*If cheating and Toxic behavior in a relationship is not your thing then don't read this book*

Ever heard the saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover?’ Well, I did, and sadly I didn’t get what I was expecting.

I was geared up to read a ‘enemies to lovers’ revenge type romance. In my experience, it usually begins with a jilted ex seeking revenge against the bad boy/girl before falling in love with them all over again. But this book flips back and forth between the past and the present relationship and tells the story of the events that lead up to the revenge. 

Leilani and Logan are a prime example of what a toxic relationship looks like and I was unable to find any redeeming qualities in either character. 

I read all types of romance, including the darkest of dark, but it’s not very often I’m left feeling depressed and miserable upon finishing.  

Also, labeling this novel as a romance is questionable!

I must say that I didn't really enjoy this book and it was hard to get through a little, maybe It wasn't what I was wanting at the time, I didn't like the main character i kind of found her annoying, would I give it another chance of course I will and I will give the author another chance. I really loved the cover of the book I thought that it was gorgeous. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending me a free e arc of this book.

I am so behind on my reading, apologies.

I chose this book because the title and the description intrigued me.

Can I just say BRAVO! ENCORE! 

I give this 4 stars based on the epic ness of Lani alone. She did what every girl (well ok me) wishes they could do, but is too scared/honorable to do so. She took back her power and made it her b*****!

Was the ending realistic? Not at all. Hahaha. This book was straight toxic (in a good way), but damn if it didn’t give some of us vindication. I truly enjoyed reading this. 

The beginning was kind of slow, but when it picked up. I could not stop.

Also as someone who deals with anxiety as well I connected with Lani. Her mode of self preservation I can totally relate to. It’s not right, but sometimes it’s all you have when you don’t want to be hurt.

One last tidbit, the naughty scenes, A+.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Just wow. This book. Wow. I honestly don't even know what to say about Revenge Cake right now. I finished it a while ago and all I can is that this is one toxic ass relationship.

In it, you mill meet Logan and Lani. Both are manipulative in some way but hot damn - they should NOT be together. Yet, for some weird ass reason.. fate brought them together. I don't see why they like each other.. unless it's the sex. Maybe she has a magical vagina or something.

Lani deal with pretty bad anxiety and goes through some panic attacks every now and then. So it doesn't help that her relationship with Logan takes a huge dive into crazyville. She starts taking this medicine that she ends up abusing and ruining her relationship with him. But don't think he's completely innocent here because he is completely and painfully needy AF. Plus, he basically cheated on her with this girl named Kiera. And by basically.. he completely did.

He's a douche. Through and through.

In the end, I really liked that they weren't together and Lani was doing better. Yet, this ending came and ugh - just utter disappointment. I did not like this book one bit.

This book is filled with the angst. Both characters start out as likeable characters. She suffers from panic attacks and social anxiety, but her quirkiness (mostly due to those issues) is one of the things that he first finds attractive about her. With her mental illness always in the back of her head, she builds a wall around her to protect herself from hurt, and doesn't completely trust anyone, including him. He is patient though and doesn't give up on her. Just when they finally get to a good place in their relationship, all hell breaks loose. This is where she starts losing some of her likeability. She changes, and not for the better. Some of her feelings are warranted, and some not so much. She gets quite verdictive in her revenge plan for getting back at him for how he wronged her (even though we don't really find out exactly how he had wronged her until near the end.) And while he remains likeable throughout, there are things that take place that don't put him in the best of light, and he has his own personal issues as well. No matter their behaviors, you do still root for them and want to see them be together, and you want to see her get help and become the person she once was. There is a lot of feelings involved. Mostly sad and anger. There is some light humor, but it is mostly a heavy heart read. The timeline bounces between the past and present and takes place over the course of a year. In addition to the mental illness issue, there is also addiction involved. There is some sexual content. Due to the subject matter, I would recommend this for mature readers. Great book for a authors debut.

*I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley.

