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jmbibliophile's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Reputation is the hilarious and dramatic marriage of Jane Austen and Mean Girls. Georgiana Ellers has found herself in a new town, living with her middle-class Aunt and Uncle. At a party, she meets wealthy and mischievous Frances Campbell, and gets her ticket into the elite in-crowd. Enamored with a sense of belonging and importance, Georgina falls into a new scene: full of drinking, drugs, debauchery, and the drama of upper-class society. However, Georgiana soon discovers that she’s in over her head. Is this high society life worth the price?
This book is a wild ride. Georgiana is a quirky, sheltered bookworm who just wants to fit in. She admires the life of Frances and her friends, but she eventually realizes their lives aren’t as glamourous as they seem. Her friends struggle with racism, sexual assault, and having to hide their sexual identities. As a reader, it was obvious that these people were acting out in order to forget their struggles, knowing they could get away with it because of their money and social stature. Georgiana, however, takes time to see that. This is so relatable to me, as someone who wanted to fit in with the “cool kids” at school, so you are willing to do things you know aren’t right. I loved Georgiana’s character growth through this story, along with her hilarious quips. Frances? The perfect mean girl. Oh man, Lex does a great job of putting the reader in a love-hate relationship with this character. Sometimes I wanted to give her a hug, other times I wanted to pull her hair out.
My only complaint about this book, and it’s a big one, is that I strongly believe it was categorized incorrectly. This book is excellent for what it is, but it is absolutely NOT a rom-com. Is there some romance in it? Yes. Is it the main plot of the story? No. I would consider this book to be a historical drama, with romance and comedic elements. Please do not go into this book thinking you’re getting a romantic comedy, because not I only will I think you’ll be disappointed, you’ll also be ill-prepared for the traumatic topics that are explored in this book.
CWs: attempted sexual assault, implied sexual assault, alcohol poisoning, discussion of family loss, drugging, slut-shaming, homophobia, racism, domestic violence
(Note: I was provided an advanced copy of Reputation by the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)
Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Blood and Homophobia
Minor: Classism, Death, and Death of parent
booksnsocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Alcoholism
kirbylover16's review against another edition
I couldn't connect to the main character Georgiana. She was annoying, superficial, and blah. She's the cliche bookworm who dreams of excitement and, I'm not like other girls. After having one night of fun, she decides that she won't try to befriend anyone else. It's Frances or nothing. Of course, Frances is a hot mess. Where is the romance or Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl part? I'm totally getting the Mean girls vibes but not the others. All we know about the love interest(or who I believe is) is he is not interested in Georgiana and likes to brush his horse. Dreamy. All of the characters are unnecessity mean or clueless. The narrator is great though the story, romance, characters are not there. 2/5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Alcohol, Abandonment, Body shaming, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Pregnancy and Racism
It's not clear if the pregnancy was miscarried or not it's really establishing this guy is a bad dude and doesn't love the girls he's with. A lot of bad parents in this book. One rich white dude marries a middle-class black woman and when the marriage is falling apart he blames her for not being a high lady. There's tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs at every party.sophiegs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, and Death
d0000dle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
charley0796's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Overall, I thought the plot was standard for this style coming of age story - though the book was long it didn’t feel that way, despite much of it being taken up by scandalous parties each chapter brought a refreshing new part to the story. It is so much more diverse than most regency novels which often white wash and straightify the time - it was refreshing to see this brought up and discussed but I wish it was developed further! There could have been so much opportunity to explore lavender marriages or even bisexuality on Georgiana’s front if a couple of chapters had been added. This would have built up the historical accuracy of the novel that few people know about (see Jessica Kellgren-Fozard‘s YouTube channel for more on this).
That said, I was disappointed by the love story between Georgiana and Thomas. Though Georgiana’s attraction to him was clear from the outset, Thomas’ affections seemed to materialise from nowhere and with no witty dialogue between the two that could have started to grow the relationship seed. I would have liked to see more around these conversations in the novel, with dialogue being a weakness in the novel. I also felt like the reconciliation between Jane and Frances and Georgiana was brushed over, I felt this needed more development, especially if we are to believe that the relationship between Jane and Frances developed into something healthy.
I also felt the continuous mention of how Georgiana was poor compared to her friends tedious, especially as it had no impact on the plot beyond wearing a bedsheet toga to a Greek party. It felt like a half hearted copy of pride and prejudice.
I do recommend this book though! Especially for those looking for a diverse light read. But not for accurate historical fiction fans .
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Vomit
samvansam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, and Violence
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Vomit, and Rape
camsara99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Sexual content, and Racism
Minor: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
simixfe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
gracehessian's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death of parent and Drug use
Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Homophobia, Racism, and Toxic friendship