Reputation

by Lex Croucher

The hilarious debut novel from Lex Croucher. A classic romcom with a Regency-era twist, for fans of Mean Girls and/or Jane Austen.

Abandoned by her parents, middle-class Georgiana Ellers has moved to a new town to live with her dreary aunt and uncle. At a particularly dull party, she meets the enigmatic Frances Campbell, a wealthy member of the in-crowd who lives a life Georgiana couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams.

Lonely and vulnerable, Georgiana falls in with Frances and her unfathomably rich, deeply improper friends. Georgiana is introduced to a new world: drunken debauchery, mysterious young men with strangely arresting hands, and the upper echelons of Regency society.

But the price of entry to high society might just be higher than Georgiana is willing to pay ...

Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical, Historical Romance, Fiction, Audiobook, LGBT

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 8, 2021

About the author

Lex Croucher grew up in Surrey, reading a lot of books and making friends with strangers on the internet, and now lives in London with an elderly cat. With a background in social media for NGOs, Lex now writes historical-ish rom coms for adults (REPUTATION, INFAMOUS) and historical fantasy rom coms for teenagers. GWEN AND ART ARE NOT IN LOVE is their YA debut.

Reviews

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation! Living in the past, it's a new generation!
A girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm gonna do!
I think this smart, entertaining, unputdownable book deserved a powerful start with Joan Jett and Blackhearts’ Bad Reputation song’s opening lyrics!

Can you imagine what kind of intriguing concept the author presented to its readers:
Bridgerton with more Gossip Girl meets Mean Girls with Austen novel vibes is dreamy concept for a bookworm like me who easily relate with quirky heroines because once upon a time I was one of them who fantasize million ways to kick those mean, spoiled girls’ skinny arses!

Of course as soon as I read the blurb, I was sold! And at the first chapter when I read Georgina’s voracious interest about Viking funerals and the reaction she got from dear auntie and uncle she’s sent to live with, I thought that girl is my teenager self’s spirit animal! I was so sure, my love for this girl would grow at next chapters and I wasn’t wrong!

Georgina is unique, smart, quirky as hell but she lives inside the wrong body in the wrong place at the wrong time. She’s sheltered, voracious reader, having hard time to form proper relationships but thankfully or regretfully she meets enigmatic mean girl Frances Campbell who may be the key for Georgina to take her first steps to a secluded, special circle for being part of wheels of Regency Aristocracy.

Georgina is shell- shocked after her quick introduction to a new world filled debauchery, extreme spending, drinking and partying ( poor girl: she feels like she’s spending another ordinary weekend in Hollywood Hills! )

Then at her lowest point, she meets Thomas Hawksley, a quiet complex gentleman she coincidentally bumps into several more times under humiliating circumstances. But she thinks she has unrequited feelings as she realizes he’s acting reserved and unimpressed.

Bigger question of her was not about the rejection she feels. She still have issues to fit in the gilded world her friend Frances introduced her. If she cannot adjust in the rituals, the forms, the traditions and the rules she’s forced to obey, what will happen to her?

Definitely predicaments of a young woman’s self discovery journey is told with vivid, sarcastic and thought provoking tone that I truly enjoyed!

I couldn’t put it down and absolutely rooted for Georgina from the beginning. It was so satisfied to witness how the character evolved, changed and learned to stand for herself!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press / St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

[chan ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

there were certain darker themes and inclusions that i felt were a bit unnecessary given the overall tone and vibe of the story buuuuut

i still enjoyed the hell out of this. i'm not the type to get hung up on historical accuracy as i enjoy a historical romance and they are very rarely accurate. i mention this because that seems to be the recurring complaint about this book, that and the rampant alcoholism and generally bitchiness of the main character. the latter is certainly a fair complaint. i think i was willing to overlook it because something about her general malaise and boredom before falling in with the "bad crowd" spoke to where i am currently. which is to say bored out of my fucking skull <3

i do think the pacing here was a little weird in places and the romance was a touch underdeveloped but it's so rare for me to have laugh out loud moments while reading that i simply don't care. this was a romp. don't expect to swoon but do expect a good time.

cw: alcoholism, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, sexual assault/rape, domestic abuse

[hope anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that this book fucking slaps.

This will be one of the best books you read in 2021! Funny, witty and so heart wrenching in its relatability, Lex has managed to capture the delight of regency novels while telling a story that rings far too true for today’s society. REPUTATION has the wit of Emma and the aesthetic of a Sofia Coppola movie

[Alexis Hall]

Source of book: NetGalley (thank you!)
Relevant disclaimers: none
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author

Trigger warnings for drug and alcoholic use and misuse, death of family members, domestic violence, emotionally abusive families, rape, sexual assault, slut-shaming, toxic friendships, racism, violence.

This book is absolutely *chef’s kiss*. It’s basically Regency Mean Girls and I adored it beyond measure. I will say, however, that despite the arch narration and the top bants, this gets … this gets dark. It’s bit of a boiling-a-frog situation, tone-wise, in that there wasn’t a moment when I was aware of the shift but looking back on the beginning from the end I was a little startled by the emotional distance travelled. Much, I suppose, like the heroine.

