Sara Shepard is a bit hit/miss for me and this was a definite miss. I ended up not finishing the book at all because it was a struggle to get into it. Perhaps another read will be more enjoyable.

Review: 4 Stars

When I saw Sara Shepard’s latest novel was going to be coming out soon I jumped at the opportunity to get a review copy without even reading the blurb. In th past I have read some of Sara Shepard’s books and found them to be the perfect fluff reads. They had compelling plots and were filled with teenage girl drama. When I discovered that Reputation wasn’t a YA novel I almost didn’t want to read it. But I knew that I loved Sara Shepard’s stories, so I decided to give it a chance and I quickly found myself sucked in.

Reputation is certainly full of drama. The book was filled to the brim with scandals, lies and even murder. A university gets hacked and all of the emails are suddenly public, scandals, betrayal and lies all come to light and there is lots of drama. It was written from multiple women’s points of view that were all in first person, yet I didn’t get the characters confused because Sara Shepard wrote her characters well. The plot kept me guessing the whole time and there were so many incredibly well done plot twists. I couldn’t guess what would happen next, so I enjoyed the ride this story took me on with all of its twists and turns.

Parts of the story were so twisted and really gave off the psychological thriller vibe, which I really loved. But I felt like the ending wrapped up a little too neatly. Things worked out just a little too well that it didn’t feel completely real. I also got a bit of a poltical vibe, like the author was trying to get you to believe her political views and it was just a little much for me. The ending was really the only part that I didn’t really enjoy though.

Overall I can appreciate this book for what I wanted out of it. It was fun, fast and full of drama. This book was a quick and captivating read, which is exactly what I wanted it to be. I think the plot was pretty well done and that it was a perfect read for the mood that I was in.

This book started off a little confusing to me, I was having a hard time following all of the characters and how they all played a part in the story. About 25% through it was easier to follow all of the storylines and I was hooked! We start off with this massive hack that exposes your personal emails, this leads to a few shocking discoveries (some of them are even jaw-dropping)! This book is just packed with lies, betrayal, murder, and scandal after scandal. I'm going to say that most of these characters are selfish and I did not like them at all, but in true PLL fashion, it felt like you couldn't trust anyone! 

This book is SO twisty, just when I thought I had figured things out...something else was added in and had me second-guessing everything. I truly was shocked at the end revelation as it was a direction I didn't think the book was going in. If you're looking for an overly gossipy (think Gossip Girl) read, seriously pick this one up. It also touches on some heavy topics, but overall the book is really well done!
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I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Money, secrets, scandals, Reputation has it all.  I was intrigued by the premise of Reputation; thousands of personal and professional emails from a prestigious school are released by a hacker, and ifthat's not dangerous enough add in a murder. Sara Shepard offers readers an entertaining domestic suspense novel.  I was disappointed to find that I wasnt able to connect to any one particular character.  The many narrators voices were at times hard to follow and they began to seem two dimensional at best.  The pacing was even and the twists, though a bit predictable, were interesting. I can say I was entertained by Ms. Shepard.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Some unsavory truths come out about the students, faculty, and alums of Aldrich University after a hacker releases over 40,000 people’s emails on a database. Things escalate after Kit Manning’s husband, Dr. Greg Strasser, is murdered in their home after it is revealed that he had an affair. Kit’s younger sister Willa is an investigative reporter who decides to dig for information on her own. After all, Kit is the number one suspect and her memory of the night is fuzzy.

Although Reputation is not a top-tier book for me, it was highly entertaining. I finished it in less than 24 hours, which rarely happens these days. I liked that it followed multiple points of view, though most of which were white women in their 30s. I still think this book could appeal to younger adults or anybody who wants a reality TV feeling from the book.

Loved this one!!  It felt like a delicious, grown up version of  Pretty Little Liars.  Twisty, gossipy page turner-  I couldn't put it down!

Finally finished this book. It was a great psychological thriller but there were times the story just dragged on.

This is the woman who wrote the Pretty Little Liars series. Don't expect anything terribly ground-breaking. but do expect a guilty pleasure read.

Unfortunately this one didn’t work for me. I wasn’t interested enough in the characters to finish. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first began reading Reputation by Sara Shepard, but quickly I fell into the fast-paced storyline.

A hacker‘s secrets are exposed and many secrets are exposed!

Thanks to Netgalley and Dutton for the free copy. All opinions are my own

I LOVED this book. Shepard is a serious genius with weaving together mystery and confusion. The different POV's in this book were so compelling and drew me in. I couldn't stop reading and loved how everything tied together. Her adult debut gets 5 stars from me!

This book started out pretty good, but then got really boring and unrealistic in my opinion. I did love that Taylor Swift's Reputation album song names were the chapters of the book! There were just too many characters and it was really hard keeping them all straight! There were a lot of twists but they were really confusing, because of the fact the storyline was all over the place.

This book held a lot of promise for me and based on the description I thought it would be right up my alley. Unfortunately it read really juvenile and I was unable to force myself to finish it, despite my best efforts. DNF at 35%.

This book was very middle-of-the-road thriller and reminiscent of her Pretty Little Liars series. I wouldn't consider this to be an adult novel. Take out the couple of sexually explicit scenes, and this fits very easily into the young adult genre. Or leave them in and it's new adult. The only thing that I can think of that would make this an adult novel is that the main characters are adults generally. Unfortunately, I think this book really suffered from trying to do too much. I ended up being far more interested in the subplots than you know the hack and MURDER?! Also I firmly believe that she solved the hack as an afterthought when the author realized that she still had that loose end hanging around. Willa felt like a teenager rather than a 30-something year old woman. And as a lover of crime procedurals, I found the ending especially frustrating. 

Narrow the scope. Beef up the characters. Make this the YA novel you were writing to begin with.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

In true Sara Shepard fashion, I couldn't put this down. Fun, smart, witty, intriguing. I loved every character and I loved the story. Sara Shepard has a way of writing YA that makes me (at 33 years old) feel like I'm 22 again. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Ok, I should start by saying that I love Pretty Little Liars, even though I am 35. I guess it's my "guilty pleasure" show. This book was along the same vein of dark, twisty, and scandalous, but amplified! I loved it, and will definitely purchase it for my library. 

Thank you to Net Galley for a chance to read and review this ARC.

#FirstLine ~ Maybe you got it at birth.

Shepard tackles very deep and complex issues and does so with respect and honor. There are multi-layer characters and thrills that keep you on the edge of your seat in this fast paced and heart racing book. There is so much depth and intensity that caused me to lose track of time and get lost within the story. Shepard has continued to create stories that allow us to escape from life and get lost in stories that we cannot turn away from or stop reading. Now more than ever these types of intensely written stories help us leave reality and get lost in an amazing books! A must read!

I read a thriller/murder mystery after a long time and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. The story kept opening up like a flower blooming, there were so many layers and so much hidden. The author initially wrote this for TV and I think it will be perfect for a Netflix series.