Reviews

Reputation by Sarah Vaughan

ahomelibrary's review against another edition

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3.0

Book Review — Reputation by Sarah Vaughan (2022, Atria Books)

Note: I won a review copy from a Goodreads raffle. Thank you to GR + publisher.

Categories: Psychological Thriller, Political Thriller, Suspense, Crime

Topics: Politics (UK), revenge p* and victims’ experiences, motherhood, cyber crimes

Summary: The bestselling author of “Anatomy of a Scandal” returns with a psychological thriller about a politician whose personal life + preteen’s costly mistake is thrust into the spotlight when a body is discovered in her home.

Emma is the main POV character. She’s a divorced British MP with a preteen daughter, Flora. The story follows her experience as a female MP facing online abuse, especially after gaining attention from a poorly received interview + championing policy change after a constituent was the victim of revenge p (don’t want to get flagged).

Meanwhile, her preteen daughter is also facing bullying and online abuse from her schoolmates. She retaliates and crosses a legal line; her actions may become a public scandal. It’s when a journalist is found dead in her mom’s home that the cost of protecting a reputation is calculated. The story then moves into a courtroom setting.

My thoughts: I thought this would be right up my alley being a UK politics thriller. I think it would’ve been better as a miniseries. Its underpinnings are interesting and timely: 1) more personal cyber crime (bullying etc) is hard to prevent or prosecute uniformly and policy, or its implementation/understanding, doesn’t often match the modernity of the issues and 2) the poor experiences of MPs online have recently been highlighted by high profile politicians receiving threats and even being killed.

The execution wasn’t the best for me. I’d describe this as a domestic/political drama before a thriller. I felt like this was someone’s first book but it clearly isn’t, as the author has a hit one which I still fully intend to read and watch. There’s a lot of repetition + some things feel shoehorned into a plot that comes across paranoid rather than suspenseful. Yet, at the end of the day, I think it is still a decent attempt to shed light on tangible issues.

novelvisits's review against another edition

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4.0

Thanks to #EmilyBestlerBooks and @atriabooks for an ARC of #Reputation.⁣

As

wenjoy's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 - well written, tight story, complex characters.

sparker94's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

molliew26's review

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dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

nicnicthelibrarycat's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

pernillelsk's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rmarcin's review against another edition

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5.0

I really enjoyed this novel about a woman in Parliament who advocates for regulations and protections for women who have been targeted by others and have suggestive photos and videos posted about them. When Emma is found over the body of a journalist at the bottom of her stairs, she is pulled into a drama that she never expected.
Emma's daughter, Flora, in a moment of rage, posted a video of her ex-friend and the papers were going to publish a story. Emma begged Mike, the journalist, not to print anything. But, when Mike dies as a result of the fall at Emma's house, Emma is put on the spot.
This story asks what you would do to protect your reputation, and whether you can depend on others to protect it. Very tense drama.

mmathy's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

clarebearr's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0