This was totally Mean Girls crossed with Gossip Girl and Bridgerton! The writing is sharp, clever and very saucy, and wow, are the parties out of control. I loved every second of this scandalous regency romp and I really hope it gets made into a TV series!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the copy to review.

I struggled - big time - in the beginning with this one. Maybe it was just my mood at the time? However, I'm not the type of person that can start something and not see it through to the end. I'm glad that I did. It did get better. This was funny with 'Mean Girls' vibes.

I enjoyed this but not as much as I hoped to. I found the ending to be somewhat unsatisfying and the pacing a bit weird, too long in general.

What would you do to feel like you belong? This book asks that question through the story of Georgiana Ellers. Georgiana's parents have recently sent her to live with her aunt and uncle. Normally a quiet, bookish type, Georgiana is anxious to make friends and meet people. She runs in with Frances and her loud, colorful, rowdy friends. While Georgiana had never been one to bend the rules, she finds Frances and her freedoms intoxicating and soon finds herself at unchaperoned parties full of drinking, kissing, and all manner of unspeakable things.

Throughout the book, Georgiana begins to question her actions and beliefs as she sees Frances herself get into trouble situations as well as seeing uncertain glances from the handsome Thomas Hawksley. Thomas has seen what excessive drinking can do as he's dealing with the recent loss of his brother. She also sort of accidentally befriends a quiet outsider and finds that while Frances and her friends ridicule her in a very mean girl way, Georgiana can't help but acknowledge that she's just so darn nice. Georgiana must decide what is taking it all too far.

This books not only takes on the mean girl aspect of finding your way as a young adult, it also tackles themes of domestic abuse and sexual assault. It can be quite hard to read at times, so readers should be aware of they may be triggered. I thought that Georgiana's journey in finding her way was realistic and relatable to many young adults today. I did laugh many times throughout the book and would recommend this to anyone looking for a different type of historical young adult romance.

Reputation by Lex Croucher has been dubbed a mix of Bridgertons and Mean Girls.

For me, I am not a fan of aristocratic period pieces of fiction. I thought I would give this one a try, since it had the mean girls edge and I hoped it would change my opinion on a deeper satirical level.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. Although, I can understand why this is an extremely popular genre and a popular book if you enjoy that era.

CW: Sexual assault/harassment, absentee parents, and alcoholism death

I received a reviewer copy of Reputation by Lex Croucher from the publisher St. Martin's Press from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Georgiana Ellers has moved to a new town with her boring aunt and uncle, when her mother's nerve act up and her parents must move to the sea shore. At a dull party, Georgiana meets Frances Campbell, a party girl who is everything improper and fun. Suddenly Georgiana is part of this rompous group and becomes further and further in the party/scandalous culture.

What I Loved: This book is kind of a wild time and I liked it for that at times, its like watching a regency reality tv show. Like have you ever wondered what The Hills would be like as a regency era television show (I know this is impossible) but you get my point. I also liked Georgiana's romance with the side character and wish we had seen more of this.

What I didn’t like so much: Okay, when I say this book was like a reality show of rich kids partying nonstop, I mean it. There are lots of problematic behaviors and cruelty. The bullying of one of the 'uncool' kids was not enjoyable and made this books rough at times. This is bad people behaving badly and a kind character being drawn into the darkside (as in Mean Girls) and at times reading that can be unfortunate and challenging, but look this is just what happens with a Regency Mean Girls book, so there's that.

Who Should Read It: People who loved Mean Girls and wondered what if it was set during regency times?

Summary: A girl is taken in by a bunch of rich party-ers in regency era Britain.

Loved it! Familiar trope but super funny, I really enjoyed it! No spoilers here, I highly recommend!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I definitely see and understand the hype behind this novel- it was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed the read, it was funny and sharp the whole way through!

If your a fan of bridgerton and Jane Austen this is the book for you. These characters are wonderful. I also loved all the small references to things. Can’t wait to read Lex Crouchers next book.

I loved this. I loved how messy everyone was. It's clearly meant to be a Mean Girls retelling, and I think that's a way better comp than the Gossip Girl comp they have in the descriptive copy. It gets very dark at the end, and that sobers you up from all the frolicking in the first half of the book.

Thank you to Lex Croucher, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to receive the ARC for Reputation. This was a fun drama filled book. It was very interesting to see the ways that the fictionalized Regency era was so similar to a modern day high school. There was drama about boys and popularity and it was overall a very interesting read.

I loved this story! The unorthodox parties, the challenging subject matter and cast of characters kept me invested. I can’t wait to share this book with my friends and read more from Lex Croucher!

Content warning - sexual assault

So you say you love Bridgerton but you want something a little more snarky? Then this is the book for you!

I truly enjoyed the addition of overindulgence, naughty behavior, and crude language to the Regency era vibe. Whatever that says about me, I'm fine with it. This book is the perfect combination of trendy historical fun and modern-day feminism and sensibilities. I loved the friendships and the love interests. The witty banter was on point. I highly recommend this book. It was a great time!

This book wasn't for me. I liked the idea of it but I didn't love the story line. I felt a touch bored.

Reputation is a mash up of means Girls meets Bridgerton meets Anna K. I actually enjoyed way more than I anticipated.

This was delightful! A queer regency mean girls is the perfect description for this novel. In the age of the Bridgerton show, I feel like there should be more alternative historical romances and novels. We need more authors willing to give voices to people in history that were not able to have their voices heard.

This is definitely a historical gossip girl/mean girls and I think it works really well. Georgiana is my favorite kind of heroine, she quirky and sweet and dives head first into this decadent regency world. There’s characters of various sexualities and ethnicities and I want more of this in my regency romances please and thank you!

I recommended this for fans of Bridgerton and authors like Alexis Hall, people who like witty banter and pretty people acting naughty. So excite to see what this author does next!

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

REPUTATION
By Lex Croucher

I enjoyed Reputation, the debut historical fiction romance novel by Lex Croucher about high society, belonging, and friendships.

Reputation is a hilarious Regency Era Romance that deals with teams so timely to modern times, I guess not much has changed with the way Mean Girls can be. Haha!
I enjoyed reading the novel through the eyes of our main character, Georgina Ellers whose life suddenly takes a turn and moving to a new town and making new friends, getting exposed to the new and unfamiliar - the introverted voracious reader and experiencing first loves and interests. It is really about Georgina’s journey in her young adult life navigating traditions, rules, and the society that just may not be quite ready for her. I loved the witty and easy writing of this book - I really enjoyed it.

I have mixed feelings on this book. While I didn’t love it, i didnt hate it. I just struggled trying to connect with the story and characters itself

I didn’t finish this book. It could not hold my attention. It was impossible to follow all the characters and I couldn’t stay invented in it. I DNFed at 40%.