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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
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.
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.
Y’all. This book was so weird. I couldn’t tell if I hated it or loved it. But I ended up giving it 3.5 stars for the fact that I can’t stop thinking about it.
The bachelor, space, and a British narrator on audible do not belong together, but it was weirdly cute? I will warn you that there’s a lot of meaningless scenes in this book. The author should’ve just stuck to focusing on the lovers to enemies to lovers trope and left it there. There were a lot of unnecessary additions that never got answered, so maybe the author is leaving it for the possibility of a second book? I don’t know, but I would read it lol
The bachelor, space, and a British narrator on audible do not belong together, but it was weirdly cute? I will warn you that there’s a lot of meaningless scenes in this book. The author should’ve just stuck to focusing on the lovers to enemies to lovers trope and left it there. There were a lot of unnecessary additions that never got answered, so maybe the author is leaving it for the possibility of a second book? I don’t know, but I would read it lol
Alexa Donne nails yet another SciFi retelling with her creative take on a well-beloved Jane Austen story.
Two years ago, Princess Leonie Kolburg’s family convinced her that her childhood friend, Elliot, wasn’t a suitable match for fleet royalty like herself and she broke off their engagement. Now, her family is practically destitute and it’s up to her to catch a wealthy suitor to save her family from financial ruin. As courtship season jumps into full swing, who should return home but Elliot, now heir to a thriving whiskey business and ship of his own. But as the fleet starts to feel the pinch of a century spent in space, the return of her lost love might not be Leo’s biggest problem.
The Stars We Steal absolutely delivers on its “Persuasion meets The Bachelor” premise. The cast of characters is equal parts endearing and frustrating, each of them a fresh take on a familiar Jane Austen archetype. The mystery and the romantic tension enthralled me with a slow build that kept me reading even when I was bone tired. The updates are clever, but not always quite what you expect and I appreciated the way Donne uses the futuristic setting to add more dimension to the characters, world, and plot.
I loved Leo as a main character. She’s capable and brainy, but still feminine and I don’t think that we see enough of that. It’s always refreshing to see a protagonist being held back not by their own abilities, but by their circumstances. Leo had her own plans and did her best to pursue them, but she was also pragmatic enough to know that she couldn’t depend entirely on her own dreams. The conflict between Leo’s goals and her family’s needs was done well and created a believable tension throughout the entire novel.
Speaking of tension, it has been a long time since I’ve read a book that did such a good job stretching romantic tension throughout the whole novel (a requirement of any Persuasion retelling). It’s obvious to the reader fairly early on that Leo and Elliot are still into each other and this could have been a cause of unnecessary frustration for Donne’s audience. However, there’s a perfect mix of circumstance and self-doubt that, when combined with their troubled history, makes Leo’s uncertainty and hesitation believable.
While Leo’s story is the center of her world, it is not the center of the other characters’ worlds. Their story arcs do not revolve around hers and it leaves the reader feeling like these characters are actually active when we cannot see them. It’s a hard balance to strike between having characters independent of each other without overwhelming your protagonist’s story, but Donne manages to hit that balance. Every thread gets woven into the great plot and I was highly satisfied by those threads come together in the novel’s climax.
Finally, I have to mention how well the spaceship setting enhanced the premise. Donne takes full advantage of the technological advances when creating her futuristic version of The Bachelor. However, the setting never overpowers the plot. You are left within an unmistakable sense of setting, but are never bogged down by details. Also, though humanity waits out an ice age in an orbit around Earth, there are still small things that are familiar. We might be in space, but the need for coffee is timeless.
If you enjoy Jane Austen retellings, light science fiction settings, and romantic tension so powerful it turns the pages for you, I highly recommend you give The Stars We Steal a try. Also, if you are looking for more body positivity and diversity, this is an excellent book to pick up.
Two years ago, Princess Leonie Kolburg’s family convinced her that her childhood friend, Elliot, wasn’t a suitable match for fleet royalty like herself and she broke off their engagement. Now, her family is practically destitute and it’s up to her to catch a wealthy suitor to save her family from financial ruin. As courtship season jumps into full swing, who should return home but Elliot, now heir to a thriving whiskey business and ship of his own. But as the fleet starts to feel the pinch of a century spent in space, the return of her lost love might not be Leo’s biggest problem.
The Stars We Steal absolutely delivers on its “Persuasion meets The Bachelor” premise. The cast of characters is equal parts endearing and frustrating, each of them a fresh take on a familiar Jane Austen archetype. The mystery and the romantic tension enthralled me with a slow build that kept me reading even when I was bone tired. The updates are clever, but not always quite what you expect and I appreciated the way Donne uses the futuristic setting to add more dimension to the characters, world, and plot.