Speaking of, she is Georgiana Ellers, a young woman from a staunchly middle-class family whose bookish, emotionally distant parents have moved to the seaside and left her in the care of her stuffy aunt and uncle. By chance, at a boring party, she encounters Frances Campbell. She is rich, beautiful, and reckless and offers Georgiana the opportunity to enter a glamorous and privileged world.

What follows is a romance, a bildungsroman and a gentle morality tale that wonderfully captures both the joy and the perils of being part of the in-crowd, and the way that when you feel vulnerable in yourself, friendship that springs from a kind of manufactured invincible meanness can be really powerful. I mean, it’s a long time since I’ve been close to this age group (I think they’re all about eighteen) but I can remember how safe it seemed to be cruel and how important to be witty. I kind of think part of growing up, for the over-read and under-socialised (as Georgiana very much is), is learning that sometimes it’s more important to be sincere than clever.

I loved this arc for Georgiana. Even in my age and infirmity, it felt very relatable to me, although I think there will be some readers inclined to condemn her for her vanity (in wanting so desperately to run with the cool kids) and the MANY mistakes she makes over the course of his book. Personally, I would find that a bit unfair: she’s young and immature, and she acts like it, but she also learns. And, actually, I think one of the strengths of its book is its willingness to let its characters be both flawed, and nuanced in those flaws. Cecily, for example, is the Karen of the group: she is far from wise, and the most obviously kind of Frances’s clique. Except there’s an emotional carelessness to her that renders both her kindness and cruelty slightly arbitrary. For example, Frances observes: “Poor Ces is just too foolish to realize she’s hurting your feelings. I don’t think anyone has ever managed to hurt her, so she can’t empathize. She seems to float through life […] It’s charming […] but extremely aggravating when you’re collateral damage.” I thought this was a wonderful observation of a character type that is so often rendered comedically one-note.

As for Frances herself, she by the far the hottest mess in the book. Which is complicated because she’s both mixed race and bisexual. Her charisma is undeniable, but she’s also undeniably damaged, and her relationship with Georgiana ultimately becomes toxic, with Frances behaving extremely vindictively over a perceived betrayal. So yes: conflict thoughts. I mean, practically everyone in this book (with the exception of the romantic lead) is to some degree a villain, including Georgiana, but while the Biggest Bad hat has to go to one of the gentlemen, Frances makes a pretty hard play for the title of “the worst.” Except for the fact she’s … you know. Really human, capable of great charm and great destructiveness, a destructiveness she’s just as liable to turn on herself.

Of course, I don’t want to say that mixed race bisexuals can’t or shouldn’t be messy (either in life or in fiction) but chaotic bisexual is kind of a … well … it’s a trope isn’t it? Although, I think in this case it’s balanced out by the fact it’s a diverse book in general—there’s multiple queer characters, and multiple POCs. Your mileage may vary here, but to me stereotypes about marginalised people tend to become problematic when that is the ONLY representation (either in a single text, or in the world at large) available. But there’s scope in a book like this to allow someone like Frances to exist without it necessarily being wider contemporary on mixed race people, bisexuals, or mixed race bisexuals. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

Plus, there’s a bit of a Philip Larkin theme going on throughout the book (“they fuck you up, your mum and dad”): while it’s never explicitly explored—what young person, after all, wants to think about their parents—nearly every character is trapped within both a social and parental context they have almost no power to mitigate. Whether that’s Georgiana’s parents essentially abandoning her with her aunt and uncle, or the horrendous dynamic between Frances’ white father and her Black mother, or the loss of is mother and brother like Hawskley (the romantic lead. In some ways, I could have done with a bit more of a reckoning with at least some of this: having been absent throughout, Georgiana’s parents turn up briefly at the end of the book to be so awful I couldn’t figure out what their deal was and the reality of Lady Campbell’s situation was so grim that it casts a shadow across the whole book.

I don’t really have standing to talk about the Reputation’s portrayal of race in general: there’s a note in the back reminding us that the Regency was not as white-washed as histrom likes to pretend it is, and the book goes out of its way to ensure characters of colour are centralised, but it also does not present a completely sanitised fantasy of equality. Which I should emphasise is not a dig at sanitised fantasies of equality: I can only speak for queer stories (and even then I recognise that marginalised people are not monoliths) but I do occasionally find refuge and value in fiction that offers me an escape from, you know, the realities of living in an unequal society. I guess where I’m going with this is, that the book owns its choices. They might not be choices that work for every individual reader but they worked for me, and I admired how considered they felt.

Privilege is, of course, another unavoidable theme here and the way the book explores it also felt considered, particularly the various intersectionalities of class, race, gender and sexuality. For example, there’s a lovely line near the end where Georgiana notes that it must be the romantic for Jonathan (who is openly gay amongst his friends) to be living a life of secret meetings and secrets, to which he responses “It doesn’t feel quite so poetic when it’s all you can ever have. I’m afraid it’s not some fairy-tale story where all the pain is worth it in the end. You just get the delightful part with all the pain.” OOF. Ultimately there’s something quite merciless about Reputation: its young protagonists have the all the mingled ignorance and clarity of youth, that swaggering resistance to both bullshit and introspection, and the narrative is similarly unflinching. Refusing to offer easy answers when it comes to the inequities that shape and control us.

