Title: Reputation
Author: Sara Shepard
Publisher: Penguin Group Dutton
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"Reputation" by Sara Shepard

My Speculation:

What a good read with a fascinating plot with twists and turns all over the place. We are given a story with at least a five-points of view from Kit, Lynn, Raina, Laur, and Walla. This will be a long story, so you will have to keep up with who is who with these characters and a few more that will keep you turning the pages as you go from chapter to the next section. Be ready with what happens at this prestigious Aldrich University, where emails are hacked and secrets being revealed.

Along with all of that, we will see how 'scandals, blackmail, illicit romances, and even kinky sex' will be told that will lead to murder. Be ready for a little bit of it all as we go through a 'major scandal, crazy lies, secrets, and wild twists' all over the place that will keep you guessing right up till the end. I enjoyed how this author summed up everything at the end and didn't leave us hanging!

Thank you to NetGalley for my e-arc of this book.

This definitely felt like a Sara Shepard book - it was like an adult version of the <i>Pretty Little Liars</i> books, which I'm saying as neither an insult or a compliment, just a fact. I didn't mind it so much when it was teenagers being judge-y and materialistic, but I'm not ready for middle-aged characters talking the same way. Either way, I think I've officially outgrown Sara Shepard, or simply haven't aged into her adult books, and I'm done with her.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book, could you imagine if the world saw every email or exchange you ever had?? Yikes! The characters were well thought out and relatable. The only thing i didn't like is that they never explained who made the anonymous phone call..

This book sucked me in and spit me right out! From the very beginning to the very end I was nothing but invested. The thing is, the concept is nothing crazy. I mean really think about it. We ALL live online, maybe in different ways, but online nonetheless. I’m not necessarily a conspiracy theorist but do I believe that my emails or text messages are exempt to someone of a higher authority, absolutely not. I genuinely believe our “privacy” is minimal in today’s age and if you are at work or school then kiss that privacy goodbye.

With that said, given the era we are in (celebrities paying for their kids to get into Ivy League schools, Hilary Clinton’s emails, Jeffrey Epstein, etc.) to have 40,000 peoples emails hacked at an Ivy League school doesn’t seem as daunting as it might have been in the past. I mean, do we really still think that some of these things aren’t going on?

Anyway, this book was excellent. In true Sara Shepard fashion, she had me wanting more! It was like watching an episode of reality TV unfold. She crafted real-life characters that I both loved and hated. The best way to describe this book is like a car wreck. You see it happen, you have all sorts of emotions, but you can’t help but continue to watch it (or read it). I mean that in a good way, not the best analogy, but it is true!

You may have heard of Sara Shepard. She is the creator of Pretty Little Liars, you know, the series that sucked me in as senior in H.S. (2010) all the way through early adulthood (2017). Sara, if you’re reading this… I dropped my required Plant Biology class in college for you because it was at 7 PM on Tuesdays.

I don’t think I can say enough good things about this book. I read it, then listened to it. Still just as good. If you are a fan of PLL, this book has the same emotions and drama, but it has grown up. Definitely unputdownable.

This one started out strong for me. But about a third of the way through or so it started to go downhill. I think the many different POVs got to be confusing and too much for the story. Perhaps told in maybe only 3 POVs the story would have been more fluid and enjoyable.

Story was good I just seemed to have a tough time getting into this one. Typically, I race through Sara Shepherd's books and am hooked from the start. Maybe it is just me but I just didn't connect it.

Reputation was highly recommended to me by other advance readers, and the premise promised a lot of potential. Unfortunately for me, this story fell flat. I’m a fan of Pretty Little Liars and read a few when my daughter was obsessed with them.

The idea of a major school hack was engaging and started strong. Soon into the book however, I knew it wasn’t for me. The many, too many, characters fell into clichéd roles and there was too much predictable happenstance. From the kinky club, to the scam artist friend and the “tampered” drink…it was just too much to believe. The “killer” wasn’t hard to deduce either.

