This was a fun and easy read that was a slow burner but that didnt make it a bad read like with some books. It was well written with good characters and a relatable storyline. It was an enjoyable read.

Crazy to Leave You delivers all we have come to expect from author Marilyn Simon Rothstein: witty dialogue; lovable, though imperfect characters; and not-so-perfect family dynamics. Underneath its lighthearted tone, however, is the story of 41-year-old Lauren’s battle to find her self-worth after her fiancé ditches her at the altar. Rothstein deftly takes Lauren on a singular journey to reclaiming her self-esteem as she learns to counter her mother’s body-shaming comments, tightens her bonds with her sisters, confronts her weaselly fiancé, and allows herself to love again. Combining heartache and humor as only she can, Marilyn Simon Rothstein has written another winner. Book Clubs are going to love Crazy to Leave You.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

I enjoyed reading Rothstein’s tongue-in-cheek inner dialogue as protagonist Lauren processed through the trauma of being left at the altar and her journey to finding herself through this. However, the plot was slow to develop and I found it difficult to stay engaged. While I understand that her weight plays a significant part of her story, I do wish she was portrayed with more dimension to her character.
(From a technical standpoint, I was unable to adjust the font size on my Kobo e-Reader which made it pretty difficult to read (haven’t had this issue with any other books)).

The book was simply enjoyable, without much fuss. There wasn't much to the plot, but the character exploration of the protagonist was commendable. There could have been more starking elements to the plotline.

Crazy To Leave You by Marilyn Simon Rothstein, overall, was a decent book. I loved seeing Lauren learn to stand up for herself and become a stronger person throughout the book. However, I felt that there was too much focus on her weight.
I did enjoy seeing the relationship between Lauren and Rudy grow. I did find it hard to believe that Rudy was a professional driver due to how to interacted with Lauren from the start.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advancecopy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is a difficult read, it’s the first book I’ve read by the author so I will give them the benefit of doubt but the fixation on eating disorders distracted from the main story line I fel

Bookreview „Crazy to leave you“ by Marilyn Simon Rothstein

Thank you NetGally for providing the review copy.

Statistics:
3.25 Stars
Spice-Level: 0
Character development: 8/10
Plot: 6/10
Trigger warnings:
Eating Disorder

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. It had some funny, some heartfelt, some infuriating and some awwee moments. Though it’s not your typical contemporary romance book. If you are more into the hot and steamy men drama or dreamy unrealistic fatelove (no judgment here from me here, I love both!) then this might be not your cup of tea. „Crazy to leave you“ is the self-acceptance journey of Lauren Leo. The main focus are the love for herself and dealing with her family. The story is realistic and down-to-earth, funny and believable.
The beginning was a bit to drawn out for my taste. It was rather long before finally, something happened. The idea of the plot was great, nevertheless, it was not always clear where the story is headed. I loved the age of the main character and her character development was amazing. Laurens weight and eating habits are a main topic in the book – be aware if this is something you are struggling with. The family drama, the revealing of secrets and that not everything is at it seems was skillfully written. All in all a good read that I finished in 2 days.

Tropes (SPOILER ALERT):
Self-acceptance, left at the altar, chauffeur love, standing up to the family, second chance

What do we learn from the book?
We can’t control what others might think of us, just how we handle it. No matter how flawed we or our life is, we can still make the best of it. Its never to late to love yourself.

#CrazyToLeaveYou #NetGalley


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Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I did not realize there would be SUCH a HUGE focus on her weight. (This could potentially be triggering for someone with an eating-disorder).

I found most of the characters really unlikeable. I did enjoy seeing the main characters growth throughout. This book wasn’t for me but it wasn’t bad by any means.

Lauren Leo is 41 years old and her now ex-fiancé just left her, on the day of their wedding. This sends her down a chaotic and complex rabbit hole and we see her fighting to overcome her self-destructive behaviour and tendencies to binge eat, which is something that she happens to have dealt with throughout her entire life.