In case it isn’t obvious, I loved this book and everything it was doing. Though I should probably say something about its use of anachronism. I feel a bit, err, crass bringing this up because I’m aware it’s an issue germane to my own writing, but I think there will those who view Reputation as unforgivably “anachronistic”. Which is to say, that it is a book set in the past that is using the past to tell a modern story, with modern themes, and occasional modern language. I mean, the characters contrive to run around unchaperoned, while drinking heavily, taking drugs and talking about sex. This did not trouble me and, honestly, I didn’t even think it was anachronistic: or rather, I think we need a better term for this type of story. Obviously, I don’t think characters in 1816 or whatever should be wandering around flipping light switches and checking their iPhone, but the idea that any book set in the Regency must accept without challenge the notion that its ultimate goal is to do the best possible impression of Jane Austen is, y’know, nonsense. Especially when so much histrom is set in the UK and written by Americans who quite use words like “gotten” and “jackass” in cold blood, despite the fact neither are in common usage over here.

Again, I apologise if it sounds like I have an axe to grind to here. It’s probably because I absolutely do. It is, of course, beyond okay for readers to have preferences about the types of books they enjoying reading: if, for you, for your personal enjoyment, histrom must be a book where people say gotten and drink tepid lemonade at Almacks that’s cool. That’s chill. You do you, boo. But writers who don’t write histrom that way aren’t in error. They’re just making choices you don’t agree with.



Basically, Reputation is a book that knows exactly what it wants to do, and it does that thing with flair, passion and conviction. And I love it for that. As I love it for many things. Including its dryly funny, gentle-hearted hero who is allowed to come to the rescue in just the right way, having been himself rescued by a heroine who never loses her agency in their slowly developing romance. For all that it pulls not a single fucking punch, Reputation has a lot of compassion for its characters. In a book that’s so concerned with power and privilege, it need not have taken a moment to acknowledge—via its hero—that patriarchal power structures can be as destructive to men as they are too women. It need not to have done this. But it did. And that was … incredibly generous. And, from my perspective, only served the tenderness of the romantic arc.

Out of a nebulous sense of fairness, I should probably mention there were a couple of things that didn’t quite work for me. It’s such an ambitious book, with such a big cast, that not every character has space to fully develop: the “good” friend is sweet but lacks of the vivacity of the “bad” friends (I mean, such is the nature of “good” friends, I guess) Jane is kind of just a dour lesbian (no offence to dour lesbians) and the villain is very much what you’d expect when entitlement is allowed to flourish without check. I don’t necessarily feel he needed nuance, but he’s such an obvious bad’un that it made Frances look a tiny bit silly for being into him at all (although it’s possible this was the point: that vulnerability, emotional or otherwise, can make you susceptible to obvious bad’uns). He also sheds subtlety as the book progresses, his reputation for being nebulously bad to women culminating in acts of sexual and then literal violence. While it provides an appropriately dramatic conclusion to both his arc and the book’s but it still felt a tiny bit out of left field to me: maybe I’m wrong and violence is violence is violence, but to me one of the invidious things about sexual violence to women is that men feel it’s sort of their right? Whereas they would probably draw a line at literally attacking them in another context: I think because society is more direct about violence in general being Not Okay, while institionalising at every level the notion that women’s bodies are public property and therefore sex with women is something that rightfully belongs to men. But then I suppose, for the book to have any chance of bringing the villain to any sort of justice at all, he would have to do something very obviously wrong in a public place. So. Eh?

Finally, the beginning of the book has some of the funniest writing I have read in a long time. I mean, lines like this just absolutely destroy me with hilarity:

“Well, come along then,” said Mrs. Burton, eyeing her with the utmost suspicion. “Your uncle ate a funny grape and isn’t feeling at all himself. We’re going home.”

Like, it’s such a perfectly observed middle-aged thing to say to an impatient teenager at a party that is boring her. I loved it so much that it has entered our lexicon at chez Hall to describe any task one wishes to get out of: “I’m sorry I can’t do the washing up right now. Your uncle ate a funny grape and isn’t feeling at all himself.”

The tone remains arch and the dialogue snappy throughout, but as the plot (and the heroine) begin to unravel, and comedy middle-aged people give way to sexual assault and toxic friendship, I missed the exuberance of the opening chapters. Here’s another “literally rolled off the sofa cackling” moment when the heroine is reflecting on the social limitations of her life with her highly academic parents:

“Her parents had often had fellow academics over for evenings of lively scholastic debate, and their children had been Georgiana’s constant companions […] Some of them were blessed with a little conversational wit, but it was mostly wasted on extensive, vicious debates about particular subsections of Roman history, or trying to distract each other into making unforgiveable mistakes during long, terse games of chess. On one particularly memorable occasion, a boy had crudely split an infinitive during conversation and they had all talked of nothing else for a week.”

Crudely split an infinitive. Oh my God.

Anyway, I could talk about this book forever. It’s so assured—such a wonderful balance of light and shade, cruelty and compassion—that I kind of can’t quite believe it’s a debut. In any case, it delighted the absolute fuck out of me. Please everybody read it. I want it to be your new favourite book.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book. On page five, the MC – I hesitate to call her a ‘heroine’, for reasons which I will explicate at length – Georgiana is described as ‘reclining in a gloomy alcove in an empty hallway, tying and untying little knots in her second-best ribbon and thinking wistfully of Viking funerals’. The potential for her to be an overlooked but acute observer of human folly, in the mould of Elizabeth Bennet, was moderate to high. Unfortunately, by page fifteen Georgiana is, with baffling cruelty, equating bridge engineers and ‘utter bores’, in a presage of what is to come.

