Book Review: The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne


The Stars We Steal
Author: Alexa Donne
Published: February 4, 200
393 Pages

Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 2 stars

Book Description:

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?

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 that 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

Kim’s Review:

Ok, to be fair, I had an idea of what this book was going to be when I started reading. Beccie from Bookies wanted to do a read-a-long, so I read it. All the YA tropes you can find were put in this book. A bunch of idiot teenagers with very few responsible adults on a space ship orbiting earth, all trying to find arranged marriages for mutual benefits, multiple love triangles, and admittedly, some pretty good fashion. But no aliens, it would have been so much better with aliens.

Some people like those tropes, so fine, if you do, then you’ll probably like this book. My main issue with it was the ending. Donne took the lazy way out and didn’t even resolve the story. A happy ending was hinted at, but she tried to hide it all behind an open ending that just left the story incomplete. It was just a cringey read and I can’t even say that I enjoyed it. I think I’ll stay away from YA for a while. I’ll finish off on a positive note and say that the cover is gorgeous! So don’t read it, just stare at the cover.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK