If you’re looking for Mean Girls set in the Regency this book is for you. I didn’t really find much to like about any of the main characters or the supporting ones. I thought the author did a good job of describing what exactly was happening with each character. I thought the love story between Georgianna and Thomas a bit contrived but I don’t want to actually give anything away.
Overall it is a decent story and I’m glad to have been given the opportunity to read and review the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins press.

Georgiana is sent to live with her aunt and uncle with the hope that she will fall in with the right crowd and find a marriage match. But when Georgiana meets Frances at one of the boring parties her aunt drags her to, she falls in with a much rougher crowd than anticipated. Frances and her friends are the life of every party, high energy, and incredibly mischievous. Drugs, alcohol, wild parties with outrageous costumes… Georgiana finds herself doing things she never thought she would to keep up with the group.

The story was really great and the characters were larger than life, but the endless partying in the middle did become a little redundant and made the mid-section drag a bit. No real progress was made between Georgiana and Thomas (the mysterious, brooding love interest) until the last 1/3 of the book, but once Thomas started to open up, I did enjoy his character. He has a complicated backstory and I was glad we got to explore it more.

There are a lot of complexities to each of the characters in the story. Though they appear to have the very best of everything there is to offer, each character has a reason for behaving the way they do, and I think Croucher did a grerat job of giving them depth. The shining star of the story was, of course, Betty. Anyone would be lucky to have a friend like her. And Mr. and Mrs. Burton surprised me as well.

Overall an enjoyable read, and the perfect remedy for the post-Bridgerton blues. I look forward to seeing what Croucher releases in the future.

I love the idea of this novel, but I got too stuck on the similarities (and even direct references from) Mean Girls. I did, however, love that it was a diverse cast of characters & stories being told.

Absolutely delightful from end to end. I don’t think I’ve devoured a book so fast in years. Reputation was compelling, funny, and somehow terrifying all at once, and I could not put it down. I counted two direct Mean Girls quotes but I’m sure I missed some, and each had me giggling like crazy. This book felt like Emma meets Mean Girls with a dash of Heathers, and was everything I could have asked for.

Heavy content warnings for alcohol and drug abuse, attempted and actual but off screen sexual assault, and people being absolutely horrid bullies to each other.

I highly recommend giving this book a shot. It made me laugh, gasp, cringe, and cry. What a gauntlet of emotions I’ve been through today!

Thanks netgalley for the review copy!

**ARC provided by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Reputation chronicles her experience with new friend groups, a chance at love, and lots of spirits. Following Georgiana Ellers, a young lady sent to her aunt and uncle's home while her somewhat apathetic parents are off to the seaside for new job opportunities and the advantages of the ocean air.

Though the wit is incredibly sharp and deeply funny, the Mean Girls-inspired aspects of Reputation by Lex Croucher didn't really call to me how you would expect a person who overuses those memes to be.

That's not to say there aren't any entertaining aspects to this story. I appreciated the small references (purposeful or otherwise) to some of Jane Austen's upbringing. The boarding school George's father ran out of their home, the modest life they led. There's also the sharp wit of the quick-fire responses in conversation, the adorable correspondence between Thomas and George, and the hilarious affinity Cecily has for weapons training. Thomas' father's small part in his and George's initial meeting and discussion about reading preferences immediately endeared me to him.

But one of the significant issues the book has is the protagonist, Georgiana. The first half of the book has Georgiana leaning too into the passive follower aspect of her character and when she doesn't fall into that, she depends on the "being mean to be funny" thing that really turned me off. I appreciate the small moments of growth at the end. I was ambivalent about her character (save for *a harrowing* moment outside the church). I really liked the Hawksley men and Betty Walter and, at specific points, felt so sorry for the latter. I honestly enjoyed seeing Georgiana when she was around those three during the story's latter half.

I'm not sure what it says about your protagonist when you're *rooting* for another character when they (rightfully) berate them for the way they've behaved since falling into the crowd of seemingly vapid, reckless rich kids. Nonetheless, that's where I was about 65-70 percent of the way through.

Overall, it flowed well, and the wit and comedy are there, but I don't think this historical romance is one I will be putting on my re-read list.