The book is clearly riding the tails of the Netflix adaptation of ‘Bridgerton’. This is fortunate, because only people whose only reference point for the Regency era of England is the Netflix adaptation of ‘Bridgerton’ would find this satisfying as a historical novel. In ‘Pride and Prejudice’ – and hell yes I’m going to invoke the shade of Jane Austen, because who else are all these pretenders trying to be if not Jane Austen, or at least the Austen of Colin Firth period dramas? – Mr Collins is considered unforgivably impertinent for saying ‘what’s up’ to the nephew of his employer simply because they haven’t been formally introduced. Mr Darcy considers the wider Bennet bloodline to be low-bred and crass because they do things like ‘approach him in conversation’. This very issue of manners comes up in his proposal – you know, the legendary one where he’s rejected for being too proud and forms one half of the famous title?

Yet from the first moment Georgiana does things that are not just period-inappropriate, they are jaw-droppingly rude by any century’s standards. She gallivants everywhere without any sort of chaperone. She and Frances go on solo picnics, attend mixed-gender parties, take drugs, and drink copiously. I’m not for a minute suggesting that this sort of behaviour didn’t happen at all in this era – it certainly did – but at the very least, people paid lip-service to the rules they were supposed to live by. Where else does the title of this novel come from if not an understanding by Croucher of this basic concept? Yet the idea that a middle-class girl in 1812 could get falling-over drunk on a regular basis and not be treated with at best contempt, at worst an assumption that she’s a paid-up sex worker in an era when – to quote Mr Collins again – ‘death was preferable’, is to ignore the historical facts of the case. And she’s plain rude all the time: to Betty, to her aunt and uncle, to her love interest, to the people she considers friends. I think this is the unusual case of an Unintentionally Unlikeable Heroine, who is even more insufferable than the garden variety version.

Then there’s the attitude to rape and sexual assault, which had me making all sorts of gif-worthy faces. Let’s be real: rape has, in fact, always been considered a Bad Thing. It was an acknowledged crime for as long as there’s been crime. The reason is that virginity was prized as a marker of bloodline purity, not because it’s a terrible thing to happen to a woman, but it was still very much wrong. The circumstances that were considered rape were of course much narrower in the past, but ‘seduction’ also fell under the province of rakes and fuckboys. Consider Willoughby in ‘Sense and Sensibility’; he’s disinherited for seducing a girl of ‘respectable’ family, similar to Annabelle Baker in this novel. ‘Seducing’ implies a level of consent lacking from rape, but it’s clear that people understood that sheltered young girls like Eliza Brandon (junior and senior) and Georgiana Darcy were at risk of it through innocence, and brazen young girls like Lydia Bennet or Isabella Thorpe ‘deserved’ it due to their lax morals. Does Willoughby recover from this assault on his reputation? Yes. Does he have better prospects despite it than Eliza Brandon? Again yes. I’m not saying the punishment was just or proportionate, or outweighs the fact that the victim also shared in it. I’m merely saying that the judgement that ‘rapists are bad’ did very much exist, albeit in a different form to the late 2010s, post-#metoo cultural moment. So when I read passages like this:

“A selfish, spoilt boy who had never faced consequences for his actions and reaction like a squalling infant when they came to call”

I’m just like … wow. Why are you writing a historical novel? You can set a comedy of manners in 2021, you know, which allows for heavy drink and drug use and the women’s freedom of movement. I mean, I still don’t like the drink and drug use and its portrayal as Cool and Edgy, and nor do I have much interest in stories about assholes who learn to be slightly better people. But it could be done. That way, you don’t have to consider that Georgiana’s parents and relatives would be very concerned about her marriage, as she clearly isn’t intended to go out and work for a living as if she were one rung lower on the social ladder. The idea that her parents wouldn’t give a shit is astonishingly ahistorical. Georgiana has one job prospect, one line in her CV, and she’s doing the career equivalent of getting facial tattoos while pursuing a job in retail.

Then there are words like ‘crossdressing’ and ‘sex cellar’ in Georgiana’s own narration. She simply. Would not. Think them. In a similar vein, Frances confesses to knowing little about sex in a sapphic scene in bed with Georgiana, but towards the end of the novel tells Thomas that Georgiana isn’t going to fuck him because he’s sad. This boastful pretense at knowing more about sex theoretically than you experience practically is a very late twentieth-century social more, one that is totally out of place among the ill-prepared, gently-bred ladies of the 1800s. I know Thomas is cool dude – in fact, he acts like a time traveller from this century – but I’m pretty sure the type of words Frances used would be enough to sink him with her forever, regardless of their content.

Georgiana’s title should be No Sense and Minimal Sensibility. She’s a Nick Carraway character, hating the richies while admitting they throw good parties. She is sniffy that they don’t give a few pence to a beggar like she – Virtue Signaller Extraordinare – does, yet is gasping to be included in their latest revels. She wonders early on if her friends ‘hunt commoners for sport’ – her friends – yet she is surprised when Frances destroys a working class man’s livelihood out of spite. The narrative also doesn’t appreciate that Betty wittering about houses is indistinguishable from Georgiana rambling about shoelaces, even though the first is presented as the indelible mark of a dullard and the second as delicious, sophisticated banter. In the end, the book resorts to the tired trope of ‘crude = funny’ by having a walk-on character shout about ‘bum-fodder’.