Perhaps my expectations were too high due to the personal recommendation, because plenty of reviewers highly enjoyed this book. Sadly, I was not one of them. I did read it from cover to cover though…always waiting for the story to turn in a way that would work for me.

I am a fan since Pretty Little Liars was very intrigued by Reputation to find out who the murderer was in this one. Aldrich University has an email hacker dumping 40,000 people's e-mails onto an easily searchable database. Rumors and affairs immediately leak, and Dr. Strasser is found murdered. There was good character depth as it is told from five POV from five women. However, it is difficult to keep track who is who at the beginning.

This is a pretty average thriller but there were way too many characters and a couple of choices the author made that are pet peeves of mine. If the characters in this book had been cut down by half the sense of urgency and suspense would have been much higher. Instead we got caught up in everyone's drama, some of which was so convoluted that I started to not care about who killed Greg. The book also got very preachy towards the end which I don't like. The message behind the book is a good one but it is such a turn off when an author doesn't let their story speak for itself. Be confident and show the reader your message without the need to spell it out. Which also happened with the ending. The ending was pretty self explanatory but yet we had pages and chapters explaining everything to us. I already didn't care about who the killer was and this book left a bad taste in my mouth when Shepard felt the need to spend so much time explaining her story.

Wow - Great read with some amazing plot twists! My only concern is that a particular women's fraternity may find issue with a rapey fraternity with the same name (called both Omega Chi and the reverse in the book). But other than that - what a crazy story!

This classic “who done it” had me guessing who murdered Dr. Greg Strasser until the very end. I was blown away by the character depth of this book. It’s told from the POV of five women, which seems like a lot of characters to keep track of, but it’s done well and easy to distinguish who is who. The story line of a hack at a major university exposing everyone’s secrets seems all too real for this decade and immediately enticed me. As a warning to the reader, there are some sensitive subjects covered, including some #MeToo content. I devoured this book and am left wanting more!

In the interests of honesty I received an ARC through Netgalley. I read a lot of young adult books and was familiar with Sara Shepard from the Pretty Little Liars series. I read the first one and thought reading her first foray into adult fiction might be a good match.

Surprisingly, I did not enjoy the book. It seemed like it was just a slightly different story from Pretty Little Liars. Instead of high school students in a small Pennsylvania community it was set at an Ivy level university. Instead of text messages from a "dead" classmate it was a hack publishing emails from the university's server. But the story was very much one I had read before from Sara Shepard.

I read a lot of adult mysteries and thrillers and enjoy having surprises and plot twists. This seemed overdone and was not really very exciting or thrilling. Just too overdone in my opinion.

I really enjoyed this book! Intriguing characters and storyline kept the pages turning! Who among us isn't terrified of having our private emails exposed? When that happens at the prestigious Aldrich University so many secrets are revealed. Scandals at every turn and murder! Twists and turns kept me guessing right up to the end! Another page Turner by Sara Shepard!!

Okay, wow, this is the book I am going to be thinking of when someone mentions “juicy drama and gossip”! I feel like Shepard is the best person to write these type of books – after all she’s the mastermind behind Pretty Little Liars, which sadly I have not read before, but I watched the show. Even the title “Reputation” perfectly mirrors the plot. Just how far will you go to protect yours?

Straight off the bat, if you’re not a fan of multiple perspective books, do not pick this up. There are 5 (!!!) perspectives in this book and I will admit that initially I was super confused about who’s who, but the further along I went, the better I got at recognising the backstories and names and it all just clicked in my head. I can only compare the plot of “Reputation” to those massive murder boards they have in thriller films and series – you know the kind with maps, photos, pins and thread to show connections between each character. I was constantly creating one of those in my head as I was reading the story and it was fascinating!