Reputation features an interesting power dynamic between a young impressionable Georgina yearning for adventure and the seasoned Frances- who lures her into a world of excitement, intrigue, and debauchery. Georgina learns the hard way that appearances aren’t always what they seem and the life of privilege she yearns for is just a mask for the dark expectations placed on young men and women of the era.⁣
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The juxtaposition between Regency-era drama and modern-day comedy was delightfully refreshing! I think it’s safe to say- this ain’t yo mamas regency romance ⁣
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Reputation is quite simply everything I wanted regency romance to be a hot mess of the main character, bumbling through life uncertain about her place in society. I liked that the characters are messy and flawed and irresistibly relatable. Everyone is a villain but as with everything in life- it’s not all black and white but shades of grey. ⁣
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Thank you to the author and St. Martins Press and Netgalley for providing me with an arc.

Reputation is less a historical romance novel and more a book version of a late 90's/eary 2000s teen movie with elements of the regency era.

Georgina meets popular girl Frances Campbell at a party while staying with her Aunt and Uncle for the summer. George quickly falls in with Frances' group of mean girls. She also finds herself attracted to Thomas Hawksley, a sober friend of one of the popular boys. It's implied that Frances has a drinking problem and when Frances is sexually assaulted by her beau, that's when the book takes a dark turn and starts to incorporate more Regency-era elements of courtship and societal rules.

First off, this dialogue was not historically accurate. Honestly, if you were ever a fan of teen movies, you can probably pick out the scenes that were influenced by different movies. I feel like this should have just been a contemporary novel but the publisher thought the author should try to jump on the Bridgerton bandwagon. The thing is Bridgerton is just an ok series. It's not even that great and copying it doesn't serve authors like Croucher who want to do something different. I didn't love how this book resolved the sexual assault storyline, I feel like this is where it felt less like a regency romance. In either timeline, it doesn't feel that realistic. I did however love the last chapter and the romance between George and Thomas. But reading 400+ pages for those tiny nuggets which probably totaled less than 25 pages is not worth it.

If you love historical/regency romance, this book is not for you. If you love YA and strong themes of alcoholism, morally grey characters, and don't mind sexual assault, this is for you.

3.5 stars!

CW: sexual violence, alcoholism

For fans of Bridgerton and Mean Girls. This rom com was raunchy and witty, showcasing the rampant debauchery amongst polite society's youth. I enjoyed the voice of the main character, Georgiana, and her antics as she navigated to world she was thrust into when her parents sent her to live with her aunt and uncle. I thought the side characters and the nature of friendship dynamics were explored well.

Lex Croucher deftly tackles topics of overconsumption of alcohol and sexual assault, it was a refreshing change to see sexual assault called out instead of normalized in regency romance.

Thank you St. Martin's Press & #NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my review!!

Reputation felt like a love letter to not only romance novels, but rom-com movies and those that enjoy them. So many scenes were reminiscent of Austen's novels and there were even direct lines from the movie Mean Girls woven in that made me laugh out loud. But the book is not all frills and frocks either. The story delves into some very real, and at times heavy storylines such as parental neglect, domestic abuse, sexual assault, and rape, as well as heavy drinking and drug use. I thought that the author handled these issues well, but this book might not be for everyone.

Thanks so much to the author, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for the gifted, advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog

TW: sexual assault/rape, loss of family members, alcohol related death, underage drinking/drug use, drinking to excess

When I read the description of this book and saw that it was being billed as Jane Austen and Mean Girls, I was already sold on it. Truthfully, I was so excited to read this book that I was a little bit worried that it would disappoint me, especially after seeing some of my friends posting kind of a mixed bag of reviews about it. But it really lived up to that for me, and I found that I really, thoroughly enjoyed the read. It was Emma and Mean Girls and Bridgerton all kind of rolled into one, and I really loved it!

I will say that you have to enjoy flawed characters for this particular read, because there are really only the smallest handful of characters that I would classify as innocent in this story it's basically Betty and a few (but not all) of the adults, and that's about it. But all of the characters truly believe that they are in the right and that they are faultless, which made it very believable for me and gave the characters room to reflect and grow. Everyone thinks they're the hero in the story, at least on some level, right?

Also I was swooning over Thomas a few times. Quiet and brooding but really in touch with and open about his feelings, and ready to shout his love from the rooftops? Yes please.

The story starts off a bit slow - a fairly normal pace for a regency, with a ball here and there but not much else happening, but definitely taking the pace more from the Jane Austen-side versus the Mean Girls-side - but it really picked up by the halfway point. This didn't bother me because I do tend to read my fair share of regency, so I'm used to a bit slower pace especially before the scandals of the stories really get going, but be prepared for it if you aren't.

