Book: The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne

Published February 2020 by Houghton Mifflin|400 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

The Bachelorette goes to space in this gripping story about a young girl caught in a world of royal intrigue and lost love in her quest to save her family from ruin. Perfect for fans of Katharine McGee, Melissa de la Cruz, and Kiera Cass.

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

But when Leo’s childhood friend and first love, Elliot, returns as the captain of a successful whiskey ship, everything changes. Elliot was the one who got away, the boy Leo’s family deemed to be unsuitable for marriage. Now he’s the biggest catch of the season and he seems determined to make Leo’s life miserable. But old habits die hard, and as Leo navigates the glittering balls of the Valg Season, she finds herself falling for her first love in a game of love, lies, and past regrets.

Fans of Katharine McGee and Kiera Cass will be dazzled by this world of lost love and royal intrigue.

I liked The Stars We Steal!  After reading (and really liking) Brightly Burning a couple of years ago, I was pretty excited about this book, and I wish I liked this book as much as her first one.

I thought Leo was interesting.  I completely get why she wants to help her family, and is hesitant to get married to do it.  I admire that she came up with a way to help not just them, but others.  But…when it came to her love life, she was so frustrating.  I mean, her first love comes back, and she loves him one minute, and hates him the next.  She flirts with him and gets jealous when he turns his attention to both her cousin and her sister.  She makes a half-hearted effort at the Valg Season, and when she does, she ends up breaking Daniel’s heart.  I really felt for Daniel.  Don’t get me wrong, I get that it was always Elliot, but it was just so horrible that she agreed to marry Daniel, knowing full well she wasn’t over Elliot.  Even after everything that happened with Elliot, she had the hardest time letting him go, and unfortunately, Daniel got hurt in the process.

Hopefully, everything works out for Leo, and it really seems like it wil at the end of the book.  Things are fine with her family and with Daniel, and I really hope they stay that way.

One thing I could never work out is if it’s set in the same world as Brightly Burning.  I mean, it was been a while since I’ve read it, but all of the ships made me feel like they are two very different stories set in the same world.  I could be completely wrong on that, but that was the impression I got.  Either way, it is pretty interesting to see a story entirely contained on the ship.

And Leo’s family.  I’m not a fan.  Her dad’s a mess, and her aunt is cruel.  If killing her own sister isn’t horrible, I don’t know what is.  Even though her cousin and sister come around, they have their moments too.  They were there for Leo when it counts, but there were a lot of obstacles along the way.

3 stars.  I liked The Stars We Steal, but I didn’t love it.