Lauren’s relationship with food is a huge part of the story and her evolution did seem both realistic and believable, though I found it somewhat unpleasant that this was of such big importance to the plot of the novel. The first few chapters of this novel was filled with very vivid depictions of disordered eating that I at times had to force myself to read through, and that kind of put me off from the story.

Other than her fighting to overcome her negative self-image and the disordered eating, Lauren as a main character fell flat to me. She had all of these horrible people around her that kept pretending to want to best for her but who at the same time always behaved in the most condescending way possible. Her parents, her sister, and her ex-parents-in-law were all annoying and treated her like she was a child, which was probably so easy for them because Lauren didn’t stand up for herself. Personality plays a huge role here but at the age of 41 I expected for her to be able to speak up and set some boundaries, and maybe even cut ties with the people who have been treating her horribly for years.

It’s clear how Marilyn Simon Rothstein in this novel tries to shine light on diet culture and how destructive this can be. This is an incredibly important life lesson and is of course something that needs to be talked about more, though this novel wasn’t my favourite attempt at getting this message across. And with a novel about finding yourself and regaining confidence in yourself and your abilities, I expected for a better connection to the main character, which i unfortunately didn’t find here.

This ARC was kindly provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Left at the alter, Lauren is left to pick up the pieces. Her friends are all married, have children and are living picture perfect lives and Lauren is back into binge eating, avoiding conflict with her mother, and trying to accept her life hasn’t worked out the way she planned.

I enjoyed the novel and read through it fairly quickly. It was great watching Lauren finally learn to stick up for herself and fight for what she wants instead of taking the backseat to please others. I will say that in some parts the “woe is me and my life” vibe was a bit intense, almost in random portions and with her growth throughout, I thought some things weren’t as hardcore as I expected when she did stand up for herself. A fun read of a woman finally embracing what she wants in life and giving up on pleasing everyone else.

This book didn’t work for me. While the premise was interesting and the writing was okay I could not get past the focus on her weight. I understand that her weight was central to the story but the first few chapters were filled with so much disordered eating I could t continue

I absolutely loved this story, the characters, the writing, this was an amazing story!
Rothstein writes with a fresh voice that is colorful and in no way overdone.
She beautifully captures the characters and setting with ease!
While very humorous at parts, it was also extremely heartwarming and there was a lot of depth and character development of the main character. 
Rothstein's writing is warm and witty and so much fun!

Lake Union Publishing,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review closer to pub date.

Loved this book! I found it super funny and pleasant to read.. . The character growth and development was amazing & very enjoyable in this book.
I first felt sorry for her & the way she kinda feels about herself but I started to love her more into the book even tho sometimes she also got on my nerves 😂 but this just shows how great the developement is and how great the character is described! i loved it :)
Thank You so much NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange of my honest review.

I must begin by stating that I have been a fan of Marilyn Simon Rothstein's books since I read both of her previous novels. Crazy To Leave You can be categorized as a contemporary novel with a large dose of Ms. Rothstein's humor and wit. As with her previous books, when you dig deeper, the reader discovers the reality of a dysfunctional family drama, the stigma of being overweight and left at the altar at the age of 41. Lauren Leo, the jilted bride, discovers that the grass is not always greener. I am a woman, who married for the first time in my early 50's (fortunately, I did not share Lauren's weight issues). The author accurately described the feelings of "shame" and "disgrace of not being married and being looked at as an oddity. I laughed and I cried with Lauren as she came back from defeat and learned to ask for what she needs and triumphed and found goodness and love in her life. Thank you to Marilyn Simon Rothstein for writing this heartfelt and funny drama. Also, thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Lake Union Publishing and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Funny, quick read enjoyable main character.

At first I felt sorry for Lauren. It’s cowardly to not only leave the bride (or the groom for that matter) at the alter, not even showing up, but not even having the balls to tell them yourself is a whole other matter.