I would say that this book definitely wouldn't be for everyone, but it was absolutely for me. I would recommend it to my friends who enjoy regency and want a fun twist on a familiar type of story. I would also recommend it to friends who enjoy more contemporary stories that are wanting to dip their toes into regency, because with the ties to Mean Girls (there's literally a take on the classic "Get in, loser, we're going shopping" line) would make it a pretty accessible introduction to the genre. I think that the best way to read this book would be lounging in the comfort and safety of your bed with a rather large glass of wine.

I enjoyed Bridgerton series and was excited to get approved for another regency novel. Georgiana our main heroine is a fun wild witty girl who along with Frances gets sucked into the glittery life of richness.
This was a fun fast paced read for me to read how Georgiana finds true meaning of life and friendships.
Thank you St Martins Press and NetGalley for the gifted galley that hit the shelves on April 5, 2022

This was not what I thought I was getting into when I picked up this book. The characters are so vapid that I just wanted to stop reading. The main character Georgianna was just as bad as her new friends. They were all self centered, mean and callous.

The perfect book for Bridgerton fans who love the scandal and Gossip Girl vibes. It was a little difficult to get into at first, but once I was there, it felt just like I was in Regency times.

Review ⭐⭐ Reputation by Lex Croucher

I'll begin my review by explaining why misinformed and dishonest marketing is bad. My disappointment right now is why.

This book was marketed as a Jane Austen-esque Bridgerton. I was expecting a fun, slightly dramatic romcom featuring a goofy family with a feminist undertone à la Evie Dunmore with a strong heroine trying to defy the rules she is confined too by her era. The Jane Austen comparison was quite fair, I would say the connection with Emma is somewhat accurate. (Little fact about me: Emma is my least favourite Jane Austen unfortunately).

There's no denying the author has a lot of talent, the writing was delightful, the beginning scene with Georgiana hiding in a corner of a party thinking about Viking funeral was highly relatable and being saved by confident and exuberant Frances Campbell was a quirky and perfect beginning.

But soon after, I got bored, out of my mind bored by the characters' lack of appartenance to their surrounding, by the omnipresence of drunkenness, sex, violence and complete disregard for the period they are in. To be perfectly candid, this book was a mess, and maybe it was the whole point? Coming of age is a mess, and it feels like your inside are being ripped apart and rearranged in a more palatable version of yourself so you won't be rejected by the rest of society. Maybe this book was trying to make the reader feel that discomfort and pain at watching characters' self-destructing behaviours? But to be honest to me it felt more like they couldn't decided what they wanted out of this book, the goal. It certainly wasn't to give us a funny regency romance, that's for sure.

Repeat after me, Regency does not mean Bridgerton. Comparing a book just because of its era is so disappointing, it just feels out of touch with the genre and it reeks of greed.

After reading this, I feel tricked.

CW: Rape, alcohol and drug abuse, death of family members, domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, racism, toxic relationships (family and friends), general violence.

This is the sort of book that I did relatively enjoy while reading it, but when I think back to it, it really doesn't hold up. This book tries to cover a lot, and I think it doing so it falls short on covering big plot points meaningfully. It is advertised as being a queer and diverse regency era rom-com, however the diversity in the story really felt quite surface level. It doesn't feel like the author really looked into the experiences of BIPOC people in regency era to be able to write their experiences meaningfully in this book. The queer representation was better but still falls short in my opinion (one of the queer characters is probably the least developed in the whole friend group).

Not being an expert in the time period, this still really felt like there was no desire to make the world historically accurate at all. It just doesn't seem believable that there would be no consequences to the main characters' actions, especially regarding the amount of drug use and unsupervised outings. It felt like modern times basically just set in the English countryside wearing regency dresses and where the characters are on a social media break.

I don't want to get into spoilers, but I don't feel like the sexual assault plot was handled very well either. Again, it is very surface level and doesn't do justice to the severity of the topic.

I would not recommend this, there must be other fun historical romances that would be better.

*ARC kindly provided by St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book immediately caught my attention when it was described as a Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl mixed with a touch of Jane Austen, but what I found was actually darker than I anticipated since I was expecting the standard historical romance story.

This book is centered around Georgiana Ellers, the protagonist of the story who is sent to stay with her aunt and uncle while her parents are away. Her stay has been quite monotonous until meeting party girl Frances Campbell, an irresistible rich companion that will open her inner circle to Georgiana.

