You’ve read those books and seen those movies about high school students who were just too cool for school. You know, the ones where they would sneak liquor into high school dances and then sneak out to hang out or pair off? Now, imagine if that clique existed in Jane Austen times, with the upper class ladies sneaking liquor (and other substances) into dinner parties and dances and sneaking out unchaperoned into gardens, and you’ve got Reputation.

Reputation was a fun and ironic reimagining of the Jane Austen style comedy of mannners, which explored what it would be like if a proper middle class lady tried to hang for a summer with the elite of society who were wealthy enough to be outside the bounds of propriety. The trigger warnings/content warnings include off-page rape and on-page attempted rape.

Although, I don’t think I would have liked it as much if it weren’t for the proper British female narrator. She made the book sound exactly like a Jane Austen comedy of manners. She was deadpan for the entire book, which made the improprieties stand out even more and be even more laughable. In that way, it reminded me of the audiobook for Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies, which kept me snickering and chuckling the whole way through.

I received this book as a digital advance reader copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion. Now that I have the fabulous narrator’s voice in my head, I’m leaning toward picking up a printed copy to see what that experience is like.

This was such a fun Rom-com. You can tell from the cover you are getting Gossip Girl/Mean Girl vibes in a Bridgerton/Austen era.

It was fast paced enough that I kept going back to see what ridiculous things the socialites were going to get up to, and while I anticipated a lot of what our main character Georgiana Ellers would experience and eventually come up against, (peer pressure, lies told to spend time with dubious company and late nights Turing into early mornings before sneaking home) it was a entertaining enough plot to keep me an interested reader.

I loved the modern solutions and attitudes placed withing the historic settings and conversation. It was delightful and engaging. I felt sad that it was over but enjoyed how the story was wrapped up.

This book is like Downton Abbey, if all hell broke loose. Just when I thought things couldn't get any more wild, I was so wrong. While it drug on just a but in the middle and rushed to a conclusion, I still enjoyed it. ⭐⭐⭐ the audio was very well done.

I really enjoyed Reputation, but I have to admit that it isn't what I expected it to be! Going in, I thought I was just getting your run of the mill regency drama, but this book went a lot deeper. It explored modern themes through a regency-era backdrop, which was a pretty interesting way to go about it!

Things I enjoyed:
-It was so witty, I found myself laughing out loud at party.
-BETTY. What a gem.

Things I didn't enjoy:
-Georgiana was confusing at times. She acted completely naive and ignorant at times but then at other times she intentionally tried to make scandalous jokes at the dinner table with her aunt and uncle?

I really appreciated how this book showed some pretty realistic aftermath of a friendship falling out, too. I don't want to spoil anything, but that was refreshing to me. If you like Pride and Prejudice, Mean Girls, Bridgerton, etc...I think you'll enjoy this a lot!

(TW for rape)

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an early listen in exchange for an honest review!

Snarky fun! A bit of Bridgerton. A bit of Mean Girls. A really well-drawn audiobook narration. I had a lot of fun with this!

This was an enjoyable historical fiction. Georgina who recently moved in with her aunt and uncle meets a new friend Frances. Frances and her friends are all very wealthy and do not follow the rules of Victorian life. Georgina who herself is middle class finds herself at parties unchaperoned and engaging in drugs and drinking until mean girl Frances gets jealous and tries to ruin her life. This book is like the Mean Girls of the Victorian Era.

This was an interesting concept. It was a very modern take on a regency romance. I didn’t like that it took so long for the book to introduce the hero, and even then it wasn’t until closer to the end that I was even able to figure out which way the heroine was going. I felt like it needed way more interaction between the two and more steam from them. The book did hit on some powerful topics, which was great. Not sure how historically accurate they would have been. Overall not a terrible read, but also not my favorite.

Well this book is like regency Mean Girls. It is an interesting approach to a coming of age romance that's for sure. This book has all the makings for a lighthearted romance but don't let the cover fool you. This has some difficult scenes and topics throughout the book. Their are difficult friendships, sexual assault, peer pressure, grief, and romance.

