When Georgiana is sent to stay with her aunt, she expects the season to be filled with listless balls and parties. That is, until she meets the exciting, snarky, and vibrant Frances Campbell, who takes Georgiana under her wing and introduces her to the wild and scandalous life of the upper-class high society, where the rules are different and wealth can clear anyone's sullied reputation. Unfortunately, when status and love come into the mix, jealousy and disaster is sure to follow... Reputation is truly a union of Bridgerton and Mean Girls, a delightfully dramatic romp of a novel that's equally as fun as it is fetching.

I thoroughly enjoyed this five star read, This review is of the audio book and the narrator did a fabulous job bringing the characters to life. Her pacing and timing of remarks was excellent. At first I was delighted to find that Georgiana, our main character, was witty and her mental commentary was funny and on point. But really the characters were so much more then some wild parties and off color banter. Their friendships are tested and Georgiana continued to surpass my expectations of a fully realized leading lady. Reputation is much more than first glance suggests. Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin press and Netgalley for the advance reader copy.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
I listened to the audiobook version of Reputation. I think I liked the idea of the book better than I liked the actual book. It was well written and the character development was really nice. The downfall for me was the "edgy" and more modern take on a regency era story. It just didn't always play out in a believable way; somethings were just too easily accepted that never would have worked historically. In a fantasy novel it all works well, but as a historical fiction it just didn't all flush out.

I couldn't get into this one. It wasn't what I expected and I ended up not being able to finish it unfortunately.

#bookreview Reputation by Lex Croucher

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC audiobook. Expected release date for the paperback: April 5, 2022 Hardback and kindle released in 2021

BIPOC characters ✅
Queer characters ✅

Highly recommend for fans of:
Jane Austen
Regency era fanfic 😂
Mean Girls

I truly loved this book. It was so enjoyable and Georgiana/“George” is such a wonderful main character. She makes mistakes and it takes her a while to figure it out, but she’s truly a lovable character at her heart. The “popular kids” group vary between being too cool and funny and too cruel and harsh, which I feel is a fairly accurate representation of most popular kids 🤷🏼‍♀️ I adored our romantic interest, he was truly a gentleman lost in his own past mistakes and misfortunes. He helps our George face her reality and be the person and friend she truly wants to be, so he is just the best.

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
steam: 🔥
feelings: 💚💙💚💙💚
tension: 😬😬😬
my face for most of the book: ☺️

⚠️ Trigger warning ⚠️: discussions of rape/rape aftermath/douche bros being rapists

Reputation

I really like the apology to Jane Austen right out the gate

This book is kinda mean girls meet pride and prejudice. Georgiana parents go the sea and leave her with her aunt and uncle. She then meets a friend named Frances. With loads of other associates. The friendship instantly felt like a terrible match. There's drugs, rape, DV, racism, bisexuality, gay. It's a bit of a mess. It's definitely not your everyday Regency Romance. The writing is amazing. I'm still in awe. It's definitely not for the faint of heart. It definitely needs a trigger warning.

I received a copy of Reputation from NetGalley for review.

The description of Reputation as a mix of Bridgerton, Gossip Girl, and Jane Austen is 1000000% accurate. The story was interesting, the love interest was swoon-worthy, and the unexpected sapphic romance was unexpected; however, I personally found some of the characters unlikeable and felt the story had parts that were so out of the norm for the regency era that it took me out of the book, so it’s an overall 3 stars for me.

There definitely needs to be some sort of trigger warnings about this book but overall, it was a really good book. I enjoyed the audiobook version. It was funny and a delight to listen to.

REPUTATION is a refreshing and enjoyable read, especially for those who are new to historical romance. Bessie Carter's narration is an absolute delight, adding depth and levels to the narrative as a result! Bridgerton fans and longtime romance readers alike will have a delightful time with this romp!

This was not a good fit for me. Georgianna goes to live with her aunt and uncle who are prim and boring. She attends fancy parties at British estates but nothing really happens. I abandoned this after a few hours because there was no plot or character development. Perhaps this just want the right book for me at this time. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this ARC audiobook.

I have seen lots of different references for what this book brings to mind for readers. Personally, I would say that regency Mean Girls is a more accurate description than either Jane Austen or the Bridgertons. That suited me fine, as I love Mean Girls.

Georgiana has moved in with her aunt and uncle because her father chose a new position as sxhoolmaster. She attends her first party knowing no one in society until Lady Frances approaches her and offers to share her flask of cognac. From there, Georgiana is swept up into a fast crowd with Frances and her friends.

This is as much a coming of age story for Georgiana as it is a romance. There's a large cast of characters, many of whom are quite dreadful. The book touches on racism and misogyny as well as drug and alcohol abuse.

The audio narration by Bessie Carter was especially good for this book. I was impressed by the voices and by how well I could differentiate letters from other text.

Thank you to SMP Romance, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advanced copy. These opinions are my own.

TW: sexual assault, drug and alcohol abuse

3.5 stars rounded up

Narration was fantastic - no complaints there. The story, well, was somewhat problematic. There's a lot of not much happening in the first half of the book, and then the ending feels rushed. I also have some issues with the main character, because I found her amazingly naive and quite boring. Still enjoyed it, and would probably recommend to anyone who doesn't mind a thick-as-a-plank heroine who only redeems herself in the last few chapters.

