Reputation: ‘If Bridgerton and Fleabag had a book baby’ Sarra Manning, perfect for fans of 'Mean Girls'

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Oh and I need to make it clear that handsome Captain Edwards is a captain of the navy, incase you are like me and have been seriously binging any kind of naval or set on a ship book recently! That just really added nicely to the overly hotness effect for me With a focus on female friendships and self-identity, Reputation is a fun, touching and terrifically improper novel, perfect for fans of Austen and romcoms. and when it comes to love . . . you know. the heart wants what it wants. and the heart is also terminally stupid. a dangerous combination.” I will reread this book many times and I need there to be more books featuring the same characters. 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.”

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. It’s a little under a year since I read @Lex’s first book and, honestly? They just keep getting better. Compulsively readable, hysterically funny, and touchingly relatable casting genuinely human characters who are clearly more than a little Neurodiverse chafing against the stifling manners of regency England. 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. Lex Croucher is a writer, producer and You Tuber based in London, with over 100,000 followers across her social media platforms.Think of Bridgerton crossed with Sex Education and you have Reputation...reminding us that the process of coming of age really hasn’t changed for centuries." The analysis of class was particularly well done, something that often goes under-examined in novels of the regency that focus on the middle and upper classes. Georgiana is of a lower class than many of the other characters in the novel, and through her eyes we are able to see both her fascination with the more exciting parts, and disgust at the uglier parts, of the behaviour of the rich and powerful. 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.

Through Frances and her friends Georgiana is introduced to a new world of wild parties, drunken debauchery, mysterious young men with strangely alluring hands, and the sparkling upper echelons of Regency society.She passed Georgiana a small flask, which Georgiana accepted and brought to her lips without question in a sort of daze, spluttering as something much stronger than punch burned in her throat. Frances is so sparkling, so vibrant and lively and witty and daring, that readers will be forgiven for thinking that she’s Georgiana’s love interest. Certainly, Georgiana is instantly smitten. Croucher understands the fierce, passionate crushes girls have on their friends—the yearning to be in another person’s orbit, to have them think of you as clever and charming. Romantic attachment makes the heart beat faster, but friendships burrow deeper under the skin; you feel them all the way to your bones. And that’s ordinary friendship. Frances is anything but ordinary. In addition to the giddy pleasure of her company, she exposes Georgiana to a world of fantastic wealth, endless indulgence and absolute debauchery. It’s fun, it’s dizzying, it’s literally intoxicating—and it’s very, very dangerous. The members of the Edwards Family soon endear themselves to the reader, even troubled Aster, and the rest of the supporting cast have so much personality they probably all deserve their own stories - I know I’d read them. 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.

The handling of sexual harassment felt perhaps a little too twenty-first century, but I wouldn't have wanted it to be any other way. So much of how we write fiction set in the past is revisionist anyway, so why not imagine a past where people really did believe women? Emily's charges - sisters - rebellious Aster and kind-hearted, pleaser Grace keep Emily on her toes - particularly Aster and never mind their father - Captain Edwards - who Emily initially mistakes for a stable hand. 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. A fierce, fresh, feminist Regency romcom that is brilliant on friendship and fitting in. It is funny, surprising and deliciously romantic, and the dialogue truly shimmers."Until that fine day graces us with its presence, we’ve rounded up the best Bridgerton-esque books to fill the Shondaland-shaped hole in our lives. Reminiscent of Jane Austen, the novel opens with protagonist Emily who is pretending to be her sister (Amy). She is on her way to become a governess, this would be fine if she actually liked children or if she knew how to teach - instead, she is there to clean out the family - all for a good reason of course. Amy is unwell and needs medical help. This is not the case for Lex Croucher's Reputation, which promises a fresh new take on the Regency romance. Georgiana Ellers has been sent to live with her aunt and uncle, abandoned in their dreary country home whilst her parents enjoy some fresh seaside air. Absolutely gagging for a hint of adventure, Georgiana is thrilled when she meets Frances Campbell, local socialite, and her circle of wealthy and wild friends. Frances takes Georgiana under her wing, drawing her into a world of drink, drugs and debauchery. With some laugh-out-loud moments, the novel leaves the reader wanting more. Will Emily be found out, who is the stranger in the pub wanting to know all of the gossip regarding Captain Edward's dismissal from the navy and what secret is Aster hiding? Overall, Reputation is a fun, historical romance, but it also includes some darker themes which were handled with care and added a lot to the book. Definitely worth a read! Book Description