Crazy Love: A Memoir by Leslie Morgan Steiner| ♥

Crazy Love: A Memoir
Leslie Morgan Steiner

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 
• Reprint edition (March 30, 2010)
• ISBN-10: 0312377460
• ISBN-13: 978-0312377465
• Genre: Memoir
• Buy it: Amazon | B & N 

Synopsis: "At 22, Leslie Morgan Steiner seemed to have it all: good looks, a Harvard diploma, a glamorous job in New York City. Plus a handsome, funny boyfriend who adored her. But behind her facade of success, this golden girl hid a dark secret. She’d made a mistake shared by millions: she fell in love with the wrong person.  At first, Leslie and Conor seemed perfect together. Then came the fights she tried to ignore: he pushed her down the stairs, choked her during an argument, and threatened her with a gun. Several times, he came close to making good on his threat to kill her. With each attack, Leslie lost another piece of herself.  Why didn’t she leave? She stayed because she loved him. Gripping and utterly compelling, Crazy Love takes you inside the violent, devastating world of abusive love and makes you feel the power and powerlessness of abuse that can take place anywhere and to anyone.  Crazy Love draws you in -- and never lets you go."

• Well.. this book seems as crazy as it's title. I don't really understand some the negative reviews to this book, people assume the writer Steiner just wanted to brag about her riches and was seeking attention through her book.. Honestly, you don't need to write a whole book to show off! If she wanted to really brag, she could have written Ten ways to get rich and look good. This is much more meaningful then that, it's a powerful and gripping novel about abusive relationships/marriages. It was a depressing novel which did get me teary. Leslie and Conor are two opposite people - Conor did seem strange to me though, and he continued to remain a weirdo by the end of the novel as well. 

• I thought Leslie should have left as soon as he called her his "property" in the beginning of the relationship. That was a warning sign right there - I'm not surprised she missed it though, when you consider a person your everything - you overlook every single flaw. He makes decisions about both of them without consulting her. He clearly verbally abuses her, then it leads to physical abuse.

• Leslie had a neglected childhood, so when she found love with Connor she stayed. I think her childhood did play a key role in her relationship with him. That's the psychologist within I, I can't help not knowing why people do things they do. I cannot just accept it like it is. I need reasons. I saw all the signs of an abusive relationship with Leslie - verbal abuse, neglect, physical abuse, isolation etc.. It was a quite depressing read, but I found it fascinating! I believe people should read this novel with an open mind, and not call the writer "weak" for staying in an abusive relationship. 

• After reading Conor's side, it does make me sympathetic with him, but I find it hard not to judge him after what he did with Leslie. People who bully/abuse others usually weren't like that once. Bullies & abusive people are created overtime. No human being is born cruel. It does make me sympathetic, but it does NOT justify their actions. What's wrong is wrong. What happened to Leslie, happens to many women and men.

• I thought this was an amazing read, I finished this in one setting of course. It was engaging, I couldn't put it down. I love reading memoirs, I can't find anything wrong with them unless they seem unrealistic or have horrible writing. This novel had none of that so I'm glad I picked up on this one. 

•  This memoir was raw and honest. I think this novel does a great job of clearing saying abusive relationships are not right compared to most New Adult or Romance novels these days where they try to make this kind of abuse look like "normal romance." Fifty shades of Grey anyone? (Not the BDSM, but the actual abuse!) It's not normal, it's crazy love/dark romance - love that's not right! This novel would be perfect 5 butterflies for me. I would really recommend reading this.

Shukran for reading this! Leave your blog links in the comments & I'll be sure to check them out & follow :) Stay in tuned pretty creatures..

Disclosure: Review copy was sent free of charge from St. Martin's press in exchange for an honest review.

“We accept the love we think we deserve.” —Stephen Chbosky 

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