But soon after she just started getting on my nerves.
Her ex-parents-in-law are annoying. Her parents are annoying. Her older sister is annoying. Her younger sister is the golden child. Lauren is always overweight. Boohoo. Yes, they are. But she is 41 effing years old and could just… give them a piece of her mind? Why is she always silent??
She managed to lose weight for her wedding, which means she is capable of keeping a healthy diet. 1. why didn’t she start earlier then? And 2. why doesn’t she continue? Instead we get to read about her binge-eating which if it was going on for so many years should’ve been treated. She’s 41 for Petes sake. Old enough to look for professional help on her own.

I liked the funny one liners, both in Lauren’s thoughts as well as in the dialogues but since many of them happened after she started annoying me I sadly couldn’t enjoy them much anymore.
And then there suddenly was even more drama. This book dragged on a bit too long for me.

Loved this book! I found it super funny and a quick read for me. The character growth and development was amazing in this book. I loved it very much

crazy to leave you is a witty, thought-provoking, and passionate contemporary read that follows our protagonist lauren after she is left at the altar and is forced to rearrange her entire life. the novel touches on subjects such as weight-loss, the struggles when navigating both familial and romantic relationships, sense of self, workplace problems, and general living. the book’s overarching message stressed the importance of striving on throughout life, even with all of the hardships and obstacles one must overcome to find true happiness and serenity.

there were things that i really loved about this book, and things that i really did not like as much. i found the book very easy to read, and for the most part, thought there was a good balance between lighter content matter and heavier content matter. i saw bits of myself in lauren, especially with her weight struggles and self-esteem battles. the increase in discussions concerning weight in contemporary novels is quite important to me, so i was happy that this was a main point of the novel. i also thought the family dynamics were quite interesting. coming from a complicated family, it always intrigues me when one of the main plotlines of a story is the protagonists relationship with their family members. this book offered a lot of interesting thoughts in this area which was fantastic. in thinking about what i didn’t like, it was more-so that the book did not really have a wow! factor for me. i enjoyed reading it, and related to it, but the book did not particularly stand out among those i have read. however, this was still a good read, and i know others will enjoy it very much!

thank you so much to netgalley for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I got an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The book follows Lauren Leo as she is left at the alter. This would have been her first marriage at 41,

Trigger Warning: This book touches on Lauren's weight and her family's perception of it. She is very hard on herself and her mother constantly criticizes Lauren with comments about it such as "Are you sure you want to eat that slice of cake?" Her weight is a large focal point of the book. I can imagine this would be difficult to read if you have an eating disorder or a bad relationship with food. It does not determine the overall worth of the book but it cannot be skipped over if it is something that bothers you.

This book is an honest look at Lauren's feelings about her weight from her childhood to the present day. Her mother badgers her about her diet and weight.. The author does not shy away from how traumatic it is for her and how it has impacted her relationship with her mother.

After being left at the alter, she finds herself at a crossroads. She wanted a traditional family - a husband and a child or two. At 41, she knows that her window for having kids is closing. She works at advertising firm and has been a dedicated employee there since graduating college.

A major issue that I had with this book is that I didn't know where it was going. I was not sure if the author intended this - Lauren does not know where her life is going so we are along for the ride? The synopsis said she is looking for a second chance. I was constantly asking myself what medium it would be in.

The overall lesson I learned from this book is that no one is perfect even if they seem like it. We often idolize people for the lives we think they have. We sit around making a lot of assumptions and judge ourselves for not matching up. I wish this was reflected more in the summary.

I would have enjoyed this book more if I had a clearer picture of where it was going. It was an interesting premise and I liked the author's writing style.

Crazy to Leave You is an intriguing contemporary novel, Marilyn Simon nailed it in this book.

I loved following the journey of Lauren, an amazing character, it was very satisfying to see her "growth" during the book. With humor, losses, romances,

With humor, loss and romance Crazy To Leave You was the first book I read by Marilyn, but I will definitely read all the others and recommend everyone to do the same.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC
in exchange for my honest review.