I thought this book had a lot of potential, personally I don’t like stories about infidelity, that’s my own personal preference. Still a great book, light hearted & fun. Content just wasn’t for me.

I always keep an eye out for debut authors & do have a soft spot for books about food or diets... that said, this novel, "Cheat Day" just kinda turned me off a bit with it's rather unlikeable characters... Kit was just a "train wreck" - chasing after one fad diet after the other & her spouse, David, is a really shallow human. No wonder she cheats on both. I really had to push to read it, and I can't really recommend it. Thank you to the publisher, author & Net Galley for the ARC - Amazon review located at https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3IRHW9Z74CZ32?ref=pf_vv_at_pdctrvw_srp

Although well written, I had an issue with Kit, the main character. Like me, she was a lifetime dieter, but unlike me, going from fad to fad. The regimen she chose was not all that ridiculous, but her approach made it seem so. Kit also embarks on an affair, while her husband, David was unaware of her constant lies. Kit was so self-absorbed and spoiled even though she seemed to be living a good life, with her husband and his family enamored of her. I’m not sure I would recommend this book but I thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read it.

CHEAT DAY is a fantastic debut.

This novel features Kit, who's suffering ennui or just general discontent -- despite her life seeming to be, actually, pretty great. She's a serial dieter and at the outset of the book embarks on the 75-day Radiant Regimen, yet another "program" promising to change her life.

Author Stratman's writing here is just so. good. It makes the book engaging from the start and scenes feel dynamic and real. While snappy and smart, the sort of book I love to gobble up, I took my time with this one and continually reread passages just to savor them.

The play on appetites is really interesting, and between that and the writing, CHEAT DAY is much more than an "unhappy elder millennial book" or an "affair book." So much of if it is on point, down to the fleece vest commentary (! my first time encountering that in a book, and maybe it'll only resonate with people who work or commute around Midtown Manhattan, but wow was I entirely here for it).

This book won't be for everyone; Kit's behavior is decidedly... not the best and yet -- this was never a book I wanted to throw across the room. Rather than feel frustrated with the main character, I got why she was doing what she was doing and I couldn't wait to read on. CHEAT DAY was very much a book for me.

(Fans of FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE especially, be sure not to sleep on this one.)

Cheat Day
By Liv Stratman

Stratman's debut novel CHEAT DAY is about Kit and David as they navigate being in their marriage for over a decade. The scene starts out with their new fad diet (not a diet per se, a regimen ahem!) called Radiant Regimen which consumes Kit as she navigates the challenges of making healthy decisions. David is successful in his career while Kit maintains status quo working for her sister's bakery and then quits - only to return a few days or weeks later time and time again hoping to herself that when she quits, she will find a better position for herself which never happens.

Stratman writes these perfectly imperfect characters that embodies flaws and disappointments in a very realistic and relatable way. This is certainly a very unique premise that Stratman writes about while hiding harsh truths in laughable moments.

it's a book you will find hard to put down,

I do not understand what I just read or why this book had to be written. The entire time I had no sympathy for our main character, and while she learns something by the end of the book it seems superficial. There are plenty of other books in the world that touch on relationships, body image, etc without having to recommend or read this one.

Liv Stratman, Cheat Day

Cheat Day is Madame Bovary with a happier ending. It concerns a woman, Kit, who like Emma Bovary is bored with life and with everything around her, especially her job and her husband. Unlike Emma, Kit has body issues--she wants to be thin. So, in the course of this novel, she undertakes two adventures: an extreme diet regimen and an affair with another man (this latter is not a spoiler--we learn about it at the end of the first chapter).

The main criterion for judging the success of a novel is whether you want to keep turning the pages. In this respect, Cheat Day succeeds. The characters are engaging; the plot has adequate tension and pacing. In short, you want to know how it's all going to turn out and you care about the characters.

There are some shortcomings, although they aren't fatal. For one thing, the story abounds in irrelevant detail. For instance, Kit works in a pastry shop. We learn far too much about the various employees and their jobs in the shop. Also, in the middle of the book there is a section about a woman whom Kit met in college. This episode goes on too long and doesn't significantly advance the plot and tells us little about Kit. As a final example, we learn that Kit's dentist's office is in a basement and has long marble floors. It's a strength in novels to describe the story's physical setting, but for my taste Cheat Day overdoes it with trivial detail.

I think it's also a problem that Kit's weight issue isn't clearer. She wants to be thin, but there's actually nothing in the narrative to suggest that she's overweight, even though she is a serial and faddish dieter. We gather that she's not petite, but no one (except Kit) comments on her weight and, in fact, she is thirty pounds lighter than her sister. Since the diet is such an important part of this story, I think her weight and body image needs a better foundation early in the book. Or was the author trying to tell us that Kit does not have a real weight problem and that her desire to be thin is pathological?