I loved Leo as a main character. She’s capable and brainy, but still feminine and I don’t think that we see enough of that. It’s always refreshing to see a protagonist being held back not by their own abilities, but by their circumstances. Leo had her own plans and did her best to pursue them, but she was also pragmatic enough to know that she couldn’t depend entirely on her own dreams. The conflict between Leo’s goals and her family’s needs was done well and created a believable tension throughout the entire novel.
Speaking of tension, it has been a long time since I’ve read a book that did such a good job stretching romantic tension throughout the whole novel (a requirement of any Persuasion retelling). It’s obvious to the reader fairly early on that Leo and Elliot are still into each other and this could have been a cause of unnecessary frustration for Donne’s audience. However, there’s a perfect mix of circumstance and self-doubt that, when combined with their troubled history, makes Leo’s uncertainty and hesitation believable.
While Leo’s story is the center of her world, it is not the center of the other characters’ worlds. Their story arcs do not revolve around hers and it leaves the reader feeling like these characters are actually active when we cannot see them. It’s a hard balance to strike between having characters independent of each other without overwhelming your protagonist’s story, but Donne manages to hit that balance. Every thread gets woven into the great plot and I was highly satisfied by those threads come together in the novel’s climax.
Finally, I have to mention how well the spaceship setting enhanced the premise. Donne takes full advantage of the technological advances when creating her futuristic version of The Bachelor. However, the setting never overpowers the plot. You are left within an unmistakable sense of setting, but are never bogged down by details. Also, though humanity waits out an ice age in an orbit around Earth, there are still small things that are familiar. We might be in space, but the need for coffee is timeless.
If you enjoy Jane Austen retellings, light science fiction settings, and romantic tension so powerful it turns the pages for you, I highly recommend you give The Stars We Steal a try. Also, if you are looking for more body positivity and diversity, this is an excellent book to pick up.
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.
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Wonderfully written and entertaining, this book will please any fans of fantasy novels mixed with a love story.
I wanted to like this book and held on to see the outcome what a let down. The action was not there and the love was mediocre at best. Lots more could've have happened to make this book better.
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wooh, this took a lot to get through.
The premise was interesting on the blurb but the story is unfortunately, not very good. I had numerous issues with this book:
-there is absolutely no action in this book. It's very boring and the pacing was not good at all.
-I would say 80 - 90% of the book is the female MC's inner monologues of love then hate for her LI and then self pity and then self loathing and then back again.
-are we meant to like the LI? Because he is an idiot.
-the premise was so limited along with the world the book occurs in.
-the characters had no chemistry at all.
-the writing is inconsistent, slipping between simple sentence structure and grammar and then a random fancy word thrown in.
The premise was interesting on the blurb but the story is unfortunately, not very good. I had numerous issues with this book:
-there is absolutely no action in this book. It's very boring and the pacing was not good at all.
-I would say 80 - 90% of the book is the female MC's inner monologues of love then hate for her LI and then self pity and then self loathing and then back again.
-are we meant to like the LI? Because he is an idiot.
-the premise was so limited along with the world the book occurs in.
-the characters had no chemistry at all.
-the writing is inconsistent, slipping between simple sentence structure and grammar and then a random fancy word thrown in.
Donne has really leveled up her writing. I enjoyed this book even more than her debute, Brightly Burning! It had the right amount of Austen-Era Drama with a sci'fi twist and a heroine I loved.
I was hooked from chapter 3, the narrative took a turn I wasn't expecting. I will say, since this is a blend of historical and sci-fi as a loose retelling of "Persuasion", this might not appeal to those who are strictly sci-fi fans. It leans more towards Austen fans and romance readers.
I was hooked from chapter 3, the narrative took a turn I wasn't expecting. I will say, since this is a blend of historical and sci-fi as a loose retelling of "Persuasion", this might not appeal to those who are strictly sci-fi fans. It leans more towards Austen fans and romance readers.
I had such high hopes for this book but sadly I’m giving it my average 3 star. Good enough to finish but bad enough to where I won’t remember the plot, characters names, and story in a couple of days. It seemed very cliche to me and I just didn’t feel connected with it. The ending also felt very rushed and I think that it wasn’t ended with all the loose ends tied up. What about the mothers backstory and why she was killed?? And what happened to Elliots business. The only thing that happened was the romantic end was tied up. Oh well this book was a bummer for me.