This book was a little difficult for me to get into because I really did not like the main character for a majority of the book. She is shy but not quit shy, smart but doesn't want to show it, and overall not a good friend. But she does have a rough home life but it was hard to root for her at times. That being said I did like the main love interest. I felt like he was someone bringing her back to herself throughout the story and he was her touchstone to know when she was losing herself or going just a little too far despite him mainly being a secondary character. I wish the romance was little bit more prevalent throughout the story. But I might just feel like that because I only really liked her when she was outside the friendship bubble.

To me this would not be considered a romance because the main storyline is all about friendship and how far you would go to fit In. Peer pressure to fit in with the "outcasts" or "rebels" of society lead our main character down a path where she starts to lose sight of herself.

Overall, this was a good book. I really enjoyed it toward the end but it was a slow starter to me because I couldn't tell where the story was going at first. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to branch out.

Reputation does not - well - live up to its reputation. Though described as a Regency-era romance, I found it to be neither of those things. It isn't at all historically accurate - to the point that I routinely forgot it was a period piece, and romance is far from the focus of this book. The setting felt like a desperate tie-in to the success of Bridgerton rather than a focus of the author, Lex Croucher, when making language and stylistic choices.

Georgiana and Frances are flawed characters - which I appreciate - but I realized that I was never "rooting" for a particular character's happiness or motivation. This made it difficult to become immersed in the book.

I didn't particularly enjoy the manner in which Croucher approached sexual assault/rape. It is disingenuous to use modern language and ignore period-appropriate public mannerisms, yet have a male character go unpunished for sexual assault.

The big win of this book is the acknowledgement that the Regency era wasn't as white as history books would lead you to believe. I do wish that that the two wives of color were both alive and had strong voices, and that at least one of our families of color was portrayed to have a good societal reputation.

All-in-all if this book had a different setting - perhaps a fantastical societal - or did not rely so heavily on modern references, it would have been tremendously more successful.

Oh dear, this book has a mean streak. I wanted to love this. I really really wanted to love this. And it must be said there is character development but wow, some of these people are so cruel and it was very uncomfortable to read. I can't recommend this one. All that being said, this narrator was awesome!

After three hours in and a couple of times trying...
I couldn't connect to the main character Georgiana. She was annoying, superficial, and blah. She's the cliche bookworm who dreams of excitement and, I'm not like other girls. After having one night of fun, she decides that she won't try to befriend anyone else. It's Frances or nothing. Of course, Frances is a hot mess. Where is the romance or Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl part? I'm totally getting the Mean girls vibes but not the others. All we know about the love interest(or who I believe is) is he is not interested in Georgiana and likes to brush his horse. Dreamy. All of the characters are unnecessity mean or clueless. The narrator is great though the story, romance, characters are not there. 2/5

The description of this book is right, it really did remind me of mean girls!!

I went to with the mindset that it was going to be a lighter read that it was so I was surprised. I loved how they really played the idea home that just because you are from a "better" family doesn't mean you are a better person.

And to add bisexual and gay characters in a book for this period and to have this be knowledge to other characters was interesting. Just like Georgiana thought people to see in higher social status are not held down by the same rules and regulations that everyone else is. Add in the fact that history is not as whitewashed as people think it is, I thought it was an interesting reflection on past as well as present.

One of the things I didn't like was the number of characters to keep track of. I am a person who doesn't always do well with tons of POV changes, so keeping track of everyone took a bit of work.

Described as "Gossip Girl meets Jane Austen," I was excited to read this irreverent take on the traditional regency romance. I'm not sure what I think about the result, though. The first third almost had me putting it down, and yet I kept reading despite how much I loathed almost every single character. The writing is quite good, and I actually like how Lex Croucher turned the traditional regency romp upside down. Georgiana is a young woman who longs for friendship and adventure, and when she befriends Frances, the wild child of the ton, she falls headfirst into a world of dazzling parties, handsome men, and illicit assignations. But is this life everything she'd hoped it would be?

