A Victorian England story about a young lady who becomes friends with a group that loves to participate in the more sordid activities (behind close doors of course). Georgiana has been essentially abandoned by her parents and sent to live with her aunt in a part of the country where she knows no one. She soon falls in with Frances, who introduces her to a wilder world with drugs and alcohol (and for some, sex). She also soon meets Thomas Hawksley, who she becomes enamored with. However, as she becomes closer and closer to this group, she starts to see their darker side. Can she keep her reputation intact?

This book was good, but not as good as I thought it might be. I've never watched Bridgerton, and the description says it has major Bridgerton vibes, so maybe I would've enjoyed it more then. I didn't feel like a lot of characters were very likeable (which I'm sure is somewhat the point), but that always makes it harder for me to connect with the story.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Reputation. I decided to stop reading after about 35%. I love the concept of this story, and the diverse cast and queer representation were good. I decided to stop reading because the characters continued to be so mean, and it seemed it was just one scene after another of getting drunk/high. I was hoping the plot would have moved along a bit quicker.

*arc provided by NetGalley and publisher*
4✨
means girls meets Emma! this book was so much fun, and the perfect book to read after finishing season two of bridgerton. lex croucher captured the regency era in a interesting and modern take. i think Georgiana was a likable character and Thomas was SUCH a heart throb. The character arc of both Georgiana and Frances was evident and I think by the end of the book you appreciated the results of their relationship. The conflict surrounding Jeremiah was very interesting considering the time period, I don’t feel like it would’ve been talked about but it felt like a modern take. writing was easily accessible especially with the regency era, and plot was easy to follow. only criticism is I wished that there was maybe less drinking and partying. i think it was just over the top, and wish that the friend group had better interests. overall would recommend and can’t wait to get my copy, come release day!

Thank you to both Netgalley and Edelweiss for sharing a digital arc of this book with me, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was so excited to read this book based off the pitch, and I wanted to love this book, but this book was not for me. With so many others I need to read, if a book doesn’t grab me within the first couple of chapters, I end of DNFing it. And this book was one of those instances. I’m not going to go into specifics why I didn’t like it, because it seems like most people do, and I don’t want to tarnish someone else’s choice about whether or not to read it, simply because of my personal preferences. I can see how this book would 100% appeal to others, and I still recommend taking a read, no matter my opinion on it!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the digital arc in return for my honest review.

Calling all Bridgerton fans. If you’ve finished the recently released second season and you need more Regency era aesthetics, try Reputation.

A whimsical story about a group of friends struggling with the ever-present guilt and shame of preserving their sterling reputations, and then immediately doing things to tarnish them. I liked where the story was trying to take me, but I didn’t like the execution.

I did not finish at the 50% mark. It failed to captivate me at all, even after binging Bridgerton to get the aesthetic vibes.

I find the pacing really slow and the plot is very light. It’s very much a character driven story. There’s four main female characters and a couple male characters who just aren’t super important to the plot. Of the four female characters, Georgianna and Frances are fairly detailed, but Jane and Cecily fall flat. I can barely recall their names, let alone details about them.

I also expected there to be more LGBTQIA+ representation, and so far, I’ve only seen a few passing scenes. It was disappointing.

I fully expect this to be beloved by someone, but it’s just not for me. I enjoyed the time I spent reading, but I will probably never think about it again.

If I do return to Reputation, it will probably be via audiobook, as they had a Bridgerton actress narrate and I’d like to see if I enjoy listening to the story more than reading.

This was not for me. I was so excited to read this book but I don't know what I was thinking but it was not this. I found the whole plot to be meh. I found the whole "coming of age" to feel more YA than adult romance. I just did not like this

Reputation is mean girls meets regency. We follow a new girl to town as she navigates the social structure and hopefully lands a spot with the cool kids. We see how the need to fit in can destroy who you are and make you act out of desperation. It took me about halfway to finally get into this book. I’ll be honest I enjoyed the romance more than the parties and such. But I think that is a personal thing because I was never a “party girl.” If you are a mean girls fan you will love the parallels and this book will be a fun regency romp.

Reputation by Lex Croucher is a fresh and unusual way to reflect on different historical and social realities that are problematic. The story takes current situations and places them in a Regency Romance setting for a twist that initially made me uncomfortable but that I eventually accepted and grew more comfortable with.