As to Kit's marriage problems: the narrative states clearly that she is "bored" with her husband, David, and "sick of him," although she still feels love for him. The details emerge around the 50% point in the book. The logic of the affair might have made more sense if the marital problems had been introduced earlier. As it is, her attraction for her lover, Matt, just happens, without much narrative preparation. We labor to understand just why she falls for this guy. It's in the second half of the novel that details appear: Matt is primarily a physical person, David is more cerebral and, to his detriment, not nearly as physically focused as Matt. The other main problem with David is that he works too much. He has an important job in architecture, puts in long hours, and travels. Otherwise, he seems ideal--the author goes out of her way to present David in very sympathetic terms. It's clear that Kit's problem with David is precisely Kit's problem.

Kit is looking for salvation. She expects her new diet, not only to make her thin, but also to transform her; yet it disappoints her. Her constant physical hunger--a result of the diet--thus symbolizes a deeper void in her life. Near the end, even the affair with Matt leaves her "barely satisfied." She's not just hungry, but "empty," and feels Matt's arms on her as "deadweight." She is thus in the midst of an existential crisis: she wants Matt's physicality (she prefers sex with him to sex with David), yet she craves David's presence in the mundane events of daily life. She wants to be thin--by her own standards--and yet thinks constantly about food. Like most people, she just wants it all. This novel is thus a morality tale, a cautionary story about those who strive to have too much and about the destructive effects of such striving.

The story ends on a satisfactory, if not fully resolved, note that brings closure to the narrative arc while pointing toward a potentially complicated future.

Honestly, I trudged through this book. I felt Kit overall to be an unlikable character. She has a well established life. She inherited her apartment, is married to a husband with a good job, has her own job with family that allows some flexibility, in-laws she likes. As a 30 something woman myself, I’m thinking what more can you ask for of life. But obviously none of this makes her happy. She has constant food issues and tries all the fad diets ( once again what woman hasn’t) then she cheats on her husband... but for what reason? Because he works too much? The ending left so much to be wanted too. Like what are they actually doing? I need answers. Overall, I felt the book was ok, but likely not something I would recommend . Thank you Netgalley & Scribner for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

<i>Cheat Day</i> is a super readable but slightly flat story about a mid-30s female-lead that is seemingly dissatisfied with her entire existence - her job (working at her sister’s bakery), her marriage (the husband works too much), her body (an obsession with “wellness programs”) and complete lack of momentum in every part of her life. This discontent manifests as a hyper-focus on a new diet program called Radiant Regime, as well as an extramarital affair.

While some phrases stood out to me (i.e. “Family was a theater in which one explored and exercised personal anxieties without fear of real-world consequences.”), I didn’t always connect with Stratman’s writing, the overall characterization didn’t feel fully fleshed out (especially on side characters), and plot pacing was at times, quite slow. The ending may dissatisfy readers looking for a morally righteous ending and completed character arc (many of the 1-star reviews complain of this), but I liked the final decision and soft ending. It felt more realistic than a sudden *ta-da* moment. I actually got a little bit of [book:My Year of Rest and Relaxation|44279110] vibes, mainly because the narrator is a young adult, kind of insufferable, and living in New York - although the writing and character development doesn’t live up to the Moshfegh comparison.

My favorite part of the book was our main character’s relationship with food and how her experience with diet culture is portrayed. I think I would have enjoyed a book based entirely on that relationship, without the cheating plot line.

<i>I voluntarily obtained a digital version of this book free from Netgalley and Scribner in exchange for an honest review!</i>

With her debut, Liv Stratman tackles some tough issues: fad diet culture and marital infidelity. This reminds me a lot of Emily Giffin's writing, which I'm a fan of, but Stratman feels more unapologetic in her handling of the issues. This book isn't going to be for everyone, and it's probably going to upset a good number of people, but it will also be worth reading for many others.

Kit, the main character, is kind of a mess. She keep starting and dropping different diets (or "programs," as she insists on calling them), she works at her sister's bakery but keeps quitting and coming back, and she's got a good husband but a marriage that feels flat. Then one day, she meets a carpenter at work, and they start an affair. It feels like it should be a spoiler, but it's all laid out in the book description.

It's all told from Kit's point of view, and she's brutally honest. She tells the reader when she's acting awful. She doesn't sugarcoat her harmful decisions. At many points in the book, I found myself wondering why the other characters liked Kit so much because she seemed pretty awful. Thinking about it more, it was clear that Kit didn't have a very high opinion of herself, so of course the version she would portray to the reader would be worse than the person she actually is. Still, in spite of the negative qualities she has, Kit was a likeable enough narrator, and I was interested in what happened to her (though I might have been more interested in what happened to some of the side characters).