The audiobook is what helped me actually get through the rest of the book, because Bessie Carter is a phenomenal narrator. Her wonderful performance brought the characters to life,

Georgiana does eventually find her redemption and gets her happily ever after, but the journey there was fairly terrible. I think if I'd read this ten or even five years ago, I would have found it funny and enjoyable. But I was just bothered by how terrible the ton treated people they believed to be below them. I know it happened but the cuts were vicious, like Mean Girls on steroids.

I would give it 4 stars for the quality of writing, but 2 stars for plot, so maybe it all evens out at 3 stars?

Trigger warnings for rape, attempted rape, drug use, alcoholism, absentee parents, assault

Lex Croucher delivers a delightful, sometimes thought provoking mash-up of modern morals and Jane Austen era trappings. The main character, similar to stories from the early 19th century, is a young woman of modest means who dreams of entering high society. When opportunity strikes, she discovers much more than she'd dreamed of. The mix of strong characters, semi-familiar themes, and enough description to help readers envision a scene without limiting their imaginations creates a sometimes frothy, sometimes weighty tale of romance, debauchery, social norms, with a gratifying ending.

If you liked Bridgerton, you will love this book. I love how charismatic and hilarious the characters in this book were. I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. This book is drama-filled and follows Georgiana's life in the regency era. When they described this book as Gossip Girl meets Bridgerton, I knew I had to read it and I have to admit that it did not disappoint.

I love historical fiction and enjoyed parts of this book but as a whole I didn't love it. I was consistently angry with the main character and just wanted her to grow some common sense. I finally had to quite listening 75% of the way through the story. It was getting to be painful. This is very uncommon for me.

When Georgiana is basically abandoned by her parents and adopted by her kindly but boring aunt and uncle, she soon meets wealthy Frances, who invites Georgiana to join her group of friends. This fun crowd drinks, does drugs, and does other very improper things (sex, I mean sex). Georgiana tries to keep her place in this glamorous group while avoiding being ruined. Oh, and she falls in love with a grumpy young man.

▪ MEAN GIRLS in Regency romance. This is basically the story of an outsider who finds herself hanging out with the cool girls and loses herself a bit in the process. I can’t deal with cringy or cruel so I was a bit afraid when I started reading, but this novel is surprisingly kind-hearted. I loved the friendships at least as much as the romance.

▪ Unusual characters for Regency romance. I have been used by Jane Austen and others to having one rake or indeed mean girl per novel in this genre, but this book has a whole host of characters who engage in reprehensible (for the period, and sometimes even for our times) activities. It’s a very original spin on the genre. The focus is on the women, and it is refreshing to see them let loose.

▪ I loved Georgina’s voice, as much in the writing as in the narrator’s actual voice. She is very relatable, even when she finds herself in some unlikely situations, as benefits a Regency romance heroine.

This is a must-read for fans of Regency romance who don’t mind if the characters get a little wild.

So much fun it should be scandalous, Reputation takes us on a not quite rags-to-riches journey of Georgiana Ellers. Georgiana finds herself in the company of high society's "it-girl" and her friends which is a good bit of fun as it includes unchaperoned parties and enough alcohol to induce liver failure. This book is full of drama and includes all types of ways to ruin your reputation during this historical time - homosexuality, promiscuity, excessive drinking, drug use, assault, and more. The characters are charming and relatable and you will find yourself wanting to equal parts cheer them on and smack them for their bad decisions. What's a girl to do when she finds herself out of her comfort zone and living the life from one of her books instead of just reading about it?

If you are looking for something to hold you over until Bridgerton Season 2 comes out - grab this ARC. If you need something to cure your Bridgerton hangover after binging, grab this novel when it releases on April 5th. It is in the same vein as our favorite family without the pressures and drama of the marriage market with all the fun.

I have to say the narration on this audiobook is absolute perfection. It adds so much to the story as character dialogue changes were very well done. It really brought the story to life and conveyed all of the emotions the author intended.

Reputation by Lex Croucher was such a breathe of fresh air. The story line was comedic and the relationships between the characters was phenomenal. The audio book was entertaining to listen to. Would recommend this book to readers.

The narrator of this audiobook was wonderful! It was very easy to follow when she went from one character to the next and her inflections were spot on. Overall I enjoyed the premise of the book, but somewhat felt disconnected from everything.