stars We Steal. It was the ideal book for my overwhelmed brain - light, easy to keep up with, and predictable in a very comforting way. Think of this as a book equivalent to a pint of ice cream, a gravity blanket, and an old Amanda Bynes movie. It’s not as good as The Selection series or any of Katharine McGee’s books, but it’s perfect for when you want to read something new but don’t have the energy to get overwhelmingly invested.

Leo is the oldest daughter of her father who is the king of his ship, literally. She's a princess with no money and her father needs to her find a wealthy husband so that the king can keep up appearances and keep up his luxuries.

The only way they have gotten by so far is on the generosity of Leo's aunt who has let them stay docked on her ship and waived the normal fees. But now Leo must step up. It's either find money or find a husband with money.

Leo has her own plans that will keep her family solvent and keep her out of a marriage of convenience, but selling people on a water filtration system that includes the sewage isn't easy.

Things get more tense and complicated when Leo's former fiancee (of all of 12 hours) comes back into her life three years after leaving. He's got everything she needs and some of what she still wants.

Can they come together when everyone tried so hard before to keep them apart?

Final thoughts: This starts off as a Persuasion rewrite with some Bachelor additions. Even the rose on the cover is meant to evoke The Bachelor (the author makes sure to state that in the course of the book to make sure that we know). The problem is that it starts off far too close to Austen's Persuasion at the start and then goes way off-kilter. Suddenly there is crime, extortion, danger, elections, and more. I do not understand Leo's final choice at the end because it matches Persuasion, but doesn't match what she was saying halfway through the book. She's an inconsistent character. While the space setting is interesting, it also distracts from the story, especially when things seem to be brought in just for a moment for the story and then left behind. Finally, my last issue is that this feels like Donne is leaving just enough space for a sequel as a just-in-case-this-does-well option. While the story is technically complete, it feels unfinished and incomplete.

Rating: 2.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I flew through this book in a few sittings, immediately intrigued by the premise and stakes (and that STUNNING cover), and it did not disappoint. The Stars We Steal will be a joy to read for fans of The Bachelorette and Persuasion alike, with a whip-smart heroin, gorgeous world-building, and a romance that's sure to steal hearts.

(And can we get a Daniel spin-off PLEASE?)

Thank you to HMH and Netgalley for the early review copy!

Donne, Alexa, The Stars Who Steal. pgs. 400. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019.
Leo’s family wants her to put her all into Valg season. As a princess by title and the heiress to an aging spaceship she should be the perfect match. But her interest lies in patenting a new water treatment system. Her family needs her to marry well because the family’s fortune is dwindling. At the Valg activities, her ex-fiance (Elliot) seems to be the catch of the season. However, his previous lowly status was the reason her family rejected him. Could they still have feelings for each other? Can Leo avoid being matched and find a ship to try her system? Or, will she cave to her family’s wishes? The characters are intriguing and pull the reader into the story. The plot is well developed, engaging, and puts a fun Jane Austen twist on the book. With court intrigue, romantic tension, and suspense, this modern retelling of Persuasion will appeal to fans of The Selection, Katharine McGee, and Amy Kaufman.

Disclaimer: This book was received as a free e-galley from Netgalley and the publisher. Please note that the majority of the books that we (The Keepers of the Books) review are complementary copies from publishers and authors. We are not paid for these reviews. The copies are provided in exchange for an honest review, and all opinions are our own.

This is a loose retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. Princess Leonie "Leo" Kolburg is an unwilling participant in this year's Valg season. Her family's wealth is gone, so Leo is tasked with trying to save her family's finances through an engagement to a wealthy suitor. Unfortunately for Leo, the boy whose heart she broke a few years back has returned. Elliot Wentworth has come back wealthy and ready to find his own match.

I think this story will do well with anyone just looking for a romance or Austen retelling. If you're looking for an angsty YA story of lost love and second chances, then this is a perfect fit. If you're expecting a bit more Sci/Fi action because of the space setting though, you may want to look elsewhere. The setting and secondary plot are a bit overshadowed by the courting/romance storyline.

