The Way I Used To Be Book Review 📖

📚 Title and Author: The Way I Used To Be, By: Amber Smith

🌟 Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Themes: Sexual assault, resilience, friendship, romance, bullying

💬 Short Summary: Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.

What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.

Key Point 1 : There is an element of romance. Josh is perfect in this role. I love his mix of confidence and insecurity. He likes Eden but has no idea how to react to her hot and cold swings as she tries to balance her feelings with those of panic and loss of control.

Key Point 2: When her family doesn’t notice, they brush the signs off, Eden reacts by becoming increasingly argumentative and destructive. I kept waiting for the big fall out, the impending chaotic disaster, but despite Eden becoming increasingly destructive through sex, alcohol and even drugs, she never really loses control. It’s the little changes the say the most, such as Eden calling her parents by their first names instead of mom and dad. Throughout all this Eden remains a really likeable character and I was surprised by how strong, how tough she is.

Key Point 3: The ending is just absolutely perfect, everything you could want, and it only reinforces that this book is about Eden and ability to stand up for herself, believe in herself. My favourite line is “and I’m just a girl, a girl who needs to pick up her own pieces and put them back together herself.” That says it all.

⭐️Overall rating: 11/10

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