Review: The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne
SYNOPSIS:
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.
REVIEW:
I had such high hopes as I started this book. I was craving a YA fantasy and this stand-alone sounded promising. But this story completely missed the mark for me. While the synopsis is enticing and the cover is gorgeous, by about 50% in the book I was bored, and by the end, I was just glad it was over.
Leo and Elliot have tricky history and reuniting after 3 years seems to bring out the worst in each of them. But while I was hoping for tension fading into them rekindling their love…that wasn’t the case. The book is 98% Elliot and Leo arguing, fighting, throwing down words that will hurt, keeping secrets, judging each other, and angst. So much angst and anger between these two that I was drowning in it. Which didn’t make for an enjoyable book at all. Things become transparent between them in a matter of chapters and then the book ends. There was no satisfaction in their relationship and honestly, I wish they didn’t even get back together after almost 400 pages of drama.
The storyline outside of the relationship is gripping. I loved the mystery aspect and you never truly knew who the bad guy was. There were hints and clues but once everything was revealed, it was a little shocking to say the least. But Leo as a character is so dramatic and annoying that its hard to overlook her and find redeemable points in plot. I love a fantasy that can transport me to another world but we hardly even hear anything about space during this story unless it somehow plays into Leo’s dramatics. This book was just a complete miss for me.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