This is a MUST read book!!!! I loved it. The action along with the drama of a lost love that returns for revenge. You will not be able to put this one down.

The Stars We Steal has the same problem other books set in space in the far future face: the majority of them seem to deal with the same problems we deal with in 2019.

In this book, people of earth wait for the planet to thaw while in space and life seems to be pretty much the same there as it is here. 170 years in space and humanity seems to have made no progress at all in the way people think apparently.

Giant spaceships in space for almost 200 hundred years? Totally cool.
Gay people? Nah.

"I'm so sorry my family is so awful. I don't know what's wrong with them - there are plenty of gay people on the Scandinavian."

Yes, 200 years in space, and there's a spaceship called the Scandinavian and the fact that there are gay people needs to be noted. Still. I get what the author tried to do but setting this in space kind of overrides everything else. There's a Snowpiercer element to the book, spaceships are divided betweet the extreme poor and the wealthy who still refer to themselves as kings and queens. The majority of the people have to starve for the elite to live like Kings in space, literally. And even though this book focused on the romance part, that was what I was wanted to read about the most. But our heroince, Leo is self centeredd, a little kid with a meaningless title that has brief moments of compasion but those quickly vanish into space.

Throughout the book I kept yelling in my head, YOU GUYS ARE IN SPACE AND PEOPLE ARE DYING SO YOU CAN DRINK CHAMPANGE AND BURN YOUR BACON WHAT IS THE MATTER WITTH YOU.

Why set an entire plot in such a specific environment when the said environment has little to no impact on the plot? This could have been set on a dystopian future and it would have probably worked better.

Immediately following a cyberattack by the starved people of this migrated population, the main characters spent their day talking about ball gowns and digital beach parties. Yes, digital beaches in space, while the majority of the population had to starve. I pretty much checked out at that point but I was curious to see which direction it would go. Well..

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the e-arc to review!

Deep in space, humanity now lives among a fleet of ships, and the season for the faded royals to get engaged is here. The Valg Season is a courtship ritual held for 4 weeks every 5 years and this is Princess Leoni "Leo" Kolburg's last chance to secure a wealthy match to save her family from financial ruin.

However, when her first love returns 3 years after Leo broke his heart, Leo finds that she may not have ever stopped loving him. As she rediscovers her feelings, Leo finds herself uncovering dangerous plots, blackmail, and secrets long left buried.

It's strange, because I usually am not drawn to sci-fi romances, especially not ones likened to the bachelorette, but I found myself thoroughly enthralled by this story. The world building wasn't super strong, but I didn't find myself minding that in the slightest as I found myself latched onto Leo and her story. Leo is a lot like me- curvier, not one for parties and plastered smiles, much preferring to be left in silence to read her books. This is me!

I was also a big fan of Elliot. Both of these main characters were well-written and very believable as people, which made it easy to feel for them in their rollercoaster of ups and downs. And their romance! I love back and forths like this, playing tug-of-war with my feelings.

I was mildly interested in the underlying plot and mystery. There were moments where it felt completely secondary- this is definitely a book where I would say the romance is the main focus and the sneaky plots were merely sprinkled in for a bit of intrigue and weren't the point of the book. Again, I did not mind this because I definitely enjoyed the other aspects.

I would say one thing I did not like was that the ending felt far too rushed. Everything else felt more like a slow burn and then bam bam bam we're at the end with everything neatly tied up.

I still enjoyed it though!

If you want a fun, light read with a straightforward plot, a couple of compelling characters, and some well-done romance, this is the book for you!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was sooo excited when I saw that I received an arc of The Stars We Steal! I LOVED Brightly Burning and I just adore Alexa Donne’s writing, so I knew this book could do no wrong and I was right! This book is the Bachelor in space with a Jane Austen flare. As soon as I heard that pitch, I knew I would love it.