Part of my problem with this book was how hard it was for me to warm up to the protagonist of the story since she acted questionably all the time, making her character come as morally grey. Usually I enjoy morally grey characters and don’t have a problem with their actions, but Georgiana was just mean without reason when it came to people that didn’t really deserve it.

Another aspect that bothered me was the fact that this book was categorized in the romance genre when in reality there’s not too much romance and I can count with one hand the number of times that Georgiana and her love interest interacted. I would have liked to see their relationship develop and not to deduct what happened from glimpses of them.

Finally, what I would have liked to see is a list of trigger warnings before going into the story, so here’s one for future readers because I think it’s important. Trigger warnings: mention of sexual assault, description of drug and alcohol abuse, mention of implied rape and attempted rape.

Have you hopped on the Bridgerton train? And of course like all millennials are, you obsessed with Mean Girls right? Obvs.
Ok, now imagine Mean Girls within the Bridgerton world.. yup, that’s REPUTATION! It’s good, you’ll definitely need to pour yourself some tea, to get the tea☕️
A novel that will definitely surprise you, with relatable content of peer pressure, and the results that come from wanting to fit it. As well as the importance of friendship.
An overall fun read, filled with friendship, gossip, romance, gossip, parties, gossip.. and a ton of laughs! What more could you ask for :)

Perfect read after you’ve binge watched Bridgerton and needing some more regency drama!

Read if you like: Jane Austen/Bridgerton with a Mean Girls Spin.
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This book was so fun and I loved its concept for it. Thought it was cool that the author had a Mean Girls spin to it.
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Georgiana goes to stay with her Aunt and Uncle and there she meets Frances and her friends From there Georgiana participates in a number of inappropriate parties/unchaperoned events, and Georgiana learns that maybe Frances isn't a great friend, but a notorious mean girl.
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I really loved the characters and all the Drama! Lots happened in the book to keep the reader engaged.
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CW: drug and alcohol abuse, partying, sexual harassment and assault, bullying.

Reputation, by Lex Croucher, follows Georgiana, who has just been sent to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents sell their house to move to the seaside for her mother's health. She resigns herself to spending a summer alone with her aunt, but soon finds herself drawn into a group of much richer friends, which she soon finds to be leading her to become somebody that she isn't sure she wants to be.

Georgiana is an extremely likeable protagonist who makes a plethora of mistakes throughout the book. She is naive and sheltered and, like many people her age, willing to do whatever it takes to fit in. I really enjoyed reading her character development and how her relationships with various people in her life grow and morph as she goes through several stages of figuring out who she wants to be.

The absolute highlight of the book for me is the relationship between Georgiana and her love interest, Thomas Hawksley. There's so much banter and flirting and it is so cute and shippable; I would honestly reread the book just for their romance.

The rest of the book left something to be desired. There are a lot of side characters, particularly in the group that Georgiana becomes part of, but none of them are as developed as they ought to be. Even Frances, the leader of the group and easily the most developed of them, could have used a little more backstory. It's a pretty lengthy book for the scope of the story, so I definitely would have expected a little more work on these side characters; when I still can't really tell the difference between several of the friends towards the end of the book, then there's a definite problem there.

However, there were also some really enjoyable side characters. My favorite (other than Thomas Hawksley) was Betty Walters, a girl who Georgiana's aunt wants her to be friends with that she originally resists. Other characters of note are Georgiana's aunt and uncle, as well as Thomas' father.

Another thing that I wish this book had done was devote a little more space to the diversity that it has in terms of race and sexual orientation. It has a few small excahnges on those topics, but I think that it would have been a more interesting book for devoting more page time to those aspects of some of its characters' identities.

I will say that anybody considering this book should be aware of the trigger warnings, particularly related to alcoholism and sexual assault, since those are discussed in relatively large amounts of detail (most of the sexual assault isn't explicit, but it is discussed often for the latter half of the book).

Overall, I did really enjoy Reputation. It's lighthearted and fun while still dealing with some pretty heavy topics. The people describing it as "Regency-era Mean Girls" are absolutely correct in tone, though I think this story does have more nuance than Mean Girls does. It's perfect for fans of Bridgerton, but also just for anybody who loves that sort of coming-of-age Mean Girls-esque vibe. Reputation is extremely fun, has an adorable romance, and nuanaced relationships that will make you feel invested in the characters and their struggles and lives. I'm giving Reputation 4.5/5 stars.

Regency-era Mean Girls! A great YA novel for those looking to break into historical fiction, though I thought it was somewhat anachronistic.

This is more a story about friendship than it is a romance, just as a heads up.