The one thing that Crouch is correct about is that the Regency era wasn’t exclusively inhabited by white people with the odd brown or black servant. However, the inclusion of two wives of colour – one dead off-screen, one effectively silenced by her husband – is literally skin-deep. It also carries the unfortunate implication that being out-of-kilter with society like Frances, or to a lesser extent Thomas, is linked to your family being ethnically diverse.

To conclude: there’s a reason most alcoholics in literature are anti-heroes, not heroes. Rather than recasting Austen characters in Mean Girls, this reads as a (hugely misguided) attempt to rehabilitate Arthur Huntington and Co. It was like being a sober person listening to a drunk one tell them a ‘really, really funny story’. As I’m sure Croucher would have a character say (given she’s got lines cribbed from Regina George and Tina Belcher, and probably others I didn’t catch), ‘Thank you next’.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Mean Girls and Emma had a baby, it would be Reputation by Lex Croucher.

After having little choice but to move in with her aunt and uncle, Georgiana Ellers is desperate to get out of the house, to do anything like the heroines in her favourite books. At a dreadfully dull dinner party, Georgiana meets the breathtaking Frances Campbell, daughter of Lord and Lady Campbell.

Georgiana gets swept up in the extravagant and debauched lifestyle of Frances and her wealthy friends. And, of course, there’s the brooding, Mr. Hawksley, who is always in the right place at the right time to catch Georgiana whenever she stumbles over her own two feet.

This book was exactly what I was looking for: something light, fun, and quick to get through. It does have some darker content, but on the whole, it was an amusing read.

The writing style was great too. The author did a superb job of embodying the language of this time, while keeping it fresh.

Reputation is also fairly diverse. I don’t know much about the period, but the author has stated that this era is currently being whitewashed, and she wanted to have racial diversity that represented this time. There’s also queer representation.

My favourite line has to be, “Get in, Georgiana. We’re going shopping.” Iconic.

This was an excellent debut, and I cannot wait to see what else the author comes up with next.

CW: SA, drug and alcohol abuse.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin for an arc provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

Described as a 'coming of age romcom', I'd actually say this is a lot darker than the fluffy historical romance many will be expecting. Georgiana Ellers has been sent to stay with her aunt and uncle while her inattentive parents take to the coast. Friendless and without any clear direction in life, Georgiana's fortunes change when she meets the the effervescent and irresistable Frances Campbell. The ultimate party girl, Frances is filthy rich and fancy free, and she soon takes Georgiana into her inner circle of fellow aristocratic young things. But Georgiana has everything to loose within her new friend group, and reputations are about to be destroyed.

Georgiana is an interesting character. She's young and impressionable with a mean streak that spills over into her reckless actions. She's completely captivated by Frances and her group of friends, and will stop at nothing to hold onto this new elevated status she acquires by being seen with the high society. As a result she regularly throws people under the bus who are genuinely interested in being her friend or who seem to actually care for her. You'd think that as the story progressed she might recognise this behaviour, evolve and address it - and to a certain extent she does, but not enough in my opinion. People are far too forgiving with her behaviour and she doesn't really pay any price and see any consequences of her actions. As a result I couldn't warm to her at all.

Far more interesting is Frances, and the various relationship dynamics she has within her social circle. She sees Georgiana as no threat, a novelty. Someone to shape and mold to her whims and use and discard at her pleasure. Their shifting power dynamics as the story progresses was interesting to see play out, and to watch as France starts to loose control. Yet Frances is also very vulnerable and naive behind this sharp exterior. She doesn't let anyone close in to see behind this mask, preferring to push them away and we get a bit of background as to why this is when Georgiana visits Frances at home. Her friends Cecily, Jonathan and especially Jane are merely extensions of her power, and I thought all of them were well developed and well fleshed out characters in their own right. If anything I would have liked to have seen more of Cecily's sweet side to counterbalance the negative and harsh behaviours of some of the other characters as well as more of Jane and Frances's relationship. It was messy and complicated and angsty - and a lot more interesting than Georgiana's romance plot, which I never really felt invested in.

I found the writing to be good - it's reasonably well written and fast paced, and had me engaged throughout. However, I did struggle to place this in terms of age range. It reads very YA, yet the subject matters that are dealt with are quite mature. We have sexual and domestic assaults, and drug and alcohol abuse involving individuals in their early 20s. It's very Mean Girls goes to regency Britain with modern language and swearing (even going so far as to use a well known Mean Girls quote as a chapter opening) and is completely historically inaccurate to the extent that at times I forgot this was suppose to be a historical romance. There's little mention of the time period itself beyond vague mentions of the French, King George and riding about in carriages.

Some storylines also peter out into nothing, or felt overly gratuitous. We get a brief monologue from Frances about slaves and racism (she is described as mixed race), and one passing mention of Frances's mother being talked about in town while she gives money to the poor. But beyond this? Nothing. We also get hints of trouble at home for Frances, but again it's over in one scene. If as much care and thought had been put into these passages as they had for the many party scenes it might have had more of an emotional impact and feel less like an oversight. There was so much missed potential in Frances's mother.

