This novel was really fun and the audiobook was equally that! I throughly enjoyed the narration and pace of the audiobook. Happy publishing!

This was such a fun book! I listened to it through @netgalley and I think hearing the characters really added to the story in this case.

Who here has wanted to be a part of the “popular group” at some point? Well, that’s where Georgina finds herself. Like with most people, it changes her in negative ways and I just wanted her to go back to being the innocent and kind character we met in the beginning.

This novel rang true in so many aspects, and even carries over into todays society. Even though it’s over 100 years later than the setting of this story, we are still seeing these same plots play out.

There were a couple of heavy topics, but overall, it was a funny and entertaining read that I would recommend if you like Regency Era books! With a little bit of Mean Girls thrown in.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this audio in exchange for my honest review! 💜

This is a very specific type of book, I will be upfront about that. If you read Regency books and watch period dramas and think that the footman should’ve been in a specific place or an earl’s daughter wouldn’t have been addressed as X, Y, or Z, this isn’t the book for you. However, if you love the fun, fast pace, and melding of modern and period in Bridgerton, there is no better book for you.

The tagline on the back of the book is, “There is a truth universally acknowledged… that girls just want to have fun” and that really sums this book up! While I’m sure it comes to no one as a surprise, I wasn’t a popular person growing up as I spent most of my time dancing. This book gives you a look into the “popular girls” of the Regency period and a quasi-modern telling of their fast-paced lifestyle. It is an entertaining and fast-moving book, and wonderful for a mental escape from the stresses of adult life.

Bessie Carter has quickly become one of my favourite narrators. Her reading of The Pursuit of Love was a delight, and Reputation is much the same. If she seems familiar to you, it is because she plays none other than Prudence Featherington on Bridgerton, one of our favourite comedic scene stealers!

This is the perfect book for lovers of the Bridgerton series, Gossip Girl, and Mean Girls. From the first page to the last, this book is full of regency glamour, drama, gossip, and tons of secrets.

Georgiana is sent to live with her aunt and uncle while her parents take a trip, and she is immediately taken aback by Francis, the Regina George of society girls, and her elite ensemble. As Georgiana is pulled into their circle of influence, she is forced to confront what she knows, who she is, and what (or rather who) she wants to walk away from all of it with. Reputations are at stake, fingers get pointed, and truths are revealed.

I loved the narrator for the audiobook (the same actress who plays Prudence Featherington in Bridgerton!) and her portrayal of the different characters. I thought the author did a good job of translating the mischief that teens/young adults get into in today's society back to the regency era. While I loved the time period and found the characters fun, I will say that I think this story lacked a coherent plot line or main point of conflict. I had no idea what the book was leading up to or how it would all end. My interest in the characters themselves kept me listening, but this could be a downside for other plot lovers.

This book was touted as a Rom-com Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl. Unfortunately, there was very little Bridgerton and with a Mean Girls crossover. I didn't get Rom-com at all.
This book had a lot of heavy topics. The writing was good and the story was good but I needed a little more lightness. I did enjoy the banter between Georgiana and Thomas. I thought the sapphic characters were a nice change from all heterosexual characters. I needed more then I received.

A fun premise and some funny scenes, but fell a bit flat for me. I really want to root for the characters in the books I read and the characters in this book are quite unlikeable. I loved the mean girl inspired aspects, but I wished Georgiana was more relatable.

The narrator was excellent and helped me keep going but I found myself getting quite bored throughout. Might be a good match for some other readers, but unfortunately was just not for me.

Mean Girls meets Jane Austen! I liked this one more than I thought I would. Strong female characters, a sweet romance, and a bit of a serious side story line (sexual assault and drug overdose). Definitely recommend if you’re a lover of Jane Austen period pieces and YA/CW teen dramadies!!!

Reputation had a little more punch than I was originally anticipating. I honestly expected it to be a much fluffier piece. However, one should be advised that it definitely deals with some very serious topics that could be trigger warnings for some. For that reason, I'll have a spoiler in my review and I usually try to avoid that. I will list the trigger warnings at the bottom of my review for those that do not want to see them, you've been warned.

That said, this book definitely kept my attention and kept me turning the pages. Georgiana has recently been sent to live with her aunt and uncle. After living a very sheltered life, she's thrown into a social circle full of wealthy and social climbing individuals. It's definitely not an environment she's used to navigating. One of the more wealthy girls befriends her early on at a party and pulls her into the "it group". Instantly she is exposed to things that she is unaccustomed to and is quickly "swimming with sharks" so to speak. She will find out that everything is definitely not as it seems where friendships are concerned. Valuable lessons are sometimes painful ones.