The main character, Georgiana, has been left with her aunt and uncle while her parents move to the coast for her mother's health. Feeling a bit lost and alone, she is the perfect target for the local mean girls who befriend her and then turn her life upside down. Along the way, she meets a diverse cast of characters that wake her up and present her with a different world – much like the author has done to the reader. She is a bright and quirky character that I could quickly embrace and sympathize with, and I loved to see her grow so much during the story.

Using snark and wit, the story's narration left me both appalled and in stitches with laughter. The formal language used when adults were around slowed my reading pace down. Still, the more current language of Georgiana and her acquaintances was quick and easy to read, being more relatable and less full of the extras that formality dictates.

Recommended for watchers of Bridgerton and anyone who is intrigued by the mash-up of eras, this Mean Girls meets Bridgerton meets Gossip Girls meets Jane Austin story will leave you in awe and wonder.

It’s like regency era mean girls and I am here for it! Georgiana is sent to live with her aunt and uncle and meets wild and wealthy Frances. She immediately is drawn into Frances’ exciting world of partying. Then she meets the serious Thomas Hawksley who does not approve of these wild ways, but they cannot help but be drawn to each other. Sometimes I just wanted to yell at Georgiana but I definitely enjoyed this one. After a somewhat slow beginning I could not put it down about halfway through. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the egalley in exchange for my honest review.

Ahhhhh geeze. I wanted to like this so much. I wanted to love it so much, I requested the audio after struggling to work through the ebook. I love regency based novels, especially when there is some fun thrown into the mix. This, however, just has me crawling in my skin. Everyone is so unlikable. Whoever described it as Mean Girls and regency meet is somewhat correct. However, I think that without the visual medium to portray the subtleties of regret, guilt, etc, all we get are rude people. At no point did I feel bad for anyone in the book or feel that they had been reasonably sucked into what they were doing as I did with the movie Mean Girls. Overall, I just found the book lacking in characters that were relatable and/or worth empathy.

Stars because I was glad to see some LGBTQ + rep. It's unfortunately still rather rare to see that representation in historical fiction, so I really appreciated it.

Reputation was exactly what I needed after a Bridgeton binge! Lovely, comedic, and hits all the marks of the regency-era that any Austen fan would devour.

I have to admit I love all things regarding the Regency Era, but this book is Regency meets the Me Too movement. And as a self proclaimed feminist I absolutely loved this fact.

The fact that all of the characters show some type of character growth throughout the books was something else that made this book wonderful to read. Georgina's arc reminded me of how hard it was to be a teenager and wanting to fit in. I was never the new kid at a school, but I could relate to everything that she went through. Frances and her friend group reminded me of almost all of the cliques in my private high school.

The story line with Mr. Russell, is what I feel made this book relatable to current times. Georgina decided to be brave and share her story just shows how much this linked back to the world today.

Another thing that I loved about this book is that I could almost relate the story to Taylor Swift's album Reputation (which is a favorite of mine and I don't think gets enough love). While I would need to set the order of songs, I would definitely call it the soundtrack for the book.

This review will be posted to my blog (link below) at 10:30 am on release day.

This book, unfortunately, was not my cup of tea. It was a bit too slow moving at the beginning and I struggled to connect with any of the characters. I found myself dreading going back to reading as the characters were frustrating and unlikeable. I really went into this wanting to like the book, but came away disappointed.

I hesitate to call this a romance novel -- it felt more like Cruel Intensions meets Euphoria meets the Regency Period.... although I didn't love it. I also didn't find it funny, at all. It was a bit crude bordering on grotesque for me.... and I'm not entirely sure why it didn't work. Regardless, hope you have better luck!

Reputation comes out next week on April 5, 2022 and you can purchase HERE.

She was surprised at the intensity of her feelings--surprised to find that this sudden moment of vulnerability did not alarm her one bit. No hero in any romance she'd read before had been allowed to feel anything other than righteous anger, any sorrow turning immediately to swift and red-blooded retribution. She was glad that he was going off book; she could tell that anything less would have been a lie.

ARC provided by NetGalley, thank you.

Oof, this is not for me. I gave it until the 20% point but DNF. Clearly a lot of people love it, so it’s probably a me thing.

