Wonderful from start to finish.

A great addition to YA fiction. I was pleasantly surprised by the second chance aspect of the romance, but found it delightfully taut with tension, drama, and an undercurrent of sorrow throughout the book that kept me listening much longer than I should have.

I read Alexa Donne's previous book Brightly Burning (an adaptation of Jane Eyre in space) which I was surprised to enjoy, as I didnt particularly like Jane Eyre. This book was supposed to be an adaptation of my favorite (Pride and Prejudice) and at first I struggled to find comparisons to the much beloved novel. If youre looking for a true retelling this isnt the book for you. However, as I relaxed into the story I came to love it and the characters independent of the classic novel. The spirit of Pride and Prejudice was beautifully captured while the narrative remained original all on its own.

With the second chance romance, fully realized characters, and stakes driven sky high I would definitely recommend this book. It was sweepingly romantic without being saccharinely sweet. The sharp edges of animosity between the two main characters balancing perfectly all the way to a satisfying conclusion. I really adored the relationship ebbs and flows between the MC Leo and her sister as well. Being one of three girls the relationship felt natural. How you could love, hate, compete, and defend all in equal dizzying measures.

I did like the diversity inclusion regarding several of the characters who were NOT heteronormative, but I felt the lack of characters of color. Alexa did such a good job of inclusion in her last novel that it was made more obvious in this one by comparison.

All in all, a great read. And dont think I didnt miss the almost glossed over mention of a ship in the fleet named the 'Wuthering Heights'. My all time favorite character in classic fiction is Heathcliff so I will be waiting with baited breath to see if an adaptation for another book is forthcoming.

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Such a fan!

This book was great! Lately I’ve been in a post apoc reading lull. I watch Alexa on YouTube and decided to purchase this book along with Brightly Burning. Neither disappoint, but this one was exceptional. You can tell the care that was taken into developing these characters because i fell in love with so many.

There were a few moments when I wish Leo would have socked it to a few people, but that’s not super in her character so I can’t really blame the author for sticking to her character’s traits. I also love how Leo had obvious differences from traditional main characters who are stick thin and perfect. Realism is a breath of fresh air, like this book.

I definitely recommend!

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1 person found this helpful

Strong female characters

The representation paired with romance makes for a more realistic mess of relationships while set in a futuristic world. This combination is unique while feeling familiar as well. Love the fresh take.

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you should read

I loved the story but I couldn't get over the fact how everyone treated her it was horrible but I still loved it

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SELCTION IN SPACE. GAY AND LESBIAN ALERT

THIS STORY LOOKED REALLY GREAT. WONDERFUL NARRATOR AND REVIEW WERE SHOWING POSITIVE INFORMATION.
SADLY, THERE IS A MARRIED GAY HUSBAND SET. AND A LADY WHO IS OPENLY LOOKING FOR A GIRL. AND ACTION. COULD GET THROUGH BUT A FEW CHAPTERS.
CANNOT BRING MYSELF TO FINISH IT.

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2 people found this helpful

Dramatic and Funny

I don't usually like books set in space and retellings are exceptionally hit or miss with me. That being said, I really enjoyed Brightly Burning, so I knew I would like this one too.

Honestly, The Stars We Steal had better range than Brightly Burning. There was intense drama. There was romance. There was a broad cast of characters. Best of all, there were some actual laugh out loud moments of humor.

I listened to the first half of this book with my mom and Grandma on a mini-road trip to Houston/Galveston. My mom and I laughed pretty hard at some of the funny scenes.

My mom wasn't as emotionally invested into the story as I was. She's not a reader and didn't want to finish it because she wanted to listen to music, but I loved it.

This definitely deserves 5 stars for being so entertaining.

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A little slow but ok ending

This starts off a bit slow, has a twist I didn’t completely see coming, had moments where I wanted to scream how stupid the main character seemed, and had the ending that was nice yet flat.

I listened at 1.25 speed and it was perfect in terms of narration.

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This is a story

I can’t put my finger quite on why I didn’t live for this story— maybe because the morality of certain activities was never really settled? Maybe because the characters seem easily swayed from their goals? Maybe because it feels like it’s trying really hard to be relatable? this is a story. It’s a fine one. I won’t be returning to it.

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Good book

Good story line. Sometimes it was hard to figure out who was speaking voices didn't change.

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Not what I was hoping for

I wanted to like this, I really did. But it was predictable, tedious, and frivolous.
The betrayals, the actual plot points, and the subterfuge were all so obvious.
There's a revolution going on, not that we hear anything more about its progress after the initial hacking, namely because all we hear about is the overblown pining after a lost love.
Far too much of the plot revolved around misunderstandings and the MC, Leo, just not putting two and two together.
I spent the vast majority of the time thinking the love interest, Elliot, was a jerk and that Leo was just dumb and a bit pitiful. Ironically, she's called intelligent and witty throughout the book, and for most of it, she thinks Elliot is this smart, nice guy, when all evidence pointed to the contrary on all counts.
And the idea that her water filtration system not being used already is so far-fetched that I just can't wrap my head around it. How have they been getting water for 170 years if not by recycling it? We do that now on our space stations. They wouldn't have sent ships into orbit without a viable, renewable water source.
There are some pretty good LGBT+ characters, and to be honest, they were literally the only characters I cared about since they were the only halfway decent human beings in the book. I wanted more from them.
The production quality of the audiobook was good though.

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