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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
Leo has the royal title but not the royal money which means her father is determined to marry her off to a wealthy young gentleman. Leo is not interested in this. She is much more concerned with the usefulness of the water filtration system she has created for ships to use. She becomes even more distracted when her first love reappears for the engagement season as a wealthy whiskey ship owner. As the engagement season moves towards the closing, Leo finds herself in the midst of finding a suitable marriage partner, the black market, and her mother's mysterious death.
My first major thought in regards to this novel was that there seems to be an awful lot of drinking. And then I realized that if I was in Leo's position, I would want to drink a lot too. The characters were all pretty typical for young adult fiction, and the ending was far too predictable for my taste. The plot was beautifully woven together, and Donne has a great voice for prose.
My first major thought in regards to this novel was that there seems to be an awful lot of drinking. And then I realized that if I was in Leo's position, I would want to drink a lot too. The characters were all pretty typical for young adult fiction, and the ending was far too predictable for my taste. The plot was beautifully woven together, and Donne has a great voice for prose.
I’m a simple bitch. Five well deserved stars for a fluffy sci-fi romance mystery.
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!
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!
dunno what i was expecting, pleasantly surprised.
The Stars We Steal is a loose retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. While I usually enjoy a book where the drama rests on the romance, this book sometimes felt a little slow and had intrigue that was easily solvable (which obviously makes it much less intriguing).
I appreciated Leo's personal growth - I really rooted for her success and happiness. Her sister Carina was painted as flighty and a tad shallow, yet that doesn't mean she can't be a fully fleshed out character, which she really wasn't. I wished for more connection between her and Leo, as well as both of them and their dad, who was clearly just a foil and nothing more.
This book's setting was so odd. For being futuristic and set in space, the problems, language and issues of the day seemed identical to 2019's (or I assume 2020's when the book is published). I didn't think it being set in space had any real impact on the story at all. I wished for more unique terms specific to the scifi setting (see: Aurora Rising, which does this exceedingly well) and any special aspect being in space would bring to the story.
Overall, the romances and on-again, off-again relationships helped propel me through the story, but the sometimes-slow plot and setting put me off throughout.
I appreciated Leo's personal growth - I really rooted for her success and happiness. Her sister Carina was painted as flighty and a tad shallow, yet that doesn't mean she can't be a fully fleshed out character, which she really wasn't. I wished for more connection between her and Leo, as well as both of them and their dad, who was clearly just a foil and nothing more.
This book's setting was so odd. For being futuristic and set in space, the problems, language and issues of the day seemed identical to 2019's (or I assume 2020's when the book is published). I didn't think it being set in space had any real impact on the story at all. I wished for more unique terms specific to the scifi setting (see: Aurora Rising, which does this exceedingly well) and any special aspect being in space would bring to the story.
Spoiler
A black market in space is really no different than a black market anywhere else.Overall, the romances and on-again, off-again relationships helped propel me through the story, but the sometimes-slow plot and setting put me off throughout.
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
+1 for the mention of the word asexual. Shame it was a character that wasn't really there for the majority of the book.
The Selection meets The 100 meets so many other books? I loved the element of space combined with a courting season! And can we talk about the references to modern day pop culture? Loved it!
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is like the worst parts of Persuasion and none of the good parts. I know it’s bad when I start rooting for the heroine to marry the other guy.
Real rating: 3.25 stars
Ok my thoughts on this book area kind of all over the place.
I loved the world-building with the spaceships. It made a lot of sense and allowed for the ball season to seem reasonable for a sci-fi setting. I loved the characters and the start of Elliot and Leo's relationship!
I just... I feel like the B-plot with the inequalities could've been handled better. Everything's wrapped up a little too well at the end/left up in the air considering how much the book spent on it. I feel like if more time was spent on the actual intricacies, it would've been so much better. Also, the second half of the romance just kind of... fell flat. Like, more than anything, I felt bad for Daniel even if I was rooting for Elliot and Leo at the start.
Basically, I really liked the first half, and enjoyed the second half a little less, but I don't regret picking this up.
Ok my thoughts on this book area kind of all over the place.
I loved the world-building with the spaceships. It made a lot of sense and allowed for the ball season to seem reasonable for a sci-fi setting. I loved the characters and the start of Elliot and Leo's relationship!
I just... I feel like the B-plot with the inequalities could've been handled better. Everything's wrapped up a little too well at the end/left up in the air considering how much the book spent on it. I feel like if more time was spent on the actual intricacies, it would've been so much better. Also, the second half of the romance just kind of... fell flat. Like, more than anything, I felt bad for Daniel even if I was rooting for Elliot and Leo at the start.
Basically, I really liked the first half, and enjoyed the second half a little less, but I don't regret picking this up.