It took me longer than anticipated to get through this novel, but that was purely because life got in the way! Once I picked it back up I could not put it down and I couldn’t stop thinking about it! Alexa crafts such well-rounded and compelling characters, I really felt like I knew each of them. (I love how her main characters’ dresses always have pockets!!!)

I cannot wait to read more from Alexa Donne, she is so talented! She’s is definitely on my auto-buy list now!

Review has been posted on Instagram (@Bayley.Pepper)

The Stars We Steal is a YA sci-fi novel that follows Leo, a princess living as part of a space colony. While she still has her title, it’s becoming increasingly meaningless, and due to her family’s rapidly dwindling finances, Leo has to participate in an event known as the Valg, where eligible young people are expected to pair up in a number of dating activities and eventually choose a partner from the group. Leo isn’t interested in the Valg – she has other plans to get her family out of their financial crisis – but the event becomes a lot more complicated when her ex, Elliot, shows up at the ceremony and becomes impossible to get away from. This book was good, but definitely more romance than sci-fi for what I expected. I wanted more action than I got out of it, and the loose Jane Austin retelling seemed misplaced.

I was so glad this wasn't the start to a trilogy or huge series. I think the ending was a bit rushed but overall I really enjoyed myself! I think the worldbuilding was fun but didn't overwhelm the story.

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.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review – thanks so much to Netgalley for sending this to me!

Alexa Donne is an author whose work I’ve been meaning to pick up for a while. I adore her authortube channel and have found her insights into the world of publishing to be super helpful, so I was super excited to find this book up for review on Netgalley. Sci-fi isn’t usually my thing when it comes to books, so I went into this cautiously – but I was pleasantly surprised, and I ended up really enjoying this!

The Stars We Steal is a YA sci-fi novel that follows Leo, a princess living as part of a space colony. While she still has her title, it’s becoming increasingly meaningless, and due to her family’s rapidly dwindling finances Leo has to participate in an event known as the Valg, where eligible young people are expected to pair up in a number of dating activities and eventually choose a partner from the group. Leo isn’t interested in the Valg – she has other plans to get her family out of their financial crisis – but the event becomes a lot more complicated when her ex, Elliot, shows up at the ceremony and becomes impossible to get away from.

This book took me a little while to get into, purely because the first few pages are filled with a lot of information about the world and I found it overwhelming, backing away for a while before I could even bring myself to pick it back up. When I dipped my toes in more cautiously, though, and the sci-fi stuff gave way to the romantic drama, I was hooked. The tension between Leo and Elliot is delicious, and it doesn’t let up throughout the whole book. If you love angst and pining, this is the book for you, because Leo aches for him throughout the entire book and it was so satisfying.

In terms of plot, I found this one to be full of twists and turns. There was a lot going on, but in a good way – we fly along at a breakneck pace and it never lets up for a second, which kept me turning pages at a rapid speed as I was so engrossed in the drama. There truly is never a dull moment in this story, even at the points which felt like they could have been slow or uneventful. This did feel slightly detrimental to the story at the end – when I was at the 90% mark and looking warily at the amount of drama versus the page time left to wrap it up, I did find that the last few chapters of conflict and resolution felt a little rushed in comparison to the rest of the story. Certain events could have used a little more gravitas in my opinion, and it would have been nice to have lingered, but overall I found the pacing to be a pleasant surprise. After all, this book is a retelling of Persuasion, and Jane Austen is not famed for her brevity.