3.5 Stars
First off I have to say this book would drive anyone with knowledge of psychology insane. The MC’s are the epitome of a toxic relationship and even after reading and enjoying the story I really doubt these two have a lasting HEA. Both Lani and Logan have not advanced from their highschool years. It was hard to take them seriously when both require so much coddling and attention. The whole book consists of two timelines, then and now. We see how their relationship evolved and devolved just as quickly. Again they were both so immature and destructive it was hard to like either one of them or care what happened between them. It was like they both wanted to hurt the other to the point of no return and then realizing they’re so alike they decide to give it a go again. I mean really, these two are both a mess and I don’t think either is up for a relationship until they grow up. [Lani may be going to see a therapist but it’s clear she has more issues going on that need to be addressed, she has an addictive personality on top of her anxiety disorder and panic attacks. The only reason she got cleaned up was because it was a part of her revenge plan. Perhaps if they each seek therapy together and apart I can find hope for them but it’s hard lol. Maybe they’d turn into that old couple whose whole relationship consisted of break ups and reunions 🤷🏼‍♀️ I think Logan running to other women as his defense mechanism would eventually go past the point of no return but the irony is really him calling Lani a runner when that’s exactly who he is. Running in and out of relationships and especially running when things get hard. After all is said and done I kind of feel bad for Lani, personally just hearing my man making out with another girl would be enough for me. Not only does Logan abandon her when she’s literally in the middle of a mental break he himself mentally checked out and got involved with another woman and nearly cheated on her. While I didn’t fully hate the book I hate how cheating played such a big role in the plot. Logan’s reaction to her mental disorders was also disgusting and he’s just a shit guy IMO. They’re both f’n nuts so maybe they are perfect for one another. Think she can do a whole lot better but I at the end of the day if she can excuse his cheating ways I just feel sorry for her. 
As for the story as a whole I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either, especially the plot as a whole (the reasons for their breakup and Lanis revenge plans). I think the back and forth timelines worked for the story and made for a more explosive end that still posses me off. wWhile I don’t have faith in the ending I didn’t mind witnessing their relationship go off track, it’s like reality tv in a book, they’re both a mess and need help. While this was way more drama laden than I’d normally go for I’m glad I gave it a go. That cover alone called to me and I do like how both the title and cake played a part in the book as well. The author makes some political statements that don’t bother me in the least but I think it’s a little risky going so hardcore at times and can potentially get some panties in a twist.

I received a copy of this title as an arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

Spoiler alert with the following brief synopsis.

Let’s begin by stating that Revenge Cake was actually a very decent read. The characters were very well developed and relatable ( even in the most extreme cases). 
Logan is a college student who is in love with the idea of being in love. After a rather volatile recent break up his best friend armaan takes him for some cheering up and rebound at his girl friends house. When Logan arrived he has some great banter with one of Armans girlfriends house mates leilani. After some very uncomfortable banter between lani and logan the whole crew makes their way inside the house to have some closure cake. It is then explained that this is tradition between the girls that once a relationship ends they bake a cake, put the ex’s name on it and eat it to signify the closure and appreciation  that relationship had given to them. Throughout the entire scene Logan felt him saw more and more drawn to lani. Lani is cynical, has issues with anxiety and has no filter. Lani believes her social inadequacy issues should be enough to keep Logan at arms reach when it is instead what draws him more and more near. After months of wearing lani down she finally gives into Logan to become a couple. Shortly after that things take a turn for the worse. Lani’s panic attacks begin to kick into over drive causing her to begin using Ativan to help control her episodes and finds her self drugged into a constant stuper to avoid real life. After a whole slew of twists and turns ,a break ,to a break up, and finally a make up we learn that these two twisted and horribly tainted characters were meant for each other. 

Lani is a beautiful disaster, that no matter how confident and outspoken she is, she is also very self deprecating. She couldn’t believed that Logan could handle her at her worst so she kept pushing him away which in turn only made him love her that much more reverently.

Logan was the all American boy with a twisted sense of neediness that it becomes almost puppy dogish. He follow Lani around like a little lap dog and although it should have been an annoying quality it really went to show the way he cared for her and loved her above all else. Logan understood lani he knew what she needed and would give the world to her. There wasn’t too much character development with Logan other than him realizing that he was indeed needy( which was beyond obvious within the first chapter.)

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good quick read. This book tackles a lot of hard topics. Depression, anxiety, panic attacks, codependency issues as well as how dysfunctional yet loving a relationship can be. It also really outlines a lot of struggles that people deal with by being in a relationship with someone who has a mental issue.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

This book was not what I was expecting it to be furthermore, even during the book, the plot twists kept on coming and made the book engaging. 

As a person who deals with anxiety and panic attacks as well, this book took me on a journey of emotions. 

Logan and Lani - both had issues and touching on both their character development was a great addition. The characters were realistic and relatable, creating a connection between the readers and the characters.

Although I liked how the book talked about the reality of Mental Health issues, trigger warnings should've been mentioned. 

I also loved how the book had POV's from both characters, the constant break between the past and present threw me a little, but, the format does make sense when it comes to the storyline. 

Congrats to Skyler Mason on the debut novel!

