I was enjoying this book for the first 75%. It had drama and I was entertained. I did find things problematic but it didn't stop me from having fun while reading it. However, I hated one of the plot points delivered after that. I knew it was coming in some shape or form but I was hoping to be wrong. It's about cheating. I'm warning you that if you don't want to read books with cheating in it, you should stay clear of this one because even though I can handle it usually, I don't really like it and here there was one scene/chapter that almost made me feel sick. (view spoiler)

There is also emotional cheating as the MMC started checking out and replacing her with someone else "as a friend"... But then again, it's what he usually does as he's known as a guy who is always in a relationship. And all of this happened in a period where our FMC was at her lowest. She was taking drugs and ended up making a mess of things. I'm not saying she was perfect because she wasn't. She had her faults. However, she has serious anxiety/panic attacks and he didn't understand them at all. His reaction was so bad and it annoyed me. I was hoping that he would grow and learn and fix his mistake about it but even by the end of the book, it didn't happen. He did however apologize for some of his faults in an immature/childish way by pointing out he wasn't the only one in the wrong... so there is that.

Overall, I didn't find their relationship healthy. I'm sorry I couldn't love this book as I loved the cover and revenge plots are usually pretty fun to read about.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

Wow. I’m not sure what to say about this book. It took me a while to finish this book because the subject matter is pretty heavy. Leilani has anxiety disorder and struggles with addiction during her relationship with Logan and it is a credit to the author that is so painful to read about.

The book starts with their break up and I get the impression that Logan’s an unsympathetic jerk and Leilani is meek and dependent on him. I’ve never been more wrong.

To be honest, there are no good-guys and bad-guys in this book. Everyone is flawed. If they had a dog, the dog would be flawed. As the story unfolds, there is not one character in this book with their shit together.

The story is told from duel points of view, in flashbacks and in present time so there’s a lot to process. It’s an interesting, engrossing book. The story definitely had slow pockets, but the writing was solid and the characters, while not super-likable, were well-developed.

The story is interesting because you are reading about their break up and their love story at the same time and trying to reconcile between the two without having all the facts until the end.

This is weird to write in a review of a romance novel, but I did not actually want these two to end up together. I feel like a whole bunch of therapy later, they might be decent partners for other people, but they should not have gotten back together at the end of this book.

ARC provided via NetGalley. This is a voluntary review and these thoughts an opinions are my own.

When I first requested this book, I did not know much regarding what it’s about. The cover really enticed me because it is so pretty. Then when I was approved, I read the synopsis and it sounded like a story about a jealous ex-girlfriend, and I love those (most of the time). I was very, very wrong. I still don’t even know what this was about. It is a debut novel and the author’s biography say that she writes romances, but I just didn’t see the romance or the romantic appeal of this book.

Both characters were highly unlikable and incredibly arrogant. Logan is a pretentious a-hole, who probably has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Leilani was described as this girl who suffers form social anxiety and panic disorder, and that makes her crazy. I didn’t appreciate the way her mental health was played about, especially coming from someone who has an anxiety disorder herself. It was a huge plot point and Logan was an ass about her anxiety and verbally abused her half the time while she emotionally abused him. Literally, they were so toxic for each other. They are portrayed as college students but this whole “let’s take a break” and then “let me try to win him back” attitude was more high school than anything else. Why are “breaks” even a thing in relationships? Either you want to be together or not. And these two really took a number on playing with one another’s emotions. I mean, seriously? Grow up. If they just learned to communicate better and get their heads out of their own assess, half the problems that made the “plot” of this book could have been avoided.

Logan falls in love with Leilani after one conversation and that to me, is totally unrealistic. The social worker in me makes me wonder if he has attachment issues, or maybe mommy issues? I don’t know but that was a huge turn off for me. No wonder Leilani wanted nothing to do with him for some time.

There was ONE sex scene that literally had me gagging. (No spoilers here). It also felt incredibly random and aggravated me. The others were tolerable.

And that ending? Ugh. I just don’t see how this is a romance. It just seemed way too toxic for me. Maybe I’m just too old and don’t enjoy the angsty love stories anymore.

