When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving oneself, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.

—Oscar Wilde

Everyone knows the urgency, the importance, and the agony of love. In the first throws of love you can’t eat, you can’t sleep, your heart and mind race, and you are completely consumed. You experience your highest highs and lowest lows. You don’t always think rationally. You constantly crave your next fix.

Wait, what are we talking about again? Oh right, love. Funny, it also sounds an awful lot like addiction.

People have been comparing love and addiction for decades. It’s an idea that shows up especially often in song lyrics. In 1985, Robert Palmer sang, “You might as well face it you’re addicted to love.” In 1976, Roxy Music wrote, “Love is the drug.” The lyrics to Kelly Clarkson’s 2004 song “Addicted” illustrate the similarities between being addicted to someone and just being an addict:

It’s like you’re a drug
It’s like you’re a demon I can’t face down . . .
I’m addicted to you

The infatuation, the euphoria, the excitement—it can all be attributed to love or to drugs. Kristina Snow can tell you that better than most.

Kristina, the protagonist in Ellen Hopkins’ bestselling books Crank and Glass, is a girl who is familiar with both. For Kristina, the two not only have a lot in common, they are actually linked.

Kristina gets her first taste of both love and the drug she becomes addicted to at the same time, thanks to the same guy: Adam, a.k.a. Buddy.  …