An interesting read that's hard to rate. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't really what I expected it to be on reading the blurb. It's a dash of historical fiction with a splash of romance but at its core it's really about a group of young women trying to find their place in a world that sees them only as wives and daughters. To call it a romcom is to do it a disservice.

[AbbysBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is my new obsession, I need MORE

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The disappointment is real

[Lex Croucher]

Friends! Now that Reputation is available to review I've provided a list of content warnings here: https://www.lexcroucher.co.uk/reputat...

[Hannah B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

✨The limit exists and we have found it✨

Okayyyy not as bad as I was expecting! Overall I think I liked the story but I also think I didn’t for a good portion of the book. If that makes any sense (we all know it doesn’t).

I liked Georgiana for the most part and really loved Thomas! The romance of their relationship definitely bumped this up a bit in my ratings because it was very sweet.

I liked the Mean Girls references and I like the time period, but man it just did not feel like the feels that Man Girls gives you. (Which I think is the main pitfall of movie to book retellings.) Maybe it’s the lack of low rise jeans. Maybe it’s the lack of Tina Fey being a pusher. Maybe it’s a lack of an epic soundtrack. Whatever it may be, this book was just not a laugh or anything I’d ever really want to feel again? Like I said, I liked parts and I suppose the overarching story, but the experience was weird and I wasn’t prepared.

The first hour of the audiobook was pretty hard for me to make my brain focus on…but I was able to get on board with the second half of the book. Thomas really carried this book. Thank you my good sir. The side friends weren’t really that important to me and they maybe could’ve been given more space to grow.

**Spoilers Below**

However, you can’t just have an abuser BREAK GEORGIANA’S WHOLE ASS ARM and not go straight to the hangman’s front step. I’m sorry but I said what I said figure out how to get it done and do it! Having his reputation ruined doesn’t feel as good as cold hard revenge. I was not prepared for that scene and it was frankly alarming.

**Spoilers Ended**

Overall, I don’t think I’m worse off for having read this, but I don’t think I’d pick it up again. The concept was fun but maybe missed the mark. It felt very modern (which I don’t mind in historicals!), but parts of modernity that I don’t really like lol. The partying and haziness was stressful, and I was just like…please get some rest.

I did really like the narrator and the experience as an audiobook was a good one!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5

Major CWs for SA, physical abuse, bullying, poisoning????, and unknowingly consuming substances without consent.

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rebellion of (Jane Austen) Maidens


What the Heck is Happening Here?

Smoking, Drinking, Wild Parties…

It’s the 19th century, for god’s sake!
Girls weren’t supposed to do that!…

No wonder the author kicks off the novel with an apology to our beloved Jane Austen! 😜

Reputation has been labeled as historical fiction.
Well… in its own peculiar way it’s a portrait of an era, but… it also makes fun of an epoch where women started as daughters to end up wives, mothers and…period!…

What would happen if 19th century maidens, instead of being obedient and extremely bored, would crazily misbehave?!
You know, do all the stupid “important” things pre-adult girls are expected to do before (hopefully) growing older and wiser?!
And what would be the unexpected consequences of such a behavior?

Would those rebel maidens grow from mistakes like water lilies in a swamp?!
And what about others?! Relatives, friends acquaintances… — who would be affected and in which way?!

Since we are all merged in this huge human web we call society, what we do, may eventually, affect others in the most unpredictable harmful ways…

All in all, Reputation is an historical romance that tackles 2 interesting subjects:
Evolving from mistakes and the social impact of leading a life where there’s no place for society rules…


Now… do you really think Jane Austen needed an apology request?!
I don’t!…
In fact, I could easily picture Ms. Austen cheering and laughing 🎊😜
Now I’m gonna change my previous 4 stars rate to 5!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello Life, Farewell Reputation


Get out of my way Reputation, I want a Life with the Real Me…

How manny 19th century maidens you know with that sort of guts?

Jane Austen heroines?! Seriously?!
It’s true those maidens were slightly rebels, but… did they really misbehave? You know… drink alcohol, smoke, take drugs?… Stuff like that?!… 😜

I don’t think so, do you?!..

Well… now you know why the author starts this book with an apology to Jane Austen 😜

Reputation can be irreverent and deliciously witty whilst tackling some serious subjects!
It’s a solid 5 from me! 💕
Paradoxically (or not), Reputation will be a treat for any Janeite or Austenite 😉

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Georgiana começa a Viver


Georgiana conheceu Frances numa festa que mais parecia um velório dum cão. A iluminação era de tal forma escassa que os convidados se entretinham a adivinhar a cor dos cortinados:

Seriam vermelhos? Roxos? Grenás? Cor de ameixa? Cor de vinho?…

Os alvitres eram múltiplos e poderiam prolongar-se pela noite dentro pois só a luz solar poderia providenciar a resposta certa…

Estava, pois, Georgiana substancialmente entediada quando Frances Campbell, uma jovem de pele escura, espírito livre e igualmente entediada, dela se acercou, almejando participar no jogo do “adivinha a cor dos cortinados”…

