Reputation is Pride and Prejudice meets Mean Girls meets Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl. While it was a slow start for me I fell in love with the characters and their rise and fall throughout their summer in Regency Era England. Reputation shows that serious issues like substance abuse, depression and sexual assault have unfortunately been around forever and we got a glimpse into how these topics would be handed centuries ago. Also, we see that there has always been peer pressure and the struggle to find your place in this world.

Based on the premise alone I really should have fallen head over heels in love with this story and the characters, but something about the writing never hooked me into the story. Unfortunately, I found it dreadfully boring and struggled to get through it.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an e-copy!

Reputation provides an interesting take and perspective on the regency era - one that I personally haven't seen yet in other novels. Though I was a little uncertain and hesitant about it in the beginning, I was curious to find out what would happen next about a third of the way in. This book features imperfect and flawed characters, but I personally found it difficult to root for any of them. All in all, I found it to be a quick read that satisfied my historical fiction mood.

3.5

I really enjoyed this book, however I wouldn’t say it’s a romcom or really a historical fiction as it isn’t historically accurate.

Now this is now something that bothers me, however, I do want to alert other readers who are looking for historical fiction books, this may not be what you expect.

I would describe this book as more of mean girls meets Bridgeton. As someone who is a fan of the show, I wanted to read this book.

Although this book is marketed as YA, and reads very YA, I will say there are some heavy themes throughout the book that I have not typically seen within this genre.

My one critique of this book is the one friend of color trope. It’s very bothersome. It feels as though this character was only placed in the story to give the book diversity and to help the main characters story move forward. I’m not against characters of color in books; however, it needs to be done well with lots of thought for me to enjoy it.

With that being said I liked the book, didn’t love it. If you’re some one enjoys fast paced books, with some historical fiction with a side of romance, you would enjoy this book. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

Mean girls meets gossip girl set in the Bridgerton era? Yes please. I loved how this felt both modern but added themes of womanhood, friendship and family in the Bridgerton era. It was a fun quick read that was hard to put down at parts!

This is a mashup of Jane Austen novels with the added drug use, partying and sexuality of Gossip Girl and the meanness of Mean Girls. This cover makes it look much cheerier and optimistic than it is, which makes the sexual assault more jarring. This was pretty grim.

This book was a good book. It was a little slow in places but definitely got better the more I read. George is lonely and suddenly finds herself among the popular crowd. But at what cost? Thomas Hawksley seems to constantly be rescuing George. But finds he doesn't really like her when she is with her friends.

Romance blossoms as the two spend time alone. A good book about learning who you want to be.

“It all began at a party, as almost everything of interest does.”

Do you like Jane Austen? Do you like Mean Girls? If so, you’ll most likely enjoy Reputation.
Georgiana starts as most regency heroines do - a little bit bored and with hardly an money to her name. But all that changes one summer when she befriends the strikingly beautiful and obscenely wealthy Frances Campbell, who allows Georgiana into her world of the elite, where the members are above restraints of early 1800s society and hardly anything is off limits.
It’s also how she comes to know Mr. Thomas Hawksley - a tall, dark, stoic, and exceptionally wealthy man who also turns out to be exceedingly kind… you get where this is going.
This book was such a fun read and definitely put a different spin on your normal regency era romance. You can definitely see where both Austen’s novels, as well as their movie adaptations, have a hand in much of the story’s inspiration. The characters are fun and interesting, and the writing is funny and witty. (I personally laughed out loud several times while reading.)

This book is a historical fiction that takes the humor of Mean Girls and the drama of Gossip Girls. While it was hilarious at times, there were some dark themes introduced, so check the trigger warning.

Georgiana moves to a new town, after being abandoned by her parents. Here she meets Frances and is immediately introduced to the "indecent " behavior during a time when reputation is the only thing that matters.

This character-driven novel was a rollercoaster, as Georgiana tries to find where she belongs while making subjectively and obliviously bad choices. At times this journey was frustrating but you grow to love all the characters and their stories.

Thank you, Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press, for this eArc!

Coming straight off the high of Bridgerton Season 2, this was exactly the kind of read I needed in my life! This book was pitched as a regency era Gossip Girl/Mean Girls vibe and that is so accurate!

From the beginning, the cleverness of the narrator and the witty dialogue just captured my attention.

I loved the inclusion of diverse characters. The general lack of diversity has always been a pain point for me with historical romance, so this was just such a breath of fresh air.

There were moments that got surprisingly dark (definite trigger warnings for rape and sexual assault) but I think the author handled those topics well.