I liked this book well enough but it did not at all (at least to me) match with the book synopsis. This was made out to be a Regency-era romantic comedy but I really didn’t see much comedy in it at all and there were actually some really dark and intense scenes towards the end of the book. So just know that going in if you plan on reading it!

Georgiana is spending her summer with her aunt and uncle and is without friends her own age until she meets Frances. Suddenly she’s catapulted into France’s fancy life of parties, drinking, lavish spending and improper connections with men. One of those men is Thomas Hawksley. They strike up a connection but Georgiana isn’t sure if she’ll ever feel like she’s enough since she doesn’t have the money and status that the rest of the people in their friend group have. Georgiana’s aunt and uncle try to convince her to spend more time with their friend’s granddaughter, but Georgiana just joins right in with the rest of the gang when they terrorize that poor girl.

I kept thinking about Mean Girls while I was reading this book (Frances being Regina George and Georgiana being Cady) except it lacked the humor and just all felt mean. I really didn’t enjoy the spirit of most of the group’s interactions, including the heroine. And I’m not sure it would have bothered me as much except that I went into this ready for a regency romcom.

I did listen to this audiobook and the narration was great. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. This book releases April 5th, 2022.

Content warning: rape (happens off-page), attempted rape, violence

I went into this audiobook excited about listening to a book marketed as “Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl” but was sincerely disappointed. Almost nothing at all happens in the first 30% of this book which is several hours of listening time spent setting up the exposition. I gave up on this audio at 50% because I found it very uninteresting. The story never seemed to pick up steam for me. A lot of the narrative is just inside the main character’s head as she describes how boring her life is and how much she wants to be friends with this other girl she just met. I think if you are really interested in historical fiction that is light on plot and heavy on internal dwellings and superfluous descriptions you will enjoy this book, but it simply was not for me.

Bessie Carter did a beautiful job of narrating. She is very pleasant to listen too and really brought life to the story.

I'm a huge fan of Jane Austen so the beginning of this one really caught me off guard. I started to get annoyed with how stupid George was behaving despite seeming to be a fairly intelligent person. I pushed through though and it got way better. It is very feminist for a regency era book but I loved it.

Definitely worth a read for anyone who wants more Bridgerton type books in their life.

I have to say this isn’t wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting more of a historical fiction romcom. I felt like we got more of a darker mean girl book. And I feel like you really should have the book in front of you while reading. At times I felt like it was hard to follow and I wish I had the book to go back for reference. I didn’t hate this book. My opinion is to not go in thinking this is a love story and buy the hard copy.

The book reveled in the bad choices. You could see the consequences coming for the protagonist a long way off, and for awhile I was wanting the author to really take them down. The outcomes though showed more grace than anticipated which turned out to be more interesting than sermonizing. I do wish that the protagonist would just use her words more often though. While it is realistic to be stymied when nervous or scared, it is still frustrating to witness.

This story gave me anxiety needed to know what was going to happen - whoever said this was a Bridgeton cross with gossip girl - that description was spot on.

George was taking a step on the wild side with Francis and her group. She is realizing all the glamour and glitz is way more than meets the eye.

The story took a sad turn with a justified ending but still a deep, entertaining, and sad story overall. I can see this as a TV series one day. I would for sure watch it.

The thing George has to manage is to not lose herself in the mix of things and the recognize the snakes for who they are

I think George loses herself for a while but grows and becomes better with everything after it all. Bessie Carter kills it with the accents and the other characters voices - great job

Reputation was a highly anticipated release for me, but I couldn't get into it. Two of the main characters spend the first chapter of the book meeting at a ball and then immediately gossiping and mocking the (admittedly terrible) people around them. Maybe it's the pandemic, maybe it's the setting, but I'm so tired of catty nonsense. In the year 2022, I'm unable to wait for the book to prove to me that the characters aren't who they appear to be.
That said, I've heard that the book has queer rep and is a lot of fun, so I assume I'm going to be in the minority here. Maybe I'll try it again at a later date. "Regency Mean Girls" sounds like a fun premise, I'm probably just a grump. :)
Audio notes: Bessie Carter is a pleasure to listen to and I'm sure I pushed further into this novel than I would have otherwise.

Reputation
By Lex Croucher
Narrated by Bessie Carter
Romance - Regency

Middle-class Georgiana Ellers is abandoned by her parents. Sent to live with her stuffy aunt and uncle in the English countryside. She is at a extremely dull party when she meets the life loving Frances Campbell a wealthy women of “polite society.” Georgiana soon finds that Frances and her friends are not who she thinks they are. Living a life of impropriety in the Regency aristocracy is not what she had thought these people would be like. She soon meets Thomas Hawksley. He immediately stands out to Georgiana because he is around Frances and her friends all the time but does not partake in any of the debauchery they are doing.

The narrator was great in this audio. She has a very authentic British accent which makes a person feel like they are really there in the English countryside. This is only the third book she has narrated but I would definitely listen to her again.

This book is a Bridgerton meets Mean Girls type of book. There are some parts that are very sticky and some that will have you laughing so hard your sides hurt. I would definitely recommend this book in audiobook or any other format you choose to read. Lex Croucher is a fairly new author and I already am anxiously awaiting her next book.