August 2022 Review of Reputation

Date- 8.26.22-8.28.22

 Reputation

Written by Lex Croucher

About from Goodreads.com

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…

Review

Warning might be some spoilers. If you don’t want spoilers please skip down to the Enjoyed section of the review.

    6 out of 5. I am absolutely in love with Croucher’s writing style as well as her characters!  

Every character felt extremely real to me. Georgiana was an amazing main character. I liked that you can tell she was out of her element with everyone doing drugs and doing other uncouth things but she  wanted to be part of the ‘in crowd’ she was willing to make some really bad choices just to be liked , which happens a lot in real life. Betty was another character I enjoyed she wasn’t really even a secondary character but I loved her nonetheless my favorite thing about her is that she didn't know how to stop talking and her anxiety would get so bad that she would talk about things that she probably shouldn’t talk about like how much she likes pigs and that she has been mistaken for them when she wears pink. One character that I thought in the beginning I wasn’t going to like was Jane  because in the beginning she was rude and just angry. The more you read the book you find out that she actually comes across as rude because she doesn't really have a filter but she does care about her loved ones, like at one point Frances is bullying Ces and waving her favorite purse off the roof, so Ces tries to get it and Frances fakes dropping it. If it wasn’t for Jane Ces probably would have tried to catch it and fall off the roof. 

Croucher’s writing also had me cheering for Georgiana many times for example when she first starts writing to her love interest Thomas. I love how they both challenge each other but in a very healthy way. I also find that sometimes they are very sassy to each other. Like whole they are writing letters to each other Thomas comments on how short her letters are and how it is hard to correspond with her because she doesnt give him a lot to work with. To this she rebuttals that paper is expensive. 

A Third thing I enjoyed about this book and Croucher’s writing was that even though this story was a romance then the entire book wasn’t absorbed by the romance. It actually played more of a second part to the drama of Georgiana’s life as a middle class woman in the upper classes ‘In Crowd’. This gave so much more to this story and so much more depth.

The one issue I had with this book was it ended. Honestly that is my sole issue. I want more. More of this world. More of the characters. Just more. I want to know what happens to the characters after the book is over. 

I gave this book a 6 out of 5 simply because even though I have this book as an eBook(which is how I read most of my books) I will be buying this book in paperback as well.

Enjoyed

• Found it funny

• The characters and their flaws and how real the characters felt

• How parts of this book made me cheer for Georgiana 

• Zoned into the book so much I lost track of time

Disliked

• That this book isn’t a series. I need more.

Quotes I love

• “The only consolation in all of this is that the lady of the house is truly a character. Have you seen her dress? It’s all pink satin and questionable corseting. She looks like a strawberry blancmange that somebody’s grabbed hold of and squeezed. I imagine Mr Gadforth will have to rub her down with goose fat to slide her out of it later.” - Frances, Chapter 1

• “Eat me like one of your French puddings” - Georgiana, Chapter 1

• “I saw a flower once, you know, in the exact shape of a gentleman’s—’ ‘Georgiana!’ her aunt exclaimed. ‘—top hat, Mrs Burton. Honestly! Sometimes I don’t know where your mind goes” - Chapter 2

• She had probably already purchased the rest of the fox’s extended family, and was back to complete the set. - Chapter 17

• ‘Ignore her, George,’ Jonathan said. ‘It’s best to agree with her on all things accessories or risk becoming one yourself.’ He did a startlingly accurate impression of the fox, going limp and dead-eyed, his tongue sticking out for effect. -Chapter 17

6/5 ⭐️

Info

Trigger warning-  Drug use, Drinking, Bullying, sexual, verbal and physical abuse, racism, toxic friendships, slut-shaming, 

Spice level-1/ 5 🌶 Kissing and after assault care

Numbers of pages- 336

Publish date- April 2022

Awards-NA

Genres- Humor, Historical fiction, Romance, LGBTQ+