Overall, I had a such a great time with this read and would recommend it for fans of Netflix’s Bridgerton adaptation!

I loved Mean Girls and a mashup between Mean Girls and Jane Austen sounded like a great idea. And it was!

I loved this historical novel. I didn't think it was exactly a romcom as there were some darker threads in the story. But it was also fun and I laughed my way through it. I sincerely wanted a cocktail, as well. ;-)

Georgia Ellers is sent to live with her fussy aunt and uncle as her parents take a break from her? Or their lives. Georgiana is bored out of her mind until she meets Frances Campbell at a party. The two become fast friends and "George" is thrilled with being included in the wild life of her new, extremely wealthy friends.

Reputation is an excellent debut novel. I absolutely loved how funny and entertaining it was!

I've seen this book described as a mix of Mean Girls and Bridgerton and I couldn't have said it better myself! Georgiana just wants to fit in and makes a some mistakes along the way, but you get to see her character grow because of it. This was a fun read about a girl finding herself in a world that is different than anything she's ever known and how she navigates her way through it.

Do yourself a favor and read the acknowledgments at the end of the book. I know sometimes they're overlooked, but this was amazing. This novel portrays a multiculural Regency Britain, which is more accurate than the whitewashed version the media usually portrays.

"Now it's time to roll up my sleeves and acknowledgment the hell out of some people." Go Lex Croucher!!

I basically binge watched the Bridgerton series again and have major hangover vibes, so this book was the perfect antidote for that!

What a fun book to get lost in, and that cover!! Love it! The banter was awesome with witty writing and the best characters to go along with the ride. Perfect for historical drama fans!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the earc in return for an honest review.

I went in with really high hopes for this, marketed as mean girls meets Bridgerton and I would say it delivered but not in the way I hoped. The girls were mean but I didn't really find they redeemed themselves at all. I know the point of the book was for young ladies to be pushing the bounds of propriety, however the extent that they did and got away with seemed wholly unrealistic for the regency era. I was expecting there to me some more saphhic love as well but that romance was very much in the background and we hardly saw it. My favorite aspect were the moments between Georgiana and Thomas though I did not feel she deserved him.

Literally everyone in this book is kind of an asshole, which is, eh. I enjoyed the romance subplot a lot. I don’t watch Bridgerton or engage with a lot of Regency stuff, so I have no opinion on any of that; I thought the audiobook narrator was very good. I read about half of this via audiobook and then finished it via ebook, both of which I got from NetGalley, and I think they’re both good ways to experience the book! The narrator isn’t so incredible that you MUST read it via audiobook (UNLESS maybe you are a really intense Bridgerton fan).

Three stars because I would toss all of the characters into a lake. And not in an interesting or fun way.

Reputation is basically if Mean Girls took place in the Regency-era. I’ve been on a Bridgerton kick recently so I really wanted this to build on my current obsession. I did run into a problem though. I find it hard to get into books where the characters aren’t likeable. The main character in this book is coming from a very sheltered, proper upbringing and is then thrust into a world of drinking, drugs, and “inproper” behavior. Obviously, our heroine partakes and chaos ensues. The romance aspect of the book felt forced at times, there just didn’t seem to be a good reason why her love interest was even entertaining her with the way she was behaving for most of their interactions. At one point they start writing to each other, which finally got me behind their budding relationship. I’m definitely team Thomas all the way, he is a sweet cinnamon roll and I love him. For me, this was a 3/5.

If you too are getting over your Bridgerton slump or are a huge fan of Mean Girls, you should try this one out.

I received a digital copy of this book free from St. Martin's Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A witty historical romp through female friendships and coming of age would have been great fun, but, unfortunately, almost all of the characters were hard to like. I can sympathize with Georgiana's boredom and feeling of being trapped, and her parents certainly were awful, but she mostly came across as petulant and ungrateful. While she does experience some growth, it wasn't enough to redeem her into someone I was rooting for. I'm sorry to say this was a miss for me.

Content warning: sexual assault

Lex Croucher is an undeniably talented writer who creates a fallible, but still lovable main character in George Ellers. George finds herself alone and bored in a new town and falls upon a group of hard partying, bored rich kids full of ennui, drama, and petty cruelty. It felt a bit like reading desperate housewives set in the regency era.