Rating: 5/5

Amazing! A diamond in the rough of mental disorders! Ms. Mason does a superb job of encompassing anxiety and all that’s tied with it - the pain, drug addiction, suffering - not only for the victim but for their loved ones as well. I had a lot of moments where I cried, laughed and shouted in anger. Although I don’t suffer from any mental disorder, I sympathized 1000% with the characters and their journey towards healing and acceptance. They aren’t perfect - they f**k up A LOT. But that’s what I appreciate here. The realistic storyline and raw emotions she drags out of you makes for an intense ride. Plus the steamy romance doesn’t harm anyone!

Revenge Cake is not your clean-cut typical romance but an edgier, darker romance that was tear-jerkingly raw and honest.

Logan aka, "The Relationship Sociopath", is a serial dater who falls head over heels for Leilani, a self-proclaimed feminist who suffers from social anxiety. I enjoyed that the book was narrated from both their perspectives as it gives readers a very crude and unfiltered version of the struggles of social anxiety and addiction.

This story was a slow build for me and I almost abandoned it more than once but I am happy I chose to stick it out. Once it picked up, the story was gripping and engaging with its realistic characters and even more relatable storyline.

That being said, there were certain aspects that did not sit well with me. I did not like the toxic nature of the relationships formed within this novel both with its main characters Leilani and Logan and the secondary relationship of Armaan and Brenna. Brenna basically confessed to using Armaan for his money and family name and talked down to him in a very derogatory way for the entire novel. The attempt at normalizing dysfunctional and unhealthy relationships wasn't something I enjoyed reading.

I understand the writer wanting to position Leilani in the "hell hath no fury like a scorned woman," but the rationale for her behavior was pretty weak. Instead of rising above her past addictions and wanting to become a better version of herself, she is focused on petty revenge with a cliche "empowerment list" featuring vapid items like makeover and seduction.

Revenge Cake had the opportunity to bring awareness to less talked about issues of mental health and instead of creating a story of recovery and strength it came across as a sadistic romcom. Even the "mommy" issues experienced by Logan could have been a teachable moment on breaking away from toxic love that requires jumping through hoops but instead ended with him repeating the self-sabotaging behavior till the very end.

Trigger warning- this book features addiction, anxiety, and panic attacks and is recommended for those who are interested in chick-lit, romantic comedies with darker undertones.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skylar Mason for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for my review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

I wish I could say I liked this one. It was a fast read, and initially it seemed promising. However, these characters were pretty horrible and I unfortunately couldn't find many redeeming qualities. Logan (our main love interest) meets Lani through his roommate Armaan who is dating Brenna, Lani's roommate. When we first meet Lani she is I guess what most people would classify as socially awkward. She's a know it all, very blunt, and pretty condescending, and I almost found it refreshing. Unfortunately from here. on out it's a downward spiral. It is stated (to almost an extreme) how feminist Brenna and Lani are, but apparently their brand of feminism is basically "we must degrade the men to show how feminist we are." Brenna goes out of her way to consistently put down Armaan and point out how useless. he is, and generally doesn't pay him much attention outside of that. She then freaks out when he finds someone who at the very least treats him like a human. She also states at one point she was with him for the potential and money. Lani and Logan are honestly just toxic together. Logan has a serious codependency issue, and. is a notorious serial dater. Lani, after they go on a break, proceeds to embark on a seriously petty filled revenge plot. You get the impression he has done something unforgivable to deserve this yes? Um not really, he more or less just stated facts. Lani does have a severe anxiety disorder, however I don't feel this should condone her behavior which is, at best, self destructive, but it also harms others. I was hoping for some sort of character redemption, and I guess there was a little tiny glimpse at the end but it just wasn't enough for me.

1.5 stars rounded up

Both main characters are super unlikable and it’s really such a shame how the mental illness is treated in this book. It was a slog to get through. If either of the characters were even somewhat likable it would have been better but they’re both assholes and it makes this a miserable reading experience.

I really enjoyed this book. I received an advanced readers copy. This is a little more angsty than my typical read but I enjoyed it. As someone with anxiety, I felt there were many ways in which I related to Lani. Skylet Mason did a great job creating well thought out characters that actually seemed believable in their actions. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes 'chick lit' and romcom type books as this kind of falls into both categories.

