Final rating: 3.5

I really do love the premise of this series overall. All Black Girl band breaking into the music industry and working hard together.

I enjoyed getting to know Kayla and watching her career blossom, as well as her relationship with Ty grow. Though frustrating at times, I thought the issues Kayla had with her judgmental mom and the issues Ty faced were very relevant and added some depth.

My biggest issue here and with the series so far is that the books are just entirely too unnecessarily long. This causes the pacing to drag down a very fun/interesting plot. There was nothing that warranted this book, being almost 500 pages. A little editing would definitely help the plot move better and the intrigue of the stories not to get lost.

Life got in the way and I could not finish the book. Thanks to the publishers for the chance to read the book.

Girls with Bad Reputations by Xio Axelrod was a complex story with great character development and character growth arc. Thank you for allowing me to read this.

I really enjoyed this audiobook and reading along with it. This was my first time hearing these narrators and my first book by Xio. Her personal knowledge of the music industry really played a huge part in my enjoyment!

Such a great story about a girl band and their journey together. It made me very interested in the rest of the series.

Xio writes the complex life as an artist on the cusp of major stardom so well. Festival infighting and long chats in the bus are all parts of the artist’s life.

I really enjoyed this book for its great blend of romance and women’s fiction. A badas$ female rockstar in control of her own destiny? Heck yeah! More of this please. I loved seeing how each character took their own challenges and turned them on their head. This journey of self-discovery paired so well with the swoony romance Xio Axelrod is known for.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the advanced copy.

I paired the physical book with the audiobook, and enjoyed this dual reading experience that was so immersive. With themes of found family and featuring a girl band, this was a fun rockstar romance story.

I would recommend the audio format!

*many thanks to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

I really enjoyed this book, the travels of the band, the individual members and the love story itself.

DNF. As hard as I tried, I could not get into this book. The plot was slow, the writing wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t engaging. I didn’t find myself thinking about this book when I wasn’t reading it, wishing I was reading it. I made it through 26%, and usually I try to get to at least 50% before a DNF, but I just couldn’t. The characters were boring and whiny. I’m sorry. This book just wasn’t for me, but I know there are plenty of people out there that would enjoy a slower summer read! Best of luck!

Girl band
Rockstar romance
Found family
Slow burn

Audio review
Narrated by: Benjamin Charles, Tyla Collier

Family issues, rock stars, romance and more.

Your past can make your future. Sometimes that’s good and others times it’s not, Kayla is trying to move beyond her past and live her dream. When she meets Tyler, they have instant chemistry. He is a tour bus driver and she is a rock rock star.

Kayla is the drummer of an all girl band. She learned from her brother and used it as an escape from family drama.
Tyler is the new driver for their tour. Quiet and steady. He just wants to be comfortable and take care of his grandfather.

These two are cute together. The band played a large part in the story but Tyler and Kayla are the show.

The narrators did a great job. Easy to follow and added personality.

3.5/5 (rounded down to 3)

CW: death of a sibling (recounted), racism, drug abuse (mentioned), death by overdose (alluded, off-page), car accident (mentioned)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with a free audio e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Girls with Bad Reputations was a nice read, but I don’t know if I would read this again.

Don’t get me wrong; the narration is so good. I loved how both narrators brought life to the characters’ voices, but the audiobook is super long. At a whopping fourteen hours and sixteen minutes, Girls with Bad Reputations is the kind of audiobook you need to make a commitment to in order to finish. Added insult to injury is that the book has a bit of a slow pacing, which is not doing the audiobook version any favors.

Other than that, the book itself was fine. I liked the cast of characters and the plot was good. It’s just that I don’t think this book was quite for me, but I’m willing to check out the author’s other works.

I absolutely enjoyed Girl With Bad Reputations, and the cherry on top was the band being from Philly (my hometown!).

While Kayla is hiding her identity from her parents, I do appreciate her living her dreams.

Girl With Bad Reputations is the second book in The Lillys series, but I read this without having read book one with no problems. But, I will be going back to read the first one to spend more time with this group of friends.

3.75 -4 ⭐️ ( DON'T JUDGE ME,I'M PICKY OKAY?)

Girls with bad reputations was so refreshing! Described as A Star is Born mixed with Daisy Jones and the Six by the way of Colleen Hoover (I can kinda get the first two but why do the author dirty with the last comparision?) I was intrigued. Going into this, I didn't know that this was the second instalment of this series but Axelrod did a great job of recapping events from The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes in a way that would make you curious enough to go back to it but not lost enough that you wouldn't be able to read this book without the previous one.

I am so so proud of the Lilys and their journey to stardom. They feel real and I loved how atmospheric Axelrod wrote their touring experience and shows, I felt like I was right there alongside them. All band members were distinct, their love and respect for each other was so palpable same with with their manager and lawyer. The found family was wonderful and warmed my little heart.

The romance between Ty and Kayla was so sweet (if these bitches were a real couple I'm telling you the TikTok girlies would be losing their minds - based on their character descriptions alone they are the definition of bi panic if I do say so myself)

I would say that this book *technically* is romance but the romance definitely took a back seat in the story. Both characters were dealing with a lot outside of the main relationship. A lot of Girls with bad reputations revolved around band politics, racial discrimination, grief, toxic parents, friendship as well as anti-blackness. The anti-blackness from the main character's mother was addressed but was brushed over in the end which was a letdown because it felt like she faced no consequences for her actions SHE MADE ME SO ANGRY THERE WERE TEARS IN MY EYES . she slightly redeemed herself but I wanted to fight her.