Although I wasn't a big fan of the in-details of the explicit scenes, besides that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

* NETGALLEY ARC IN EXCHANGE FOR HONEST REVIEW!! * I honestly really enjoyed this book, I will say going in I didn’t have the highest hopes for it due to other reviews, but overall I did enjoy! 

I love the way the author changed between past and present, I would of liked more of the present day writing.

The main female was cleverly put together, the author showed Mental Health & Addiction in a realistic way that I appreciated.

I wasn’t a fan of the “ naughty “ scenes, a bit too graphically described for me.

I would definitely read again! And you guys should totally give it a chance!

This completely missed the mark for me. I want to give constructive criticism, rather than simply complain and really try to find something to improve upon. My honest advice is that Revenge Cake needed to be completely rethought. It was far too immature with the two most unlikable characters I have read about in a long time. 

I loathed how neurodiverse characters were called crazy and how Logan did not understand Lani at all but she still wanted to be with him? This man-child whore who cheated on her?!?! No, thank you.

It was a pretty good book, but very hard to get into. The main character was just really unlikeable.

I have to be honest, I was not as big a fan of this book as I thought I was going to be, 

I flew through this in a single evening, probably skipping over a lot of the lines in order to get through it. I didn't particularly like any of the characters and so I wasn't really rooting for the relationships, which is kind of a vital aspect of a romance novel. Moreover, the relationships in this book all seemed quite toxic. 

I also often like flashbacks, but this time I wish it was linear. I wanted to read more of the present day stuff rather than returning to the supposedly good relationship in the past, although I see what the author was trying to do here with the contrasting halves. 

I am quite disappointed by this, but I know that a few of my bookish friends have read this and enjoyed it so I wouldn't want anyone to be out off reading after this review, Maybe I'm just in a cynical mood...

I hate writing harsh reviews.  That being said....
The level of toxicity in this book is off the charts. I don’t think any of the relationships are healthy. And I really hope that the 20-somethings reading this book realize that the female characters are poor examples of what feminism is like, because if this is what passes for feminism I am truly afraid. I didn't like a single character or find any of them sympathetic.  
The book construction didn't help the storytelling. The plot dragged. Just as I would finally get into a chapter,  we would time travel and the POV often changed at the same time and so I was thrown out of the story and any engagement I felt was erased. After a while, I just didn't care to keep track, particularly for the chapters set in the past.
The two stars are for the cover and for those brief moments that did engage my interest. 
I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

So i have a problem with books that include cheating. I really thought this would have it in a more tactful way that i would be able to handle but i just couldnt handle it. which really sucks because i enjoyed everything else about this book.

REVENGE CAKE
BY SKYLER MASON

Leilani and her best friend bake a Revenge cake for their boyfriends as they are exiting out of their lives. At first, I thought that the target audience marketed for this book was Young Adult. The more I read I realized that it was written for adults also. There are a lot of immature relationships taking place but that sometimes happens in older adult relationship's also. In this case Logan goes from one relationship where he falls head over heels in love from one relationship to the next. In this story his love interest happens to be with Leilani, until she confides in him that she suffers from panic disorder. She is abusing Ativan which is a minor tranquilizer used to treat panic attacks or those who suffer from anxiety.

The author tried to render a serious novel about what it is like to suffer from panic attacks and the high addiction rate drugs like Ativan in Leilani's case. She wrote about how zonked out Leilani became when she mixed alcohol with her Ativan. The author also did a stellar job in painting a portrait of what a stigma it can be even in 2020, by Logan's initial rejection of Leilani.

I thought that their were a lot of explicit and graphic sexual scenes and that the language used to describe such acts was very coarse and crude. It was a turn off to me as a reader to happen to have to read such foul mouthed vocabulary to describe the nature of these acts. Maybe I am not the target audience for such crude language due to my age. I do applaud this author for exploring the seriousness of panic disorder by making her protagonist suffer from them. This is an ever increasing epidemic that touches all ages and classes. I just would have enjoyed the novel without the crude language describing what young sexually active adults do and adults of all ages.

Leilani and Logan's story was interesting at first for the first half of the book and after that I think that it got to be a bit sadistic and repetitive. I think that they acted childish towards each other especially Leilani and Logan in each of their own ways. I think that the cover of this book is Instagram worthy. I do applaud this author for tackling the tough and very real topic of anxiety disorders and the addictive effects of treating them with drugs like Ativan and what happens when drugs in that class are abused.

Publication Date: December 6, 2020
Available Now!