I was quite surprised by this novel, it's quite a strong romance, it's full of heartbreaking phases, it makes me have quite a few mixed feelings.
Told from both points of view, it is quite raw and realistic. It touches on issues of mental health, addictions, etc.
It tells the story of Leilani and Logan, who are seniors in college and have been dating for over a year. From the beginning you can tell it's a toxic couple, Logan is practically a fuckboy who is always in and out of a relationship, and this is mostly when things start to get a little more difficult. On the other side we have Leilani, she suffers from anxiety and panic issues, which brings her some problems. Our story begins when Logan asks Leilani to take some time off, as she is now suffering from an addiction. And he tells us how his whole story went until he reached the end point.
I think it was a good book, although the plot advanced a bit slowly for my taste and the jumps in time confused me a bit. I almost don't like books with a double perspective, but in this case I liked it, so I could get to know the story of both protagonists.
It was a complete trip to mental health, the truth is that there are few books that touch on this type of subject, and many times they only do it superficially, but with this book we go a little deeper into the subject. And the truth is that to a certain extent I understand Leilani, I also suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, so for that part I did understand, and I feel understood at the same time.
One thing that I should point out is that this book is full of toxic couples, from the main characters to the secondary characters, they were so toxic that they brought me to the point where I felt quite uncomfortable. This is something I don't like at all in the books, because many times instead of saying "don't do this" it's as if they encourage people to do it. I know that many people who read this book will give it a low grade because of this. But you still have to look at the other side of the story and the other issues it addresses. Not just the toxicity.
I must admit that, in spite of everything, it's quite a peculiar novel, I liked the way it developed the different themes. If you have any kind of problem with any of these topics, either you don't like them or you are against them, I suggest you don't read this book. It might go against what you think. But if you are open-minded, I recommend that you read it. It touches on some pretty interesting topics, and may even be helpful to you or someone you know.

I thought this book was going to be a cute and fun romcom but it was actually filled with anxiety, panic attacks and other serious issues. While I can be wrong about my initial impression and still enjoy the book, this was not one of those times

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Relationships have their ups and downs but known more so Being in a relationship and having anxiety can be tough and this book did a good job of dealing with it.

I was given this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was so good. All the drama. I loved it. I loved Logan and Lani. I enjoyed getting to see both sides of the story. I would recommend this book.

I really don't know how to think or feel about this book, or how to rate it.
Because I skimmed the synopsis, I didn't realize it would be so heavy on mental illness, and I definitely think this book could be triggering for some people.
TW include: substance addiction, anxiety disorder, emotional and physical cheating.

This book is told in dual POV of both the main characters, and alternates between past and present. I really liked this aspect of the book. I liked that I learned what was going on in both characters heads. It was fun that the chapters alternated into the past, which was the start and downfall of their relationship, and the present, which was after their break up. Both the main characters were unlikeable. Logan was a needy, "relationship whore" who jumped from girlfriend to girlfriend. Lani was cold, distant, and suffered from severe anxiety. Because I too have anxiety and panic attacks, I related and understood some of her fears. Her fears of a partner never being able to understand the mental illness and leaving her because of it. I understood her reservations about being with Logan because I would have done the exact same thing. I really can't decide if I am happy or not that they ended up back together in the end. On the one hand, their relationship was extremely toxic on both their ends. I don't know if I would've been able to get over the broken trust. On the other hand, I feel like what they went through could really strengthen their relationship and Logan just "gets* Lani now. He understands why she did what she did. So I am very torn. Part of me wanted Lani to go off to graduate school and continue living her life for h e r. But I really do think that Logan can be good for her.

As I stated at the beginning of this review, this book could be very triggering for some people. If you have any reservations about reading a book with cheating, panic attacks, and substance abuse, then I would say this book isn't for you. All the relationships in this book are toxic and unhealthy, even down to the side characters. I don't think there is a single likeable character in this book. I really don't have any triggers and can pretty much read anything, even it if makes me uncomfortable. As someone who struggles with mental illness, I felt seen in some of the thoughts that Lani had and made me feel not so alone. Yes, some of the things she thought and did were toxic, but when you have a mental illness, sometimes you can't think rationally or see things how they really are. I understood her Ativan addiction and loving the way it made her not feel anything anymore. Sometimes, the world is too much to bare and your thoughts are your own worst enemy. I relate to wanting to shut off your brain and not feel for awhile.