Overall I enjoyed this , it was so sweet and I will definitely continue the series but I don't think that this book will stick with me in the long run

Audiobook review
The audiobook was dual narration (A male and female voice actor corresponding to the chapters from the perspectives of Ty and Kayla). I relatively liked both narrators, Benjamin Charles and Tyla Collier. I liked their voices and thought that they matched the characters. However, I preferred Collier's narration,she was a little more dynamic in her voicing of different characters. My personal highlight of her performance was for Kayla's mom (OOOOOO GOD I WANTED TO FIGHT her -the mom not the narrator) as well as Tiff......and Toni and lily tbh, as she really captured the essence of them respectively. Charles's narration lacked flow, at points, it felt like he was reading Ty's story instead of the characters telling their own story if that makes sense?. His voice for Ty's grandpa was endearing and his narration flowed better after a while I did feel like he captured Ty's laid-back vibe (for lack of a better word.)

It was a decent audiobook but not one I would personally say is a must-listen!

Big thanks to Dreamscape Media for the advanced listening copy in exchange for this review!
very late ALC review - apologies, life was LIFE-ING
this has been out since the 6th Feb!

Girls With Bad Reputations is the second in the series by Xio Axelrod featuring the Lilly's, an all girl rock band. This is the story of Kayla, the Lilly's drummer who grew up in a very strict household and is going against her mother's wishes by living her life on her terms.

The Lilly's have just made it big enough to go on a US tour and they find themselves competing with Candi, again. Despite this Kayla finds a friend in Tyrell "Ty" their bus driver. Ty has taken this job while he is reapplying to university following an incident where he was wrongly accused. Ty is also caring for his grandfather who encouraged him to take the bus driver gig.

Watching Kayla and Ty build a relationship is absolutely beautiful as they are both a bit broken, looking for the next steps and they find each other. The storyline is different than most romances, it touches on deeper issues and yet the characters connect. Speaking of characters, most are very well developed, each with their own back story and that story impacts their actions. They are realistic and genuine.

I loved the first book in the series and this one is just as good! I cannot wait for the next Xio Axelrod novel!

🎧Song Pairing: Signs - Bloc Party

💭What I thought would happen:

I thought it would be about a wrongfully accused black woman. Maybe not a serious crime but like cheating? Turns out I was wrong but right 😂

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

😷What didn’t work:

TOOO LONG. This could have easily shedded 150 pages of its snake skin. More story less unnecessary details thx

I was bored at times. I just wanted the suffering to end.

😚What did it for me:

I really liked the ending. I loved how Kayla confronted her mother and her snobbery

I loved all the characters. Tyrell & his love of audiobooks. Hello I see you 😉 and the band mates rocked

The cover!! Hello it’s colourful beautifulness

Maybe I’ll give the author another chance. Maybe I won’t. Time will tell

The Lillys are back, and this time we get Kayla’s story. After the death of her brother, Kayla’s mom became incredibly overprotective. Now, Kayla is doing the opposite of everything her mom expects by being the drummer of the Lillys, and she is fighting to keep her past and present completely separate which becomes more challenging as the band becomes more popular. She finds herself sharing parts of herself she doesn’t share with many people with Ty, the tour bus driver who is struggling to find his own path after being released from prison, for a crime he was wrongly accused of.

I loved going back to the world of the Lillys and Kayla/Ty’s story was just so good! I love the complexity of the stories in this series. We have characters with so many layers to unpack and even the side characters have so much depth. I was so invested in both Kayla and Ty’s individual stories and that made me root for them even more as a couple. Much like in the first book, I loved the glimpses of band life and the strong women at the center of the story.

The audiobook narrated by Benjamin Charles and Tyla Collier is definitely the way to experience this story. They did a phenomenal job bringing the characters to life and I loved listening to the audiobook.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the advance copies.

Thank you to netgalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this book. This was a good story. In the end it was just meh for me.

I loved getting a chance to read Kayla and Ty's story and get more insight and story on the Lilly's! Xio captured my heart and soul with The Girl With Stars In Her Eyes and I really loved this follow up novel. While it probably can be read as a stand-alone and make sense in its own right, I do love revisiting familiar characters. This story was great and I loved the audio!

It took weeks for me to get through this story and I barely finished. It was extremely boring and painfully slow to get through. To sum it up, it’s basically life of a band on the road. Nothing more or less

I liked Girl with Stars in her Eyes, but this sequel was so much better! I loved Kayla's story and the relationship that brewed between Kayla and Ty. Bookworm romance is so fun!

This book just felt different from the first. Tensions were higher, the girls were closer. It was a ride and I enjoyed every second! Candi was causing more trouble, the girls were gaining more recognition, but there was also the whole side plot about Ty and his past. YMI signed Candi and a new band and was pushing them in the spotlight rather than the uber talented Lillies.

This book touched on prejudice with Ty and the false claims against him and how the color of his skin played a big part in the punishment he received for something he didn't do. It also touched on unrealistic expectations between Kayla and her mom as her mom writes Little Miss Yolanda as this perfect daughter that Kayla doesn't feel she can live up to. There was talk of loss and grief (all close family), deceit, scandal, female rivalry perpetuated by powerful men.

The narration was good. I enjoyed the audiobook and I felt it was a good way to read the story.

Xio came really far with this one and I hope that Tiff's book is next because that spitfire is my favorite and I can't wait to see what her story looks like!