Georgiana, que passara recentemente a viver sob a tutela dos tios e andava com uma vida tão ou mais entediante que a festa “velório de cão”, viu em Frances um junco salvador que convinha, de todo, não deixar escapulir …

“Em todos os livros que lera, em que uma heroína recomeçava numa nova cidade, aldeia ou castelo, esta tropeçava de imediato numa série de aventuras destemidas, ou perdia-se dramaticamente na charneca, ou desfalecia nos braços de um cavalheiro de passagem (e de muito bom aspeto).
Em absolutamente nenhum deles, a heroína passava duas semanas a olhar para uma mancha de humidade no teto da sala, perguntando-se se parecia mais um homem a cair sobre um banco ou uma coruja a jogar bilhar.”😜

“Frances não era decerto um espadachim aventureiro nem um nobre arrebatador, mas Georgiana soube de imediato que estava na presença de uma protagonista.”

E foi neste cenário que principiou uma amizade que deu um novo rumo à, até então, ultra pacata vida de Georgiana …

“Frances parecia o início de algo — de uma história que Georgiana queria desesperadamente seguir até ao fim.”


Reputação é dedicado a Jane Austen, com um pedido de desculpas. Eu cá confesso que visualizei múltiplas vezes a talentosa Jane a sorrir e aplaudir.👏
Será que, também eu, lhe devo um pedido de desculpas?! 😜

Reputação é sarcástico, irreverente… e eu, simplesmente, adorei! 💕

[Olive Fellows (abookolive) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun! Definitely not for those who want their historical romances to be realistic (this one is a very modern take on a Regency romance), but it was a fun reading experience. I'd absolutely consider reading more from this author, especially since I laughed out loud at the witticisms more than once.

[myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ *]

dnf @ 12% boring.. don’t care

[♡ Martina ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

"L'estate della buona società" di Lex Croucher. Ammetto di essermi fatta ingannare dal fatto che questo libro "somigliasse" a quelli di Julia Quinn ma diciamoci la verità: l'unica somiglianza è data dal periodo storico in cui è ambientata la storia e basta.
Il romanzo parla di Georgiana, una ragazza che viene affidata alle cure degli zii che vivono in una noiosa "cittadina" di campagna per trascorrere l'estate. Georgiana si sente un'estranea in questo posto e non ha amici, finché non conosce Frances Campbell una ragazza sua coetanea da cui nascerà una profonda intesa ma Georgiana non ha ancora fatto i conti con i comportamenti estremi di Frances e dei suoi amici arrivando a eguagliarli per evitare di essere esclusa da quella compagnia così tanto da lei agognata. Il libro, alla fine, racconta quasi esclusivamente dell'amicizia tossica tra Frances e Georgiana, solo in alcune parti del libro si ha la parte romantica con Thomas. L'amicizia tra le due ragazze, secondo me, può essere descritta soltanto come tossica. I comportamenti bizzarri ed eccentrici di Frances e dei suoi amici spinge Georgiana a fare cose che non avrebbe mai immaginato.
Finché ad un certo punto Georgiana non viene quasi stuprata dall'uomo amato da Frances (e molto probabilmente ha stuprato anche lei) e si ritrova a fare i conti su come sia cambiata durante l'estate. Questa esperienza la spinge a fare ammenda nei confronti di Betty Walters e dei suoi zii, ma soprattutto nei confronti di se stessa.
Durante la lettura di questo libro sono stata tentata molte di interromperlo ma alla fine non l'ho fatto perché ero curiosa di sapere come sarebbe andata a finire la storia e, da un certo punto di vista, sono stata molto contenta di non averlo fatto.
Ci vuole un po' per capire a fondo i comportamenti dei personaggi anche se molti atteggiamenti di Frances non sono giustificabili, nonostante la sua storia familiare.
La stile del romanzo è molto scorrevole e l'autrice ha fatto un gran bel lavoro con questo libro, non metto 4 stelle perché avrei voluto che ci fossero più scene con Thomas all'interno del libro ma sono ben consapevole che ciò che l'autrice voleva valorizzare è l'amicizia e non l'amore.

[Celia {Hiatus until August} · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engraçado, diferente. Esperava mais...
No entanto... Impossível não recordar Emma de Jane Austen em determinadas partes. Um dejá vu...

[Sunny Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! Delightful. Forgot that hetero regency romance with queer side characters can be fun

[karine’s archive · Rating 1 out of 5]

i hated this book more than i hate myself. and i REALLY hate me.

so, right, this author can write a whole bunch of nothing and get away with 3.94 of average rating? wtf are wrong with you ppl? im VERY pissed. this book is a fucking mess. the characters has no personality traits and all of them are awful ppl. im not even gonna start with the WRITING.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

i wonder if people who gave this a 5 star review read the same mess as i did. this what this “book” should be called: A MESS.

i gave it a half-star [⭐]because i dont have the option of giving none. but i will let you know that i definitely would without second thoughts.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and engaging novel that asks what if Mean Girls had petticoats?

Reputation follows our main character Georginia who moves to a small town with her aunt and uncle after her parents ditch. Georginia finds her quiet life a little upended when she meets Frances Campbell, a wealthy and wild girl with friends who are the most elite and most unafraid of consequences.