If you are looking for a light and fluffy rom-com, this is not your book. If you are looking for something a bit deeper with tough topics, then it may be for you. Trigger warnings: rape, attempted rape, drug use, binge drinking

AUDIOBOOK: I thought the narration for the audiobook was fabulous. It's exactly what I would have expected for that time period. I would rate the audiobook with 5 stars for narration but 4 for content. giving it an overall of 4.5 which I'll round to 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained here are my own.

Goodreads tagline is “A classic romcom with a Regency-era twist, for fans of Mean Girls and/or Jane Austen.”

What I loved:
✨Representation in a Regency novel: LOVE this - we have BIPOC characters and LGBTQ characters!
✨Sarcasm: lots of laugh-out-loud funny scenes and lines
✨Side Characters: Betty, Thomas, Thomas’s father, and eventually Mrs. Burton.
✨Romance: Thomas and Georgia’s letter writing was my favorite scene in the book.

What I thought could be better:
✨RomCom Genre: Marketing as a romcom does a bit of a disservice to the book. The book is about Georgia’s self-discovery of who she is and how she wants to represent herself. Obviously, a romance brews in the book since I listed it as something I loved. But the romance between Georgia and Thomas plays as a side story rather than a major plot point.
✨Pacing: The story's beginning moves rather slowly; maybe that’s a function of all the characters in the novel. Personally, I loved the last 40% of the book, so stick with it; a lot happens at the tail end of the story!

Since this is an audiobook review, I must add that Bessie Carter narrates the story quite exceptionally. You might know her as Prudence in Bridgerton.

Please note that the book does have some content warnings, and Lex Croucher does post these on her website. Bravo!

This is a regency romance but without the normal morals found during that time period. It’s like modern day dropped in on the regency period. It’s a refreshing twist on historical romance. Georgiana is our main pov and being in her head is fun at times. She moves in with her Aunt and Uncle and falls into a new way of life with the help of her new friend Frances and others. The narrator of the audiobook did a fabulous job, she made the book enjoyable, I don’t know that I would have had the same experience if I had read the hard copy of the book. I thought this was a fun audiobook!

Alright! So, I did receive the eCopy of this book, so I decided, why not read along with the audiobook? And I'm so glad I did. Listening to audiobooks is my way of getting a book done and out of the way if I'm busy, in which I am. So the audio is about 10-ish hours long, and it took me 4 days to get through it. (I've been busy lately, lol) I enjoyed the narrator, and the plot was really good. Exactly what I expected. The cover reminds me of Hamiltion, but with girls/women on the front. Overall, it was a really good book, and narration.

Reputation is a Regency coming-of-age rom-com by Lex Croucher in their fictional debut. The eBook version is 336 pages. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at eleven hours and is narrated by Bessie Carter.

We follow our main character, middle class Georgiana Ellers, a bookish girl forgotten by her parents and sent to stay with her uptight aunt and uncle in the English countryside. Once she meets high-class Frances Campbell, the bisexual mixed-race queen bee of of the local in-crowd, she starts to learn a lot more about "improper society." Thomas Hawksley, a mostly quiet man with some Indian heritage, catches her eye but he seems to keep Frances and her gaggle of friends at arms length.

This book was like Mean Girls mixed with Jane Austen or Bridgerton and explores themes such as race, sexuality, consent, belonging, privilege, and status. There are several queer relationships in our main friend group, and lots of casual cultural diversity as well. It had a nice blend of wit and humor while also exploring some dark topics. It uses the lens of the Regency era to tell a story with modern themes, so keep in mind that there are some anachronisms here. But it's a great read for the #MeToo movement and a fairly solid debut from the author.

Tropes in this book include: Regency-era, coming-of-age, comedy of errors, cliques, chaotic bisexual

CW: dubious consent, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual assault, date rape (off-page), death of family members, grief, toxic relationships, gaslighting, emotional abuse, domestic abuse, violence, mentions of homophobia and racism

Reputation by Lex Croucher definitely had some good moments. This is a rom com very akin to Mean Girls but set in the Regency era. My fave parts in this book were the funny parts. Several times I actually laughed out loud. I think I was expecting more romance which is why I didn’t love this one. This is more a story about a girl finding herself and being a fish out of water dealing with a higher society. I liked the setting a lot. This is a good fun light read. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was very good!
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Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my advance review copy!