I'm sure many people will read this book and give it a low rating because of the toxicity in it. However, I love when authors make readers feel uncomfortable and write outside of the box. Relationships like Logan and Lani happen all the time. I'm sure most of us have even been in something similar or know of people who are in this exact relationship. I know people who have the exact toxic relationship of Brenna and Aarman. Why do we rate books low just because it goes against our moral compass? It is a work of fiction. It's a story. And for many people, it's relatable. This is one of the more unique reads I have ever read because of the dark, mental illness nature that I feel like a lot of authors are afraid to write about because of the negative reviews they will receive. Writing this as a debut novel takes guts and I love that the author took us on this journey. I read this book in one sitting because I literally couldn't stop and needed to know how it would resolve.

I gave this book the review of 3 stars because I did not finish it because the book did not appeal to me as the type of read I am but it may appeal to others. I also did not do reviews on Instagram or TikTok because I did not want me not finishing the book to discourage others from reading and giving it a chance.

I read/skimmed 46% of the book and found it to be slow and dragging. Even with the revenge aspect it did not hook me and make me want to keep reading.

Sadly I did not find the break of these two to catch my attention, I think it was because there was too much jumping to the past. If the book focused on the further with a few memory jumps.

I wasn’t a big fan is this book and took a lot for me to finish to see the ending through! The story didn’t capture me about two college students having relationship issues. I couldn’t relate to none of the characters

As someone who struggles with anxiety and panic attacks, it was interesting to see someone else’s take on what they feel and experience. Kudos to Skyler for that!

This book sucked me in from the beginning. Both Lani and Logan had some major flaws, but they were somehow still likable characters. Logan, the guy obsessed with relationships and love, was refreshing to see in a story line, especially when typically we see men portrayed completely opposite. Lani, struggling with her mental health and prescription drug dependency. The two were sometimes perfect together, but also sometimes a perfect hot mess.

Something I would have liked to have seen more of was Lani’s journey through her Ativan recovery. I felt like it was very short lived and kind of glossed over.

The book was great and I am definitely recommending checking it out.

So cute!

I loved this book from start to finish, It had fun, romance and friendship. I like the way it dealt with the anxiety of the main character. She really did seem like a mess in the beginning, and I love her transformation and self discovery.

I want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the advance copy, which did not impact my review.

An angsty, steamy, emotional rollercoaster of a second chance romance, Revenge Cake is the debut novel of one of my new favorite romance authors, Skyler Mason. Revenge Cake follows the story of Leilani and Logan's relationship before, and after Leilani's addiction to her anti-anxiety medication. It doesn't romanticize the reality of addiction and mental health issues, instead it depicts the darker realities of living with mental illness. You'll root for revenge, and you'll root for reconciliation, either way you won't be able to put it down. I highly recommend this book.

I was pleasantly surprised by this debut novel. It is a heartbreaking and thought provoking second chance romance, dealing with mental health issues and pills addiction.
Told from dual POV, it is very character driven, raw and honest and a breath of fresh air for me, after reading a lot of dark romance.
Leilani and Logan are seniors in college and have been together for over 1 year. From the start, you can see this is an imperfect, sometimes toxic relationship. Logan is used to jumping from one relationship to another when things get hard and Leilani is battling with anxiety and panic disorders.
The book opens with Logan asking Leilani for a break as she has developed Ativan addiction and it has taken a big toll on their relationship. As the story unfolds, jumping back and forth between the start of their relationship and the present, you get to piece together how they got to this point and how they get to their happy ending.
I found the pace a bit slow at times and the jumping back and forth made it a bit difficult for me to stay focused all the time but, looking back, what I am left with is an eye opening, painfully raw story that I will be thinking about for quite some time.
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Revenge Cake by Skyler Mason a three-star read that takes the biscuit. I really liked the way this story deals with mental health, and enjoyed that aspect, but I got so annoyed at the whining. There are parts of this story that blew me away and others where I had to force myself to keep reading as I really couldn’t be bothered to read any more. This has taken me so long to read, I went for a three-star over all as most parts were good, but when it was bad it was so bad I even cringed at times and I have looked like a shar-pei dog since I was a kid so I never cringe!!!