While the plot was great, I did find myself left with a certain number of unanswered questions. There’s a constant underlying worry throughout the book about the fact that resources are dwindling, ships are falling apart, and humanity is beginning to feel the strain of living in space with no indication that a return to earth is on the cards any time soon. I haven’t read Brightly Burning (though I’m now keen to pick it up) which I understand is a companion novel to this rather than an earlier book in a set series, but it almost felt like there should be more to this. Will civilisation ever return to earth? Will the deterioration and living conditions continue? As I understand it, Alexa has now started writing in a different genre, so it doesn’t seem like there’ll be another book in this world where these questions are addressed, and honestly that stresses me out haha, I need answers! Maybe that’s just because space terrifies me and I would have liked to see Leo and her friends set foot on solid ground. It’s not an issue really, but if Alexa writes any more of these books I’d love to see the triumphant return to earth. That’s just a personal preference.

Despite my fear of space, the setting was really beautiful, and once I stopped stressing about trying to get my head around the science, I found it to be super romantic – I loved the way old-fashioned values mixed with the futuristic sci-fi setting. The characters were great, and there was some unexpected representation (lesbian rep and asexual rep) that added a little extra something to the reading experience.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book. It was a wild, romantic ride and I’m looking forward to reading more of Alexa’s work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

I admit that when I requested this, I didn't even register that this would have Jane Austen vibes. I just saw "space" and "The Bachelor" and wanted to read it. I enjoyed The Selection so I figured I would like this as well. I'm not a huge Jane Austen fan, so when I did find out this had those vibes, I understood why the characters were so irritating to me. I kept reading, though, because it was well-written and I wanted to see how the story would progress.

It's been a while since I've read Persuasion, so I didn't register that this was a re-telling of that story until another reviewer pointed it out. But I feel like this one increased the social divide by making Leo a princess. Sure they keep saying that royalty is meaningless, but clearly it still means enough. For me, this made her backing out of the engagement more understandable and Elliot's initial attitude that much more asshole-ish. It also made it really hard for me to root for him as a love interest, especially as things developed.

I liked some of the minor characters, like Evy and Daniel. Honestly, I feel like poor Daniel got the worst deal out of all this. His story didn't even feel concluded, and I was really unsatisfied with how all that was handled. I would've liked Carina to be a lot more fleshed out than she was, as she was portrayed as very oblivious and careless most of the time. Also would've loved more development out of the father and Captain Lind. Stuff at the end felt like it escalated quickly with very little clue that this was what would happen. I get the element of surprise and wanting to put in a twist, but a bit more of an idea that this was possible would've helped.

There's very little reason to set this in space. In fact, setting it in space in the future made the whole country divide feel weird and out of place. You're living in a spaceship; who cares or even keeps track of if you're German, Swiss or whatever? Also, how in the world do they get all these resources? Where do they come from? Where is the fleet going? Why do they elect captains like a democracy? Don't captains need to have experience running a ship that big, know how the various parts work, be able to delegate tasks, etc? That kind of thing is just never explained, and the problems with the social divide are never really addressed or handled in any meaningful way. This could have very easily have taken place on some random planet and almost nothing would've changed.

The book does have a nice writing style and there is some rep here (lesbian, gay, asexual, mentions of non-binary and bisexual) but not much in the way of racial diversity that I noticed. Which... again, doesn't make sense if you're in a spaceship fleet and you're trying to diversify the gene pool. I still liked parts of it, but I think if the setting were more simplified then it would've been better. Decent romance, but I think The Selection was closer to The Bachelor than this.

THE STARS WE STEAL is a fitting prequel to BRIGHTLY BURNING. I missed this literary universe and discovered a new set of characters to love. I enjoyed Donne's sci-fi twist on Persuasion though I've never read literary classic myself. I also appreciated the story's social commentary and what she was trying to convene, but it was somewhat shallow. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It is a fun fluffy read meant for teens, so there are instances where shallowness of deep topics are most suitable for teenaged consumption. This book was a definitely page-turner for me even though the pacing drudged at times. However, with a cast of interesting characters, the pacing didn't bother me. Hate-to-love romances are my jam on buttered toast, so I was going to keep reading anyway.

Alexa Donne is definitely an auto-buy for me and I can't wait to see what she does next.

#TheStarsWeSteal
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review the E-arc copy of The Stars We Steal.