Meh. I love historical fiction… and historical romance… and interesting female protagonists, so… in theory… Reputation should have been a slam dunk… which is probably why I’m feeling a little extra let down by it (I literally wove Astor family trivia into every conversation for weeks after reading The Second Mrs. Astor *and* it’s not a long or mind-blowing book so I mean it when I say I set the bar at a fair height when it comes to historical fiction/romance). With Reputation, I think the fact that I don’t have much to say says most of what I need to say.

This book meanders a lot, and not in an engaging or compelling way. What I’m trying to say politely is that it gets pretty bland in spots, but I liked the modern spin on historical romance enough to stick it out.

It was another fine enough read… I just don’t need to listen to it again. Props to Georgina for throwing caution and her reputation to the wind, and props to Thomas for being the best progressive-but-boring gent of the 1800s and standing by his woman. It was like a feminist perspective on the the 17th century, that instead just started to sound like optimistic, but also revisionist history.

⭐⭐⭐💫 rounding to four.

I'm currently watching Bridgerton, and this was the perfect book to accompany that. I really loved this one. This book was so fun! I mean, a regency era romance with Mean Girls vibes.... Yes please. What's not to love?!

I loved Georgiana and really felt for her. She was so desperate for attention and adventure that she repeatedly overlooked the unsavory things happening around ber. But I loved her turn around and development, as she slowly comes to terms with the type of person she is becoming. I don't want to give away any details, but I loved how she stood up for herself during a tough situation and that she finally got her HEA!

The narrator, Bessie Carter, did such an amazing job! This was such a fun audiobook and I'll definitely be recommending it to everyone.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for this ALC!

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.

I did enjoyed the narrator! It kept the book more engaging!

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

This audiobook was MARVELOUS! I loved the beautiful story telling with laugh-out-loud dialogue and scenarios. It truly was a mixture of Mean Girls meets Bridgerton. I could also listen to the narrator talk for hours. This title was truly entertaining. Thank you NetGalley and to the published for allowing me to listen in exchange for my thoughts.

If you're having "Bridgerton' withdrawals, then this book is for you. Even though "Reputation" is set in the Regency era, it has all the making of a modern love story and coming-of-age novel that works in any decade. I thoroughly enjoy Georgiana Ellers and her outlook on life, friends, and love. She is so witty and charming while navigating high-society and her new "friends". I look forward to future books by Lex Croucher.

If I could give half stars, this would be 4.5 out of 5.

🌸 Reputation 🌸

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (4 Stars)

Narration: the narrator did an excellent job! The accent and change of voice with different characters was well done! It kept me very interested!

No Spoiler Review 👇🏻👇🏻

This book is described as “mean girls meets Bridgerton”, which is a good description.

However I would describe this as an adult regency era book that feels a lot like gossip girl! It follows Georgiana, who lives with her aunt and is not very well off, she is taken in by a group of wealthy friends that don’t follow the rules of society. They are rich and they drink, smoke and party without chaperones.

This book is entertaining! It’s witty, funny and full of scandal 😉. There is also some romance sprinkled throughout that makes this book fun.

Reason for 4 stars…personally I would have liked a bit more romance in this book since it is described as a historical romance novel. I also think a bit of the middle part could be cut down as it did drag a bit.

Overall this was an entertaining read, set in a regency era.

Please check trigger warnings prior to reading!

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

I’m stuck between a 2.5 and 3 stars.

Georgiana Ellers has pretty much been abandoned her parents and sent to live with an Aunt and Uncle. She is saved from a dreadful dinner party by the beautiful and wild Frances Campbell. Soon she is thrown into the social life of Frances and her rowdy crew experiencing things she has never experienced before.

TW for drug/alcohol use and sexual assault

I don’t really think I have much to add to what others who have rated this book around a 3ish stars. It was not bad by any means but I had very high hopes for this one. I 100% agree with the Mean Girls comparison and I didn’t find it as hilarious as it is described. I didn’t care for or really like any of the characters. Frances was horrible to all of her friends (think Regina George) and they all just went with it and brushed it off. We are introduced to a newcomer to the area and they were horrible to her. I would love a book from her point of view though! Like I said it wasn’t a bad book I just was so excited about this one and it let me down.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to an early recording of the audiobook.
All opinions are my own.