#BookReview The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith @ASmithAuthor @simonschuster #TheWayIUsedToBe #AmberSmith #SimonSchuster Title: The Way I Used to Be

Author: Amber Smith

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books on Mar. 7, 2017

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult

Pages: 376

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster

Book Rating: 9/10

All Eden wants is to rewind the clock. To live that day again. She would do everything differently. Not laugh at his jokes or ignore the way he was looking at her that night. And she would definitely lock her bedroom door.

But Eden can’t turn back time. So she buries the truth, along with the girl she used to be. She pretends she doesn’t need friends, doesn’t need love, doesn’t need justice. But as her world unravels, one thing becomes clear: the only person who can save Eden … is Eden.


Review:

Intense, moving, and impactful!

The Way I Used to Be is a raw, heart-wrenching tale that takes us into the life of Eden, a teenage girl who, after being sexually assaulted in her own bed by her brother’s best friend, spends the next four years of high school, even with the caring affections of a senior, struggling to come to grips with the violation and the constant impulsive need to participate in promiscuous and reckless behaviour in order to feel.

The prose is smooth and tight. The characters are complex, tormented, and angry. And the plot is a compelling tale of rape, isolation, friendship, trust, love, sexual dynamics, fractured relationships, self-destruction, promiscuity, power, shame, violence, denial, pain, and mental health.

Overall, The Way I Used to Be is a tender, gripping, sensitive tale by Smith that packs a real emotional punch and does an exceptional job of highlighting the psychological and emotional devastation caused by rape and the resulting long, complex journey to start healing one’s self.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Amber Smith

Amber Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult novels The Way I Used to Be, The Last to Let Go, Something Like Gravity, and The Way I Am Now. An advocate for increased awareness of gendered violence, as well as LGBTQ equality, she writes in the hope that her books can help to foster change and spark dialogue surrounding these issues. She grew up in Buffalo, New York, and now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her wife and their ever-growing family of rescued dogs and cats.

Photo by Deborah Triplett