I'm glad I read this book and look forward to what Liv Stratman writes next. Thanks to Scribner and Netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story takes on one season of David and Kit’s marriage. Told from Kit’s point of view, the author writes a story of insane dieting, infidelity, and depression.

David is a successful architect, and Kit is floundering around. When the story opens Kit has taken a hiatus from managing the bakery her sister owns. On the week she and David embark on a brand new diet, she returns to manage the bakery once again. That is where she meets Matt, a carpenter, who she starts an affair with soon after that meeting.

Stratman writes a very intimate portrait of a woman who is dealing with so much internal angst. At times I hated Kit, but I decided to stick with this story and am so happy I did. What the author provided felt so real throughout. You will not love every moment of the book, but in the end I do believe Kit will stay with you for a very long time.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cute book. It was quick and easy to read. A few parts were a bit slow but overall good. Definitely one to add to your to be read list.

I really loved this story! It is a far relatable story about identity and family. I loved how detailed the setting was painted. It made me feel like I was in Bay Ridge! I didn't really enjoy the ending. I felt like it kind of just let me hanging. Overall, this was a pretty good book though.

I didn't think I would love Cheat Day as much as I did. When I started it, I found Kit, the main character, to be unlikeable but it turns out she was not only highly relatable and complicated but most likely also depressed and struggling with an eating disorder. She's stuck. Stuck in her job, in her marriage, and in her relationships and she finds control in trying out new fad diets and changing her body to the best of her ability.

By the end of the book, I was in tears. Nothing is forever and by the end, Kit learns that the point of it all is to find joy in the here and now rather than 'dieting' not just in what she eats but in her relationships, her marriage, and her job.

Witty and incisive, I really enjoyed Cheat Day, the characters were well-developed and endearing and the setting, a bakery in Brooklyn exuded such a clear sense of place that I could just picture it so easily. Fans of Melissa Broder and Emma Straub will love this one.

TW/CW for disordered eating

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

The MC Kit is obsessed with dieting, or programs as she calls them, cycling from one program to the next. During her latest program called The Radiant Regime, she starts up an extramarital affair with the carpenter that is doing work at the bakery where she works alongside her sister and clubs in.

My favorite part of the story was when the author showed how Kit’s restrictive (DISORDERED) way of eating affects her social life and relationships with every person in her life. It’s rare to see that aspect covered correctly in any novel.

There seems to be correlation between how she’s never happy with food and how she’s unhappy with her safe, great husband.

This book is not light hearted chick lit. It dives much deeper into many issues surrounding womanhood and marriage but without being preachy or pretentious. I’ll admit that the MC was hard to connect with and at times you want to throttle her but also it felt real. Women aren’t always wonderful, they mess up, they make big mistakes, they are the villains and that’s okay!

We are all on rollercoasters of one kind or another. Kit has tried every diet and eating trend with varying results. She helps her sister run a bakery. When she’s in charge things run smooth. When she leaves or quits life is difficult and untended. She has quit again and again started a new diet. Kit returns to oversee renovations in the bakery. It is here she starts an affair with the contractor. It is here she lets chaos into her life, which turns it inside out. Along the way an understanding of what she really needs comes to light and who she really is finally surfaces.

A funny and insightful look at obsession and the search for satisfaction.

Kit lives in a loop - she lives in her childhood home with her college sweetheart. She works for her sister, in a bakery...and keep quitting and coming back.

This is the story of a woman, floating along in life, trying to find what she wants. She's familiar because she's me, she's my best friend, she's my sister. She's every woman.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was very much looking forward to this novel but didn't enjoy the characters or the writing style. I found the characters to be very one-dimensional.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
I think it is very difficult to enjoy a book when you dislike the main character. I wanted to like Kit. I saw parts of Kit in myself, in all aging women. In anyone who has a complicated sibling relationship. She is everyone who has been in a long term relationship. But once she started blowing up her life and having an affair, she became unlikable and I no longer rooted for her. I also struggled with her eating disorder. At its core that is what it was and it wasn’t really acknowledged. She has an incredibly unhealthy relationship with food and I don’t think someone with her issues could just decide to eat normally after years of such self harm.
Because she was unlikable I don’t feel like she deserved the life she made with her husband and his warm and accepting family. She seemed like she was searching for a better more fulfilling life, she was incredibly un-self aware and ungrateful for what she had been blessed with.
Maybe this is a cautionary tale, like the grass isn’t always greener type story but I think it would have been more realistic of an ending if she blew up her life and didn’t choose Matt or David and instead went to therapy for her eating disorder and figured out what she really wanted out of life. (less)

I am not leaving a review due to the fact that this book did not interest me enough to finish the story.