Thank you to Net Galley, Skyler Mason and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op. for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#RevengeCake #SkylarMason #VictoryEditingNetgalleyCoop #NetGalley

This did not play out like I thought it would. From the title, I thought the story would be about a girl getting revenge on her jerk of an ex, instead it was half about the development of their relationship and half about Logan and Lani hurting each other and then deciding if they're getting back together.

Leilani has pretty bad anxiety and panic disorder. When she and Logan first meet, she's managing things okay but not great. As her and Logan's relationship progresses, he shows that he doesn't understand her panic attacks and her mental health declines. She then becomes addicted to pills and everything spirals. Yes, Lani doesn't handle things well and said some terrible things, but Logan is far and above the bad guy. He pushes Lani past her comfort, he doesn't try to understand her mental health, and he does something pretty terrible. Lani did get a bit of revenge on him and I was happy that it had positive side effects for her.

I thought Logan and Lani made a poor couple and I didn't want them together. I was hoping she'd get her revenge, tell him to get out of her life, and be happy. That's not quite how it played out and the ending felt really abrupt. Oh well, can't love them all.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Whoa, what did I just read? I usually enjoy YA books but maybe I'm getting too old as this book was crazy. 

Logan has told Leilani, his girlfriend, that they need to have a month's break from their relationship so they can figure things out. Leilani has an anxiety disorder and is addicted to her medication. Logan is a needy jock who needs to have a girlfriend by his side. During their "break", both Leilani and Logan have a list - hers is how to take revenge on him for backing off while he is determined to give her space to sort out her health issues. 

I'm still undecided how I feel about this book. It had some plus points and some negative points. There was also a situation that I would have liked tied up better at the end too.

They meet under unusual circumstances. He's hooked from the first moment yet she fights him at every move he makes. He refuses to take no for an answer which wears her down, but still worries her. Her crippling social anxiety is her burden and given that he can't be without a girlfriend seem like red flags for them both looking at anything long term. 
A real and authentic look at her personal struggle of anxiety and his views on relationships give a fresh look at the good, the bad and the misunderstood. Loved it!!
I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley for my honest review.

This book was so different then what I was expecting and I’m still processing everything that happened.  I chose this book off NetGalley honestly because of the main character having anxiety and it’s reference to baking.  Having anxiety and sometimes panic attacks, I thought it would be an interesting read and the character might be relatable since she shared a mental health struggle and a hobby of mine.  Yeah, I kinda missed the whole point of this book... The book centers around a break-up and a character wanting revenge.  The time line was super tricky to follow, and with the changing points of view, it was tricky to follow who was in which part of the timeline.  Also this book could really have used some lighter points - it is very dark, even the humor in the story was pretty dark.  I had to set this book down multiple times to take a breather from the mood and while I am not often triggered by a book this one definitely did.

The author’s portrayal of the main characters mental illness is very real.  You can tell Skyler Mason has struggled with panic disorder just like Leilani does in the story.  This portion of the story is so honest and heartbreaking and important to feel what she is feeling.  I was so incredibly frustrated with Logan.  I remember how vulnerable it was the first time I had a panic attack in front of my husband (then boyfriend at the time) and how understanding but scared he was.  Logan was incredibly selfish and horrible.  I was not rooting for this couple at all.  He was not a likable character.  I would’ve loved to see Lani move on to someone much better but instead the circle just keeps going round and round about the relationship and the breakup.  This book left me with mixed feelings but the writing was very good and the story honest and eye opening.

The cover to this book is absolutely amazing first of all!! I absolutely love it and I want to buy the physical copy just for that reason haha! 

This book follows two POV's: Leilani and Logan. Logan is a serial dater and has the reputation to go through girlfriend after girlfriend. Leilani is his next girlfriend whom is struggling with her mental health, battling social anxiety and a prescription medication addiction. Logan decides that enough is enough and decides to take a break on their relationship for one month, giving Leilani time to deal with her issues. However, Leilani wants to get revenge on Logan; but is revenge all it cracks up to be? 

So. an alternate POV book is 100% my type of thing, which is something that I say all the time. I just love being able to get to know the characters and their backgrounds from their stance on things. Logan is your stereotypical 'player'. He moves from girl to girl, not even giving a second thought about how they are or what they're going through and I hated him from the start. Leilani is in many ways relatable? She has her flaws, just like we all do but I grew to really like her character. 

Overall, I have a few issues with this book which I do not want to go in to at all. In some ways I am glad that books are aiming to raise awareness and give insight into mental illness' such as social anxiety and addiction but I also think that there are aspects of some stories that do more harm than good. 

All in all, I did enjoy this book most of the time and I definitely would read another one of Skyler Masons' books. So, thank you so much NetGalley and Skyler Mason for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!