Georgiana goes to stay with her aunt and uncle and is wanting for adventure. When she finds herself at a party wishing she’d brought a book, she seemed like a character I could get behind. But then she meets Francis and together they start making fun of their host and her dress. From then on, it’s a repetitive continuation of “look at those boring people” “let’s make fun of them” and “oh look how edgy we all are partying half naked and smoking weed.”

This group, I think, is supposed to be amusing? But they’re not. And I think the text is maybe supposed to be pleasantly ridiculous (e.g. the aunt including “sleeping” in a list of all the sorts of activities they do in their area), but it really didn’t land that way for me.

The most sympathetic character was Mr. Burton, the (boring) uncle who advises Georgiana to not let her cleverness fester into cruelty.

I enjoyed Reputation by Lex Croucher! What a fun cast of characters. And perfect for fans of Bridgeton. If you are all about the gossip and drama, this book is for you!

This was not at all what I expected and I ended up loving it. The characters were great and the story was engaging. I loved the Jane Austen/Mean Girls feel it had. So much so, that I finished it in a day. Will definitely recommend.

I received an advanced copy of Reputation from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I love stories set during this time period. This author made me feel like I was there in this time. Her descriptions helped me visualize and imagine myself there. I did feel that some of the character’s actions and events happening were a little repetitive in the middle without feeling like the story or character growth was going anywhere. It was very self-centered and egotistical of the main character. The beginning and end were my favorite parts because I enjoyed the new experiences the character was going through and hearing her thoughts. Comparing those two sections after reading helped me to see that the growth of the main character (and everything that played into that) is the point of this entire story. It made the middle sections make more sense and not feel quite as repetitive and unnecessary. I do still wish we could have gotten to the see the growth a little sooner. All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. It was well written, easy to follow who and what, and gave an interesting story that could easily be relatable to today by many people. #Reputation #Netgalley

Georgiana Ellers is a 19-year-old young woman living with her aunt and uncle in Regency-era England. Her parents have rather unceremoniously left her in their care, selling their home and moving to the shore under the guise of her mother needing to look after her health. Resigning herself to the boredom and stress of society parties at the elbow of her ton-conscious aunt, Georgiana is delighted when she meets Frances Campbell - a somewhat scandalous member of society's in-crowd, who immediately takes Georgiana under her wing. Frances and her crowd are given to wild partying, spending copious amounts of money, and spending an improper amount of time in the company of the opposite sex. Georgiana loses herself in the abandon of it all, but she feels like she's falling just short of fitting in most of the time. She also falls hard for one of the young men on the fringes of the group, Thomas Hawksley, but he tends to pull back from the wilder group antics.

This book is riding high on the Bridgerton wave, and with good reason: it packs all the glamour of Regency-era Britain, with Shonda Rimes's diverse additions making for a more exciting, interesting experience. Reputation certainly doesn't overlook the issues rampant in Britain at the time; a biracial central character certainly experiences her share of side glances and comments. An LGBTQ+ subplot running through the main story, and there are themes of consent, agency, and social class.

TLDR: Mean Girls in a historical setting. A quick read if you need a bit of a brain break. Heavy on the cattiness, light on the romance.

Georgiana Ellers is sent away by her parents to stay with her aunt and uncle for the summer. Her relatives are conservative and somewhat dull. At an event, Georgiana meets Frances, an extremely wealthy girl and her posse of friends. They engage in behaviors like binge drinking, drugs, and unchaperoned socializing.

I'm gonna be honest that I thought this book was going to be a LOT more queer and a lot more romance-heavy than it was. The main story line was definitely the friendships and navigating high society.

I was rooting for Georgiana so hard that I wanted to smack her upside the head sometimes. It was one of those situations where you can understand why she wanted so strongly to fit in, but also being older and wiser can see how stupid her decisions were.

The cast of side characters were all interesting and had distinct personalities. I'm glad we got to meet so many of them.

I wish we could have seen a bit more of the romance between Frances and Thomas. He was extremely respectful and enjoyable to read about. This plotline was definitely reminiscent of Bridgerton but in much less detail, because it definitely was the B-plot

Overall, I am glad that I picked this book up! I'm not sure if this will be a series, but I would definitely read more from this author in this world.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the gifted eARC!