The book is based around Mean Girls and has plenty of references to prove it, even with the main character's name. If you grew up with this movie you’ll love the familiar lines in a new context. The plot is simple enough to follow along and much like Cady Heron, you’ll be conflicted with cheering on your main character as she makes more and more poor choices becoming a Mean Girl herself.

There is a nice romance which felt a little too underdeveloped but since it felt more like a side plot this didn’t take too much away. The key relationship was far more about Georginia and Frances which was an interesting power dynamic. The side characters were all colorful and detailed especially with the time they are given. Its fun to guess the ‘Mean Girl’ equivalent like Cecily being Karen.

The novel touches on some more serious topics as well and this is where some may struggle with it. The book has several strands of plot about sexual assualt and rape which while important and totally realistic in the scenarios presented, felt rather dark for what otherwise was a fun and light book.

If you are ok with this in a novel, then its still definitely worth a listen.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The narrator was absolutely wonderful.

[charlotte, · Rating 5 out of 5]

probably was gonna go 4 stars but then it made me almost cry so

Rep: sapphic(?) mc, biracial Black sapphic character, lesbian character, gay character, biracial Indian li, side character with depression

CWs: sexual assault, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, implied rape, attempted rape

[Lindsey Rojem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd give this book 10 stars if I could, it was delicious and perfect and hard to put down. I loved the humor (actually laughed out loud at several spots) and I loved the characters. It's modeled after Pride & Prejudice but had enough twists and excitement that it didn't feel like an exact copy. Big fan, highly recommend, and I look forward to other books by this author.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I wouldn't call it hilarious, as it was billed as, it was definitely a fairly good mash-up of Mean Girls meets Bridgerton but add in more queer and BIPOC characters.

I had hoped it was sapphic, based on what I had thought the blurb meant, but after reading a few other reviews was prepared to be disappointed. I think Georginia *might* be bisexual, but it's not explored.

Anywho, it's basically Mean Girls in the Regency Era, with sexual assault that was handled much better than I had anticipated based on how the rest of the book went. Fuck, the rich and famous were all truly awful (even the ones with redeeming qualities were still bad), and Georginia herself was...well, I wanted to slap her for most of the book, particularly for how she treated Betty and the Burtons.

It was entertaining though, and better than I had anticipated.

Full RTC...maybe.

I received this eaudiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was atrocious, I don't want to talk about it. 0/10 on all fronts, the end

[QuietBlizzard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A satisfied 3.5 stars.

What Bridgerton could have been had it been written by someone with actual talent and sense of humor (and also, incidentally but not unimportantly, by someone who is not an apologist for rape).

Definitely not a fluffy rom-com, but still a solid romance novel. Nothing sweeps me of my feet lately so I can’t penalize it too much for not pulling me in that much, but the Mean Girls references made me chuckle more than once.

[Pip · Rating 5 out of 5]

PERFECT. DIVINE. EVERYTHING I’VE EVER WANTED.

it’s like Lex went inside my brain and picked out every element that would make a perfect book for me, and then they wrote it?? quite staggering. but I appreciate it

[Katie.dorny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A raucous romp through the regency era.

This was pure fun for the most part. Witty with a serious storyline, it hit all the right notes.

[lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

to preface my review, i should mention that this book is not what i expected. from the cover, tag line, blurb, and even the first 100 pages, i expected a lesbian bridgerton on drugs. that is not what i got, and the main romance in this book is very much heterosexual.

whilst disappointing (misleading at best, queer-baiting at worst), i still enjoyed this story for the most part. it was a fun and scandalous take on the regency period, and i found myself laughing out loud on multiple occasions. i really enjoyed georgiana as a main character; she was smart, quirky and funny. her journey throughout the book was great.

other characters in this book were also just as entertaining. frances is your typical mean girl who people love to please, and thomas is your enigmatic, charming hero. the wit between thomas and georgiana was especially fun

there was a section in the middle where not much happened and i got a little restless. i also found the very brief (and kind of random) mentions of racism and homophobia meaningless. they were not explored with any sort of depth so it would’ve made more sense to be left out completely

i do wish the concept matched up with what i thought i was getting (then it might have been four stars), but i had fun nonetheless. the drug-heavy-regency-based-party-vibes were immaculate. i would pay good money to see this as a tv/film adaptation

cw’s: death of parents (off page), sexual assault/rape, discussions of consent, substance abuse

rep:
- sapphic side characters
- asian love interest

[captain raccoon. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars rounded up


(if i have to have this earworm then you do too)

i liked so much of what reputation did that i ended up glomming it until the wee hours of the morning on a school night. if a book set during regency times uses a quote from mean girls in cold blood then it will have my eternal admiration. (seriously, the quote was so good i had to put my kindle down for like 5 minutes because i was cackling like a witch.) but for all its positives i’m not sure i actually enjoyed reading this? while i knew to expect the shift in tone (oh my days this got dark af), it still really jarred me and i never quite managed to un-jar.

i think reputation knew what it wanted to do and (admirably) tried to do it all… but, for me, it didn’t quite manage to pull everything off.

(also: i am still baffled about what the fuck happened to christopher??? his behaviour was seriously predatory and—unless i missed something—it/he was just… forgotten about. i left the book assuming he continued to torment george until either hawksley killed the fuckstick with a hat or betty clumped him one.)

despite my misgivings, i will definitely be reading infamous.