This was a difficult book. The publicity for the book is falsely advertising that it is Bridgerton-esque or like Jane Austen. Yes, it is set in the Regency, but any and all connections to Julia Quinn’s and Jane Austen’s work or other current histrom are non-existent. There is a love interest, but it is not a romance; it is more women’s fiction with a romantic subplot. This is not the usual rom-com as the publicity would lead you to believe. While there is some witty banter and some LOL moments, I feel British sense of humor is rather different from American. The story is rather dark with drug and alcohol abuse, death, emotionally abusive families, rape, sexual assault, slut-shaming, toxic friendships, racism, and violence. While none of these in the singular or plural is cause for my disfavor, all of it together is too much to balance with the love sub-plot. As far as the writing goes, it is well written, astute, and assured and does not read like a debut book. And I loved the diverse cast of characters in terms of race, gender, and sexuality. Yes, the book is popular on GoodReads, but I simply cannot recommend it.

This was marketed as Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl, and perfect for fans of Jane Austen's sass. It is all of that, but also misses the mark just slightly in my opinion.
I did love the witty Mean Girls inspired banter between the characters but I honestly couldn't connect with any of them. Meaning, I kind of hated all of the characters. This may well be the point seeing as most of the book had the characters in scandalous situations...and demeaning any one who did not partake in those situations.
For me, the characters hostile "popular girl" attitudes were a bit much and I didn't feel a kinship to Jane Austen.
Thank you to the publishers for an early copy of this book to review.

As I read in the promo, "Reputation" is "Mean Girls" crossed with Jane Austen. Georgiana Ellers is abandoned by her parents at her aunt and uncle's home while they move to a seaside community for her mother's health. Georgiana is bored to tears with all of the activities her aunt has for her which includes counting embroidery needles at the most exciting. While at a party where a local couple are showing off their new painting, Georgiana encounters Frances who leads her into a world of alcohol and drug use along with some heavy petting not common in the Regency era for young girls. When Georgiana declines to go along with Frances (and friends), She finds herself on the outside of the "in" crowd.

"Reputation" explores situations that are more modern and not typical to a Regency romance. It definitely put a spin on what Regency readers are used to and thus, may not be for all readers who like this genre.

this was such a fun book! I loved the setting of the book, the characters, and the vibes i got from this book! i want to read more books set in this time period after how much i enjoyed this one!

This was a slow burn for me until the halfway mark. Once I hit that, this was addicting and I finished the book very quickly! Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl is the perfect description of this novel. Thanks to Netgalley for the read! I think many will enjoy this delicious story.

3.5🌟s! This book had moments of brilliance and moments where it draaaaged. It’s touted as a romcom, but I didn’t find it very funny. Engaging yes, but more as a cautionary tale.

Georgina is send to live with her aunt and is hoping for her own version of “hot girl summer” - historical romance style., which is to say, in many layers of clothing. She somehow befriends the local bad girl and engages in a lot of inappropriate shenanigans for the time period.

This is definitely an interesting read as Georgina’s journey of self discovery. She’s never had much freedom and suddenly she is overcome with choices. You cannot help but root for George, even as she is making bad decisions, to become the person we know she can be.

Her romance with Thomas is a minor part of the book, but he definitely brought out the best in her. My favorite part were the letters that Thomas and Georgina wrote back and forth - definitely the wittiest part of the book. I was disappointed we didn’t get much of an ending for them. Instead, mean girl Frances gets the last word again.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and these are my honest opinions.

I loved the new take on the princesses and the way the author wrote the stories. It never seemed to go too overboard into the truly unbelievable category which was nice.

3.5 stars-fun and cute book. It wasn't a favorite of mine, but fans of means girls and bridgerton would love it.

What happens when you combine Mean Girls and Regency romance? You get this book! Will I be recommending this book to basically everyone? Yes! It's witty, a little dark in some spots, but overall a FANTASTIC read!

You know that feeling when you watch a trailer for a comedy or a romcom and you’re like “wow this is going to be great!” and then you go and see the movie and you’re kinda like “YIKES were the only good parts of the movie the ones they included in the trailer!?”? That’s the feeling this novel gave me.