Rare for romance novels, Croucher doesn't really get the romance going until halfway through the book and to the grave disappointment of my inner slut, the couple never has on-page sex. In truth, the book suffered a bit of an identity crisis--a coming of age tale? A romance? A redemption? It felt like our hero was woefully underdeveloped by comparison to George. Croucher shied away from trying to have George evolve out of her past life and into her new one, as if she'd been in a fever dream and then fallen out of it. I'd hoped we might have an interesting telling of how George blended her extroverted present with her introverted past, instead of a reversion, but oh well.

Croucher develops an interesting cast of characters, though it's hard to keep them all straight. The supporting cast occasionally stole the narrative--was this George's book or Francis' tale of woe? In not shying away from women's cruelty, Croucher creates textured characters who feel more authentic than the saintly heroines of older romances. I appreciate her willingness to let our heroine be scandalous and mean and innocent and conflicted. The trope of the appallingly-innocent-book-nerd-meets-society has been beaten to death, resurrected, then shot again for good measure. It's rare to find a take on it that doesn't make me roll my eyes in frustration.

I appreciated Croucher giving George power in the narrative by using her empathy and listening as a salve to the hero's woes.

Our villain, Jeremiah, was a bit too much of a caricature without a back story of his own. While he was a loathsome turd, I found his final acts a bit too melodramatic; I wanted more from an author of Croucher's talent.

Overall, I'd recommend the this, with hesitation. It's a great character study, but leaves quite a bit lacking as a romance novel.

I wanted to like this book so much. I found Frances to be annoying and hated her relationship with Georgiana. It was more Riverdale than Regency romp. I’m sure there will be so many people who love this book, but it wasn’t the right book for me.

In the last year or so I’ve been trying to shake up my reading habits – more diversity in the authors I read, reading lighter and more upbeat things to balance out the heavier themes I lean towards. I thought that Lex Croucher’s Reputation would fall into the ‘lighter’ category and there were many moments when it was a light read… but it wasn’t as light as the description led me to believe. The premise also leaned harder into tropes I find frustrating but at least it didn’t all go quite as dark as it could have and it ended in a more hopeful, optimistic place. There’s certainly plenty to appreciate in the ways it turns the expectations fostered by its description and setting on their heads, so even if I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped, it didn’t feel like a waste of time. If nothing else, it was interesting to see Croucher’s take on what an un-whitewashed Regency England looks like.

Georgiana has been shipped off to stay with her aunt and uncle in the country while her parents remove to the coast in hopes of the change improving her mother’s health. Though she finds her aunt’s attentions tedious and the company she keeps boring, Georgiana unexpectedly makes a friend during a dull gathering. Frances is the younger daughter of the wealthy Lord and Lady Campbell and she has a penchant for ignoring the rules of polite society if they impede her fun. Sweeping Georgiana into her close group of friends, what Frances says, goes even if it means Georgiana lying to her aunt about unchaperoned parties, getting blackout drunk and experimenting with unknown mind-altering substances. It is while under the influence that Georgiana meets Mr. Thomas Hawksley who immediately catches her fancy and who seems to like her too, though he seems less than impressed by her behavior and the company she keeps. When the behavior Frances inspires clashes with what Georgiana understands and feels to be right, she needs to decide which is worth more to her – her sense of personal integrity or her new friends.

If in the late 1990s/early 2000s there was a trend of reimagining classic literature like Austen and Shakespeare by placing it in a modern, high school setting, Reputation feels like the inverse – a modern high school drama full of cliques but interpreted through a Regency setting. All the reasons I find the characters and events in those novels frustrating are present and accounted for in Reputation but that’s also more a matter of personal taste than anything to do with the quality of the novel itself. If I had known that would take up so much of the story in Reputation, I might have skipped it altogether.

What ultimately saved the novel for me was that – as dark as the novel got – it was dialed back in hopeful and realistic ways. Too often novels that delve into the highs and lows of debauchery just get darker and darker, almost glorying in the downfall and suffering of the characters involved. I’ve never found stories with so much focus on drunken escapades and experimenting with drugs and the subsequent reckless behavior to be entertaining (perhaps because I never found drinking to excess or drugs alluring or exciting personally…) so I don’t feel much more than bored and annoyed when stories focus so much on the downward spiral and either end with the character resolving to put their life back together or whatever or they add a time jump epilogue to when they’ve made a decent start or have gotten themselves out of the hole. I find the climb out much more compelling than the fall and Reputation did a better job than most at showing someone who was at least trying not to fall (rather than gleefully giving in) and made solid strides toward improvement through the final act of the novel.

Reputation will be available in the US on April 5, 2022.