The story begins when an elite school, Aldrich University, gets hacked and everyone’s emails get leaked. Everyone everywhere is reading them and everyone’s reputation comes crashing down. Things turn ugly for one of the protagonists, Kit Manning, when her husband’s emails are exposed and later he’s found dead. Kit’s sister, Willa, arrives in town and immediately knows something’s not right – she begins investigating, and needs to hurry, as the killer is still on the loose. Kit then starts receiving anonymous text messages – is she going to be the next victim?

The plot is fast paced and FULL to the brim with twists and turns of action, some of which you never expect. However, I did figure out who the killer was, but I was still shocked at the turn of events in this book. What a wild ride! I personally couldn’t find any plot holes in the story – to me, everything flowed really well and the loose ends were tied up in the end. The plot

I’m not going to talk much about the characters as there’s just so many of them. Each comes with an interesting backstory, each could be the killer, each has something to lose.

The only reason this is not 5 stars is because of the number of characters and how confusing it was sometimes to know who’s who – I even made notes on the names and one word to describe who they were. However, with the way the plot is constructed, I recognise they were all needed in order to tell the story. Upon further deliberation, I can totally see how the plot is super similar to PLL – multiple characters, a mysterious death, a killer on the loose, anonymous messages, etc. This was still a fan, fast paced read that I enjoyed thoroughly. Recommended if you’re a fan of murder mysteries and a good “whodunnit”!

Aldrich University is rocked to its core when a hacker dumps 40,000 people's e-mails—the entire faculty, staff, students, alums—onto an easily searchable database. Rumors and affairs immediately leak, but things take a turn when Kit Manning's handsome husband, Dr. Greg Strasser, is found murdered. Kit's sister, Willa, returns for the funeral, and as an investigative reporter, Willa knows something isn't right about the night Greg was killed. What she doesn't expect is that everyone has something to hide. And with a killer on the loose, Willa and Kit must figure out who killed Greg before someone else is murdered. review: If you're looking for a book that's a page turner full of twists, secrets & drama, be sure to pick up this book! I loved that the book starts off with a bang and the twists don't stop until the very last chapter. It's told in alternating perspectives, which I always appreciate in a "whodunit" book. This book dives into society and how we tend to care too much about what others think about us and how it fuels our decisions. It also dives into the #metoo movement. Trigger warnings: death, sexual abuse, rape. rating: 4 out of 5 ⭐️

I've been a big fan of Sara Shephard since her Pretty Little Liars series, but Reputation just fell a little short to me. I think it's got a fascinating premise and is extremely relevant, but I had a hard time following all of the different points of view.

This book had the potential to be good. However, too many perspectives muddled the storyline and, with some unnecessary red herrings, the story could have been chopped a few chapters. Honestly, with as many perspectives, I cannot believe I did not root for anyone. Oh well.

Decent read; although, I'll probably forget the basics of this tale at the beginning of the year. 2.5/5

Thank you netgalley for this book. I really enjoyed reading this! The story was quick paced and unpredictable. I read it in 2 days, and stayed up way too late to finish it! I will for sure be reading more of Sara Shepard.

Holy Moley! How did Sara Shepard keep track of all the various sneaky and conniving characters in this book? I’d love to see her organization system. There was so much going on in this book, blackmail, murder, hacking of university systems, illicit romances, and kinky sex. Great reading, but boy am I tired after reading the book.

I actually bought this book the day it came out and then received an ARC a few days later after I had read it, so this review is based on buying and receiving as an ARC. This was the first book I have read by this author though I enjoyed her TV series based on her books. The book was fast moving and written well, but it was not a standout book for me.

A hacker exposes all the emails for a college and the college town and the college start to go to dramatic shambles from everything that is brought to life. Immediately after, Kit's husband is murdered. But who did it? There are so many suspects as more secrets are exposed. Her sister Willa comes to be with her after the murder and she is a journalist who decides to dig deeper.

It is told from multiple POV and there are quite a few twists in there. It asks the question how far will we go to keep our secrets?

If you are looking for an easy beach read or plane ride read, this would be a good pick.