I wanted to like Georgiana, but I definitely did not / couldn’t stand her. The stories surrounding the supportive characters (aka her newfound “friends”) were just confusing and bland - to be quite honest, I don’t know the difference between Jonathan and Christopher! Frances, the leader of the pack, was terribly written. I cringed when I realized that OF COuRSE the “villain” was going to be half-Black and all of the rest of the folks who had been “””badly influenced””” were white. I commend the author for attempting to bring non-white folks into the Regency era because they existed! BUT I think the execution could have been WAAAYYY better (I honestly had to skim through some pages because I didn’t want to DNF the book). The actual love interest (Thomas Hawksley) was cool but he was a sprinkle and not central to the plot. Maybe if the novel would have been classified as a novel and had no comparisons to Bridgerton or Jane Austen, I wouldn’t be so harsh (Not to say I’m a huge fan of Bridgerton’s execution but that’s for another review).

Overall, I cannot in good conscience recommend this book. I’m glad to have received it as an ARC (thank you NetGalley!) because I would have been disappointed if I’d bought it.

When it says Mean Girls meets Bridgerton…100% correct. This book was entertaining, and felt very modern, despite not taking place in the modern day. I haven’t read many books that are more of a regency era/period drama, but this book definitely has pushed me in the direction to read more.

Parties, friendships, lunches, and even more parties. The parties that Georgiana attends seem like the kind of parties that I would love to attend. The friendships made would not always be exactly what I would want, but if I were in Georgiana’s shoes, I would gladly except to be apart of that group. The characters were interesting and I found that I wanted to know more. Following Georgiana from the beginning of the story to the end was an amazing journey, and it was constantly on my mind while reading it, and even in the days following.

I throughly enjoyed this book, from the stories of friendships and romance, it was so enjoyable. I would definitely read this again and recommend to others.

Although there are no explicit or overly descriptive scenes, there are some heavier themes that occur through the book.

This book was delightful! Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl is an incredible accurate description. Perfect for those who love historical fiction, romance, and drama.

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.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. These opinions are my own.

TW: sexual assault, drug and alcohol abuse

3.5 stars rounded up

~Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for allowing me to receive an ARC of this book!~

5⭐𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬
•This book was so interesting and honestly, after a stressful week, it was the perfect, humourous, feel-good book I needed.

𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭
•The plot was mainly focused on the characters and while I normally don't enjoy books like that, this one I did with enthusiasm. The plot mainly focused on Georgiana's life and the changes she experienced and even though the focus wasn't on it, it was still interesting to read.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
•The development of Georgiana and the other characters was so well-thought-out and I loved watching them learn and grow up. Betty was a personal favorite of mine and I just adored Thomas. The antagonists were also written well. I felt like the two-faced traits and wishy-washy friendships worked in this story and made it intriguing and a page-turner.

𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥
•This is what appears as a simple comedy book but soon evolves into a great coming-of-age story with a historical twist and a little fun!

I really liked the idea for this book, and I do love a good regency book, but I feel like this one missed the mark for me personally. I’m going to give it a second read to see if it was just because I wasn’t in the right mood for a regency, or if it really just wasn’t the right book for me!
The gossip girls/ mean girls/ Bridgerton vibes were great, and the first three chapters kept my interest, and Georgiana’s growth throughout the book was very enjoyable to watch!

I had high hopes for this book, as it was billed as a regency era Mean Girls, but unfortunately it missed the mark for me. I found it to be very slow, with not much happening for the first 2/3 of the book. I wasn't really sure where it was going, but then it picked up towards the end. I got the "Mean Girls" references and similarities, but it wasn't very effective. The ending also seemed a bit rushed. The epilogue tied up a loose end, but I feel like it would have worked better if that had just played out instead of wrapping it all up in a post script. Overall, it wasn't bad, but I don't think I would recommend it to many.

Trigger warnings: sexual assault, slut shaming, misogyny

This is such a delight. The greatest triumph is the tone and the prose, it's effortlessly funny and takes you along at a rollicking pace. Its depiction of the dynamics of female friendships as well as the ways women use social power to achieve various ends is excellent, as well as the historically accurate depiction of England as multiracial.

I received a copy for an honest review from NetGalley.

I really enjoyed the story, as everyone says, it's like Mean Girls and Jane Austen but in more modern times.

First time reading from this author Lex Croucher, I enjoyed the book. I would recommend it!!

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

This just wasn't for me.

From the cringey cover to the boring content - I couldn't get into it and cannot recommend this. I think it was published too early and needed a few more rounds of drafts and edits.