This was definitely a slow burn. Readers who enjoy procedurals will enjoy this book as well. I thought it was interesting overall as the details slowly unfolded, but again the key word was slow.

This was is a read that dives into the unhinged world of journalism, power plays, and societal expectations. The characters felt real and flawed, making the story more engaging. I found the pacing to be really strong, and it kept me hooked as Vaughan managed to balance drama and evolving relationships. Vaughan tackles scandal and redemption, sparking some serious thinking. While parts of the story and overall plot felt familiar, the book's storytelling and sharp take on morality made it a very interesting and relevant read.

Engrossing. Exhilarating. Captivating.

How did the book make me feel/think?

Engrossing. Exhilarating. Captivating.

Book thoughts complete. It doesn't get better than this.

A favourite!

Sarah Vaughan is a lyrical genius. I would read a book by Sarah describing things and love it. But, of course, this is much more. Our world is changing dramatically with every breath we take.

The illness that is misogyny is fighting for survival; everything it wants is being erased because of its unquenchable thirst. Power requires money.

It was easy to control when men were the family's sole breadwinners and could lord their power over everyone. But because one income isn't sufficient to survive in today's world, everything changes. Narcissistic, misogynistic men still want control. They still want to be fed, cleansed, and coddled. However, misogynistic oppression is in crisis as more and more women become politicians and business champions.
Unfortunately, dinosaurs are lurking. They want to hold on to the past, salve their fragile egos and—
How far would you go to protect your reputation?

Would you sacrifice your family?

Would you sacrifice your life?

What price is too high?

“Reputation” is a thrill ride from the first page, twisting and turning, helping us understand the battle between man and woman is in its infancy—to the last page.

That's how this book made me feel.

P.S. I cheered for Emma Webster on every page.

WRITTEN: 13 August 2022

Readers who love psychological thrillers with a political slant will love Sarah's latest psychological political thriller. Sarah continues to come up with engaging stories with well woven plot lines, inconsistent and morally questionable characters. it's relatable in how Emma has sacrificed a lot for both home and state and despite her outward appearance and bravado she is silently fretting that neither is being done to her best. Her pressure to uphold her reputation from all rebuke, even with a murder and dead body at her feet, makes her unlikable. And her fall from grace likeable. Vaughan provides a social dialogue in fiction about one's reputation, the images we make and protect, and it's undeniable hypocrisy related to Emma's character.

3.5/5 Stars

Aspiring politician, Emma Webster has sacrificed everything for her career. When her 14-year old daughter makes a mistake that might jeopardize her future, Emma will stop at nothing to protect her. But then a body is found in her home, and Emma is put on trial for murder, causing her to have to fight to keep her reputation in tact.

I liked the discussions of social issues in this. Their are conversations surrounding how fragile a person's reputation is, revenge porn, the misuse of social media, misogyny and the hate towards women in a professional setting as well as hatred in general. I liked the multiple POVs, as well as the twitter/news articles, and how they contributed to the overall story. I wouldn't say that this book is a thriller, as it is promoted to be, I would say it is more of a courtroom drama. I thought the pacing started off very strong, but petered out in the end, where I became a bit bored. Emma wasn't the most likeable character, and I found myself not really caring what happened to her in the end.

Overall, it was an okay read. It had great discussions, but if you are looking for a fast-paced thriller, this may not be the book for you.

After almost a month of reading Reputation, I finally finished! The first half was dragging for me and if not for the audiobook, I’d probably DNF this! But good thing I patiently stuck with it because when it got to the courtroom drama part, that’s when it got really exciting! The story’s actually good and very relevant, and the plot quite promising; it’s just that there are so many parts that are mostly running commentaries and the pacing was slow, as in sloooooooooow🐢🐢🐢!!! Don’t get me wrong, I like slow burn psychological thrillers, especially if it builds up the suspense. In this case, it was a miss because it’s almost 50% of the book already and I still haven’t seen any “actions”!🤷🏻‍♀️ Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed the latter third, when it all came together. There was a twist that I certainly didn’t see coming and it was a good one! I think this would be better made into a movie rather than read as a book. I’d probably appreciate it more. Reputation is out in the world already and if you like slow burn political thrillers with courtroom drama, then this one might be for you.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I've heard such good things about this author that I wanted to love this book but I didn't. I just felt like it was too slow paced of a thriller for me to really get into it. I felt like so much of the book was repetitive and not enough of new context. There was some good plot twists and good moments, just wasn't enough to rate it higher. However I do think I will give her other books a chance because I heard those might be more up to my speed. Thank you NetGalley for introducing me to a new author.

3.5 Stars

Reputation is a slow-paced psychological thriller. Set in Britain, where we are set in the midst of a British Politician whose reputation is under attack when she is put on trial for murder.

Emma is a strong woman, and an MP who fights for women’s rights. She is in the forefront of a major political standing to fight for rights of women and girls. She finds herself at the centre of a scandal involving secrets, lies, and murder. Her social life, beliefs, and parenting are put under the spotlight throughout. Everything is at stake for her.

