The Stars We Steal

December 1, 2019

Gr 7 Up-This futuristic retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion follows Princess Leonie "Leo" Kolburg as she participates in the Valg Season, a ritual for young nobles from around the galaxy to find spouses. Leo's family has a title and a spaceship, but financial problems have put them at risk of losing both. Leo hopes to save her family with profits from her water filtration system design, but her father insists she find a wealthy husband. Leo's younger sister Carina and cousin Klara are more willing participants in the Valg. To earn money, the Kolburgs have rented out their spaceship to tourists, including Leo's ex-fiancé, Elliot, who left after she broke off the engagement due to her family's disapproval of his low status. Elliot has since become wealthy, and he becomes an object of affection for both Carina and Klara. Cue the flirting, scheming, bickering, secrets, misunderstandings, breakups, and makeups. Though romantic intrigue will keep readers turning pages, important plotlines involving a starving lower class are left unresolved. The ending is rushed and lacking. Feminists intrigued by Leo's scientific aspirations will be disappointed to find that her happy ending is, ultimately, marriage. Romance is primarily limited to flirting, dancing, and kissing. Teen characters frequently drink alcohol, which is accepted in their faux pre-Victorian high society. There is queer representation among secondary characters, including one asexual teen. VERDICT This soapy, slightly problematic romance is Jane Austen meets The Bachelor, told in space. A general purchase recommended for fans of Kiera Cass.-Liz Overberg, Zionsville Community High School, IN

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2019
For the second time in her life, Leo must choose between her family and true love. Nineteen-year-old Princess Leonie Kolburg's royal family is bankrupt. In order to salvage the fortune they accrued before humans fled the frozen Earth 170 years ago, Leonie's father is forcing her to participate in the Valg Season, an elaborate set of matchmaking events held to facilitate the marriages of rich and royal teens. Leo grudgingly joins in even though she has other ideas: She's invented a water filtration system that, if patented, could provide a steady income--that is if Leo's calculating Aunt Freja, the Captain of the ship hosting the festivities, stops blocking her at every turn. Just as Leo is about to give up hope, her long-lost love, Elliot, suddenly appears onboard three years after Leo's family forced her to break off their engagement. Donne (Brightly Burning, 2018) returns to space, this time examining the fascinatingly twisted world of the rich and famous. Leo and her peers are nuanced, deeply felt, and diverse in terms of sexuality but not race, which may be a function of the realities of wealth and power. The plot is fast paced although somewhat uneven: Most of the action resolves in the last quarter of the book, which makes the resolutions to drawn-out conflicts feel rushed. A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing. (Science fiction. 16-adult)

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December 1, 2019
Grades 8-12 Eighteen-year-old Leo claims the esteemed title of Princess, but she is only a princess in name. Her family is neck-deep in financial ruin, and the spaceship they own is rapidly falling apart. To save her family, her father is pressuring her to snag a rich young bachelor during a decadent courting season of opulent parties called the Valg. Leo, however, doesn't wish to marry for money and only grudgingly participates in the festivities. Her life is upended when the lower-class boy whom she once loved and whose proposal she rejected returns wealthy and more handsome than ever. Amidst the rampant lies and deceit of her high-society world, Leo falls for Elliot again, despite the risk of being left with a broken heart this time around. While the plot is simplistic in nature, Donne's complex characters, who are deeply flawed and human, more than make up for it. Similar in spirit to Brightly Burning (2018), which staged Jane Eyre in space, this novel takes its cues loosely from Jane Austen's Persuasion with shimmering success.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)