The novel is narrated for the most part by Emma. She is a hard character to connect with and this makes her hard to warm up too. Her beliefs are very admirable but she is still a mystery.

Other chapter POV’s include Emma’s daughter, her ex-husband's new wife and Mike - a reporter. These chapters were engaging and added a little more to the puzzle. Twitter feeds and newspaper articles also revealed snippets into Emma’s world as well.

This book was a slower read for me. When it comes to thrillers I love a good page turner. The ending was where I just couldn’t put it down. There are also some great things to highlight here. Vaughn’s writing style was really interesting and I really loved the mystery behind the murder. I think it was interesting that it all came back to people's reputation and the hypocrisy of Emma as a character.

I received an ARC of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

An entertaining psychological thriller about a politician who gets caught up in trying to protect her daughter. Fast paced and very relevant, this was hard to put down. Highly recommended. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is an interesting political thriller that focuses on the critical eye that women are always under and the hostility that is lurking around every corner.

There were multiple POVs, which is something I always enjoy. I loved the parts of the story that were told from the 14-year-old daughter’s point of view, and I also found the views of the stepmother to be pretty interesting. She was low key one of my favourite characters because she seemed relatively normal but I think there was something strange going on in that head of hers…

Unfortunately, this book was only okay for me. I liked the premise of it, but found that it dragged for most of the book and I wasn’t very eager about anything that needed to be revealed. I did think that the last few pages added a lot to the story, but it was such a small amount of the overall book and it felt like it took me forever to get there.

Although this is not one that I loved, I would still recommend it if you enjoy a slower paced thriller with a deep commentary on political concerns!

Thanks so much to Simon & Schuster Canada for my gifted copy! My review has been posted on my Goodreads and my Bookstagram account.

What is true of this story is that all the female characters have some part of their own reputations that they are trying to outrun. From the teenager through the adult women, all have to be concerned about the far reaching consequences of their actions and the lasting impacts that come with them. Of course we should be responsible for our actions, but this book exceeds that, showing instead how we can be at the mercy of men’s experiences and expectations of who we are. A common reflection in this book is the social media perceptions and resulting abuse hurled toward Emma, the unapologetic protagonist. By standing strong in her beliefs and positions, she becomes a target of people she knows and people she doesn’t. Her position and her privilege afford her opportunities to set the record straight or get retribution on some of her own reputation, but that isn’t the same for all women.

My only criticism was that it moved very slowly at times. The characters were well developed enough, but the storytelling seemed to get stuck on intricate and extensive details that didn’t always appear to be necessary.

All in all, Reputation will be an enjoyable read for anyone interested in a feminist thriller with roots in real life.

I didnt like this one. I didnt finish this one.

I think it was just a bit too political for me... which sounds dumb as the fact that it was a political thriller was advertised, but I got to 30% in and i just could not have cared less about any of the characters, unfortunately.

A slow-burn psychological thriller. Overall, I enjoyed this book but found it to be really quite slow for the first 50% of the book. Maybe, it was the unlikeable MC and some chapters feeling a bit repetitive that dissuaded me from absolutely loving this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon Schuster for allowing me to review this advanced reader's copy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️


Emma is a mother, a divorcee and a politician. Flora, her teenage daughter, is concerned about all the threats her mom has been getting. Meanwhile Flora is being bullied by her best friend and other classmates at school.

Emma is fighting for a new law that will protect women and girls from online abuse. She won’t stand down. Although if she did maybe the threats to her and her daughter would stop?

Then something unpredictable happens and Emma’s life is turned upside down.


I think this book had great potential. I found the characters in the book a little confusing, it was hard to keep track of who was who. There was a lot of repetition in the book and it dragged on. The suspense was taken away from a bit when there was a jump in the timeline. I think the synopsis of the book could be rewritten to not disclose something big happening. I was waiting for something really crazy to happen and was let down. Not as suspenseful as I was anticipating.


In my opinion, I didn’t love this book.



Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Reputation publishes July 5.

Emma Webster, a female MP has sacrificed so much for her career; her marriage, her relationship with her 14-year-old daughter, Flora, and free time. Being in the spotlight can be daunting and the constant threats and insults make matters so much worse. She’s currently lobbying for a new law to protect victims of online abuse which has resulted in so much more online hate being thrown at her. Flora is the victim of bullying and decides to take matters into her own hands creating a scandal of her own. Not long after, Emma is forced to defend her reputation fighting tooth and nail, as a man is found dead in her house.



Reputation is a great psychological thriller, full of scandal, mystery and courtroom drama. The story is told mainly from Emma’s perspective but it cycled through multiple POVs of several people involved and includes newspaper/blog and social media posts both of which I found intriguing. The first quarter of the book dragged for me, the pace and some background details didn’t pull my attention but, I was instantly absorbed by the story around 28% in. I could not put the book down especially during the court chapters; I’m in law so I always love some courtroom drama and found this was written well, it was engrossing and suspenseful. The characters were interesting and unreliable, with so many POVs I had so many theories that were wrong. Emma was great, I love that the story was centered around a strong, bad ass woman. I found it a slow burn thriller throughout the entire story but it worked well.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.



Book hits shelves on July 5, 2022!